Maurer, James Hudson

MAURER, JAMES HUDSON (1864–1944). A machinist and steamfitter, James Hudson Maurer was a major figure in the Socialist Party and the American Federation of Labor from 1901 until the early 1930s. He was born to a Pennsylvania Dutch family in Reading, and in his youth trainer as a plumber.

Mauer joined the Knights of Labor in 1880 and held local and regional offices in the Reading, Pennsylvania, area. During the 1890s he was blacklisted because of activities as an organizer for the People’s (Populist) Party, Henry George’s single tax clubs, and the Socialist Labor Party. In 1901 Maurer joined the Socialist Party, eventually serving as its candidate for vice president of the United States in 1928 and 1932. In 1910 Maurer was the first Socialist elected to the Pennsylvania State General Assembly, where he led the fight for workmen’s compensation and child labor laws.

Maurer served as president of the Pennsylvania State Federation of Labor (1912–1928) and was a founder and first president of Workers Education Bureau (1921–1929). During World War I Maurer was an active opponent of US participation. Other activities included campaigning for birth control, serving on the executive board of the 1924 presidential campaign of Robert La Follette, and participating in a labor delegation to the Soviet Union in 1927. He was elected to the Reading City Council in 1927 on the Socialist Party slate.

Hendrickson, Kenneth E. Jr. “The Socialists of Reading, Pennsylvania and World War I: A Question of Loyalty.” Pennsylvania History. 36(October 1969), pp.430-50.

Hendrickson, Kenneth E. Jr. “The Socialist Administration in Reading, Pennsylvania, Part I, 1927-1931. Pennsylvania History. 39(October1972), pp. 417-42.

Hendrickson, Kenneth E., Jr. “Triumph and Disaster: The Reading Socialists in Power and Decline, Part II, 1932-1939.” Pennsylvania History. 40(October 1973), pp. 380-411.

Maurer, James Hudson. It Can Be Done: The Autobiography of James Hudson Mauer. New York: Rand School Press, 1938.