Ameringer, Oscar, 1870-1943

Politician, labor organizer and journalist. Editor of "The Oklahoma Leader", "The American Guardian", "The Illinois Miner". Born in Germany, Aug. 04, 1870. Died Nov. 05, 1943.

From the description of Oscar Ameringer papers, 1909-1970, (bulk 1909-1943). (Wayne State University, Archives of Labor & Urban). WorldCat record id: 32320790

These research materials were compiled by George Marshall, a socialist sympathizer who earned a PhD in labor economics at Columbia University in the 1930s. Marshall served as treasurer of the Civil Rights Congress, and served six months in prison for refusing to turn over Civil Rights Congress records to a Congressional investigation. This small selection of items from Marshall's research files relates mostly to U.S. Socialist Party activist Oscar Ameringer.

Oscar Ameringer was born in Achstetten, Germany on August 4, 1870 and immigrated to the United States in 1886. In the same year he became an organizer for the Knights of Labor. Ameringer joined the Socialist Party in 1901, and became a leader and activist in the socialist and labor movement. In addition to working on the campaign to elect Victor Berger to the U.S. House of Representatives, Ameringer also ran for office for mayor of Oklahoma City in 1911 and lost narrowly. After World War I, Oscar Ameringer helped form the Farmer-Labor Reconstruction League which won the Oklahoma governorship for John Walton. By the 1930s, Ameringer worked as an editor, publisher, and writer for Socialist publications, including the American Guardian and the Illinois Miner (later the American Miner ). In addition to writing under his own name, Ameringer wrote articles under the pseudonym "Adam Coaldigger." In 1940, Ameringer wrote an autobiography, If You Don't Weaken . Ameringer died on November 5, 1943, in Oklahoma City.

From the guide to the Oscar Ameringer: George Marshall Research Materials, 1836-1979, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)