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Joseph North (1904–1976) was an American journalist, author and magazine editor. He is best remembered as a longtime editor of New Masses, a literary and artistic magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. He was also a columnist and correspondent for The Daily Worker for many decades. In the latter role, he covered key historical events of the 20th century, including the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Civil Rights movement, Cuban Revolution, and Vietnam War.

Early years

Joseph North was born Jacob Soifer on May 25, 1904, to Jewish parents Jessie Soifer and Beila (Bessie) Yasnitz. His birthplace was Odessa, which was then part of the Russian Empire. When Jacob was nine months old, the Soifer family immigrated to the United States and settled in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Jessie was a blacksmith and skilled mechanic, and Bessie ran a small grocery store. In 1915, Jessie died on the operating table during appendicitis surgery (the family later learned it was a botched operation). To help his mother make ends meet, Jacob began working in a textile mill at age 12, and he worked summers in the local Chester shipyards. He meanwhile continued his education and graduated with a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Career

Following graduation, and with an interest in writing and journalism, Jacob landed a series of cub reporter jobs on Pennsylvania newspapers, such as The Chester Times. His politics shifted left in the late 1920s and he found work with the Labor Defender monthly magazine published by the International Labor Defense (ILD). Because of the ILD's Communist reputation, and to protect the Soifer family from potential harassment, Jacob started signing his articles with the pseudonym "Joe North" or "Joseph North". Soon the rest of the family followed suit and adopted the "North" surname, including his younger brother who would later become the famed film composer Alex North.

To sharpen his writing's political edge, Joseph North sometimes injected humor and ridicule into his columns. For example, during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, he wrote a Daily Worker piece entitled "That Sprinter, Hitler". It began with a wry comment on Hitler's hurried exits from the track stadium whenever an African-American athlete such as Jesse Owens won a medal:

It's not, I admit, on the best of authority, but I hear that Hitler will be asked to compete in the Olympics—in the 100-meter sprints. His dashes out of the stadium when the Negro athletes stride in with championships have been noticed all over the world. The Fuhrer's fast. Jesse Owens romps in with another championship, and presto! Hitler spurts the other way. They say the dictator can do the 100-meter dash in close to nothing flat whenever a Negro crosses the line.

Personal life and death

North married Helen Oken in 1931. During his time as a New Masses correspondent covering the Spanish Civil War, she accompanied him to Spain and worked in the medical service. After the war, they settled in Manhattan and had three children: Daniel, Susan, and Nora. Like her husband, Helen was active in the CPUSA. She also contributed to the family's earnings since Joseph's work as a journalist did not provide enough income to support the family, and he was frequently abroad on assignments. She and Joseph divorced in 1957. He remarried in 1963 to Augusta Strong, a Daily World journalist and editor. They remained married until her death in early 1976.

Joseph North died of leukemia on December 20, 1976, at a hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico while on a visit to the island. He was 72 years old.

Works

Many of North's published works were short pamphlet-style writings and not full-length books:

• Lynching Negro children in southern courts (the Scottsboro case) (PDF). New York: International Labor Defense. 1931. LCCN 97129268.
• Men in the ranks, the story of 12 Americans in Spain. New York: Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. 1939.
• Why Spain can win. New York: Workers Library Publishers. 1939.
• Proletarian Literature in the United States: An Anthology. (Contributor and co-editor.) New York: International Publishers, 1935.
• The case of Earl Browder: why he should be freed. New York: Citizen's Committee to Free Earl Browder. 1942.
• Washington and Lincoln: The American tradition. New York: Workers Library Publishers. 1942.
• What are we doing in China?. New York: New Century Publishers. 1945.
• Verdict against freedom; your stake in the Communist trial. New York: New Century Publishers. 1949.
• Behind the Florida bombings; who killed NAACP leader Harry T. Moore and his wife?. New York: New Century Publishers. 1952.
• Robert Minor: Artist and Crusader. New York: International Publishers. 1956. ASIN B000YB9KMO.
• No Men Are Strangers. New York: International Publishers. 1958. ASIN B0007DREAY.
• Cuba's revolution: I saw the people's victory. New York: New Century Publishers. 1959.
• Cuba: Hope of a Hemisphere. New York: International Publishers. 1961. ASIN B0007EIYDE.
• New Masses: An Anthology of the Rebel Thirties. New York: International Publishers. 1969. ASIN B000MXQX5Q.

References

1. "Joseph North (Soifer) (1904 – 1976)". Geni.com. 16 August 2024.
2. ^ Flint, Peter B. (22 December 1976). "Joseph North Dies; Communist Editor". The New York Times. p. 32.
3. North, Joseph (1958). No Men Are Strangers. International Publishers. pp. 10–11.
4. Henderson, Sanya Shoilevska (2009). Alex North, Film Composer. McFarland. p. 10. ISBN 978-0786443338.
5. Henderson 2009, p. 10.
6. "Joseph North". People's World. 27 July 2024.
7. ^ Mulliner, Heather, ed. (March 2017). "Guide to the Joseph North and Helen Oken North Family Papers". NYU Special Collections Finding Aids. TAM.605 – via Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives.
8. ^ Henderson 2009, pp. 12–13.
9. "Daily Worker 1936: Black athletes embarrass Hitler at Nazi Olympics". People's World. 26 July 2024.
10. "Online Books by Joseph North". The Online Books Page.

Further reading

• Wald, Alan M. Exiles from a Future Time: The Forging of the Mid-Twentieth-Century Literary Left. Durham: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

External links

• Marxists.org: Complete New Masses digital archive (1926–1948) on Marxists Internet Archive, in partnership with the Riazanov Library

• 1904 births
• 1976 deaths
• American communists
• American male journalists
• American male non-fiction writers
• American Marxists
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• University of Pennsylvania alumni
• Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
• Jewish American journalists
• Jewish American non-fiction writers
• Jewish socialists
• Members of the Communist Party USA
• Jewish Ukrainian writers