League of American Writers

The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1935. The League's policy objectives changed over time in accord with the shifting party line of the CPUSA. Beginning as an anti-fascist organization in 1935, the League turned to an anti-war position following the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 and to a pro-war position after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The organization was prominent in the defense of Republican Spain during the Spanish Civil War and in providing financial and moral support to writers in need in the United States and internationally. The organization was terminated in January 1943.

From the description of League of American Writers archives, circa 1935-1942. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 83753666

Brief History

The League of American Writers was established in April, 1935, at the First American Writers' Congress, to be "a voluntary association of writers dedicated to the preservation and extension of a truly democratic culture." Waldo Frank was elected to be the first national chairman.

In pursuit of its aim to combat the forces of fascism and reaction, the League greatly expanded its activities under the leadership of Donald Ogden Stewart and Franklin Folsom, who were chosen respectively as national chairman and executive secretary at the second Writers Congress in 1937. Many famous anti-fascist writers were rescued from concentration camps in Europe by the Exiled Writers Committee; thousands of dollars were collected for medical aid to the Spanish Loyalists; violations of civil liberties and instances of illiberalism in the United States were publicized and protested.

Establishment and maintenance of writers' schools and regional writers' conferences, continuing forums, meetings, lectures, and the organization of four writers' congresses on a national scale reflected the League's interest in the furtherance of American letters. Its publications afford additional records of the political and literary activities of the group from its inception until its dissolution in 1942.

From the guide to the League of American Writers Archives, [ca. 1935-1942], (The Bancroft Library)