"Anthracite Reds" is a documentary history of Communists in the Pennsylvania anthracite [hard coal area] during the 1920s, the decade when these radicals were most involved in the work life of the hard coal miners. During the 20th century about one million Americans passed through the Communist Party of the United States [CPUSA]. In the first half of the century in the Pennsylvania anthracite, hundreds of men and women, mostly Eastern and Southern European immigrants who lived and worked in the region, also joined the CPUSA.Many books have been written about American communism in diverse regional settings; yet, no author has penned a volume that deals with these American radicals in one of 20th century America's major industrial centers, the anthracite fields of northeastern Pennsylvania."Anthracite Reds" serves several purposes. It can be read as a reference work that would be useful to libraries, museums, and researchers. It may also, however, be read as a compelling narrative that tells an interesting story for general readers.

This detailed investigation of Communists and their Party in the hard coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania, known as the Anthracite, draws on sources such as the central archives of the Communist Party of the United States to examine the origins, growth, and decline of the relatively small but active Marxist-Leninist organization that operated there during the first half of the 20th century. Anthracite. Just mentioning the name of the hard coal region of Pennsylvania conjures up classic images of labor violence and class conflict: Molly Maguires, Lattimer and the 1902 national coal strike. Yet this legendary tradition of labor and class discord has prompted no historian to chronicle the complete story of the region's largest and most active radical group in the 20th century: American Communists. They are forgotten radicals. Chronicling the story of these forgotten radicals allows us to examine American Communism in an important area of the highly industrialized state of Pennsylvania where a major capitalist enterprise, the hard coal industry, employed a large contingent of immigrant workers for about half of the 20th century. To be sure, studying these radicals permits us to explore the overall historical pattern of American Communism_the founding of the Party in 1919, the challenges of the 1920s, the heyday of the thirties, the turns of World War II, and the decline during the McCarthy period_in a regional context. Thus, Forgotten Radicals fills a niche in local studies of rank and file Communist activity.

African American Communist B.D. Amis was a major figure in the black freedom struggle during the two decades between the world wars. At that time, the American Communist Party (CPUSA) played a significant role in fighting for the rights of African Americans. Amis was part of the small circle of black radicals leading the struggle for workers' rights and racial justice. This anthology of his key writings and speeches reveals the deep commitment to the working class by his generation of African American Marxists. His classics, such as 'Lynch Justice at Work' and 'They Shall Not Die!,' as well as his speech nominating William Z. Foster for president at the 1936 CPUSA Convention in Chicago, are included. This work also features important documents penned by Amis and found in the former Soviet archives and in the private holdings of the Amis Family. It also includes many of Amis' theoretical works found in international documents, such as the CPUSA's International Press Correspondence, and a selected bibliography on the research scholarship pertaining to African Americans and communism.

This detailed investigation of Communists and their Party in the hard coal fields of northeastern Pennsylvania, known as the Anthracite, draws on sources such as the central archives of the Communist Party of the United States to examine the origins, growth, and decline of the relatively small but active Marxist-Leninist organization that operated there during the first half of the 20th century. Anthracite. Just mentioning the name of the hard coal region of Pennsylvania conjures up classic images of labor violence and class conflict: Molly Maguires, Lattimer and the 1902 national coal strike. Yet this legendary tradition of labor and class discord has prompted no historian to chronicle the complete story of the region's largest and most active radical group in the 20th century: American Communists. They are forgotten radicals. Chronicling the story of these forgotten radicals allows us to examine American Communism in an important area of the highly industrialized state of Pennsylvania where a major capitalist enterprise, the hard coal industry, employed a large contingent of immigrant workers for about half of the 20th century. To be sure, studying these radicals permits us to explore the overall historical pattern of American Communism-the founding of the Party in 1919, the challenges of the 1920s, the heyday of the thirties, the turns of World War II, and the decline during the McCarthy period-in a regional context. Thus, Forgotten Radicals fills a niche in local studies of rank and file Communist activity.

"Anthracite Reds, Vol. 2," is a documentary history of Communists in the Pennsylvania hard coal fields during the Great Depression decade, the "heyday of American Communism." During the 20th century about one million Americans passed through the Communist Party of the United States [CPUSA]. In the first half of the century in the Pennsylvania anthracite, hundreds of men and women, mostly Eastern and Southern European immigrants who lived and worked in the region, also joined the CPUSA.

Many books have been written about American communism in diverse regional settings; yet, no author has penned a volume that deals with these American radicals in one of 20th century America's major industrial centers, the anthracite fields of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Anthracite Reds serves several purposes. It can be read as a reference work that would be useful to libraries, museums, and researchers. It may also, however, be read as a compelling narrative that tells an interesting story for general readers.

"Lynchings: Extralegal Violence in Florida during the 1930s" This study examines the 13 lynchings that occurred in the southern state of Florida during the decade of the 1930s. It provides a lively and detailed narrative account of each lynching and concludes that there is no one single theory or explanation of these extralegal executions. The author does, however, reveal several patterns common to these separate acts of vigilantism. For example, most Florida lynchings were not rural, small-town ceremonial hangings of black males accused of sexual offenses. Rather, the majority of lynch victims were forcibly seized from police and shot by small bands of carefully organized vigilantes rather than frenzied mobs. Moreover, one third of these lynchings occurred in urban areas. The study finishes with a brief overview of the three Florida lynchings of the 1940s and the sudden end of this southern lynch law in modern America.

"Anthracite Reds" is a documentary history of Communists in the Pennsylvania anthracite [hard coal area] during the 1920s, the decade when these radicals were most involved in the work life of the hard coal miners. During the 20th century about one million Americans passed through the Communist Party of the United States [CPUSA]. In the first half of the century in the Pennsylvania anthracite, hundreds of men and women, mostly Eastern and Southern European immigrants who lived and worked in the region, also joined the CPUSA.Many books have been written about American communism in diverse regional settings; yet, no author has penned a volume that deals with these American radicals in one of 20th century America's major industrial centers, the anthracite fields of northeastern Pennsylvania."Anthracite Reds" serves several purposes. It can be read as a reference work that would be useful to libraries, museums, and researchers. It may also, however, be read as a compelling narrative that tells an interesting story for general readers.