Young Reds in the Big Apple: Children, Red Scares, and Political Violence in New York, 1923-1934

Between 1923 and 1934 the Young Pioneers of America (YPA) attracted thousands of New Yorkers aged 7-16 through a platform denouncing racial segregation, American capitalism, and even Santa Claus. So-called Pioneers viewed themselves as foot soldiers in the fight for the working-class, rejecting adult ideals of apolitical childhoods. They gave speeches, made propaganda, and staged violent performative protests including blockading an ocean liner and occupying New York's postal headquarters. The NYPD and adult political opponents including the KKK and the American Legion responded with surveillance and violence of their own. The YPA's existence, and efforts to supress them, undermine the popular idea that the 1920s and 30s were a period of normality in between two separate Red Scares. In addition to favouring Communism over capitalism, Pioneers fought for children's rights to political participation, often taking on their fellow Communists in that fight and demanding children be given First Amendment rights to free political speech. Jack Hodgson launches Young Reds in the Big Apple which offers new insights into young people’s radical beliefs and activism during a Red Scare state.