"Ruthenberg is Dead."
Obituary statement of the Political Committee of the Central Executive Committee of theWorkers (Communist) Party of America.
First published in The Daily Worker, vol. 4, no. 42 (March 3, 1927), pg. 1.


On March 2, 1927, 44-year old General Secretary of the Workers (Communist) Party of America C.E. Ruthenberg succumbed following emergency surgery for acute appendicitis which developed into peritonitis. The sudden loss of the top party leader ushered in a battle for control of the party apparatus which was ultimately won by Jay Lovestone, a factional associate of Ruthenberg.
This rather hagiographic obituary from the front page of The Daily Worker salutes the fallen leader of the party. Ruthenberg is lauded as the chief author on the Socialist Party of America's militant anti-war program adopted in 1917 and as the primary leader of the Left Wing movement which ultimately led to the splitting of the Socialist Party in 1919.
A melodramatic and altogether too handy set of last words are attributed to Ruthenberg in this piece, with the Cleveland-born leader said to have declared:
"TELL THE COMRADES TO CLOSE THEIR RANKS, TO BUILD THE PARTY. THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR PARTY AND THE COMINTERN, WILL WIN. LET'S FIGHT ON!"

Published in the USA between 1923 and 1978 with no notice of copyright in original publication, public domain.
Edited by Tim Davenport. Published by 1000 Flowers Publishing, Corvallis, OR, May 2013 -- non-commercial reproduction of the digital file permitted.

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