{{short description|German born American opinion journalist, joiner and musician}} {{Use American English|date=May 2023}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox person |name = Oscar Ameringer |image = Oscar Ammesinger (i.e. Ameringer) Trim.jpg |caption = Ameringer in 1920 |birth_date = {{Birth date|1870|08|04}} |birth_place = [[Achstetten]], [[Kingdom of Württemberg]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|1943|11|05|1870|08|04}} |death_place = [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]], U.S. |other_names = |spouse = [[Freda Ameringer]] |known_for = Editor, ''American Guardian''; leader and organizer, Oklahoma [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist Party]] |occupation = Editor; Author; Political Organizer }} '''Oscar Ameringer''' (August 4, 1870 – November 5, 1943) was a [[Germany|German]]-American [[Socialism|Socialist]] editor, author, and organizer from the late 1890s until his death in 1943. Ameringer made a name for himself in the [[Socialist Party of Oklahoma]] as the editor of its newspaper and a prominent organizer for the party.<ref name="dictionary left">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first= Bernard K. |editor-last= Johnpoll |editor2-first= Harvey |editor2-last= Klehr |encyclopedia= Biographical Dictionary of the American Left |title= Ameringer, Oscar (1870-1943) |edition= 1 |year= 1986 |publisher= Greenwood Press, Inc |location= New York |isbn= 0313242003 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_o7r7/page/4 4–6] |url= https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_o7r7/page/4 }}</ref> His most famous work, ''The Life and Deeds of Uncle Sam'', was a widely read [[satire]] of American history that sold over half a million copies and was translated into 15 languages.<ref name= "encylopedia left" /> His wit as a speaker and writer and his reputation as being one of the grand old men of left-wing politics in the United States led to him being described as the "Mark Twain of American Socialism".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/04/teachers-strikes-oklahoma-socialism-sanders-unions |title=Red Oklahoma |last=Blanc |first=Eric |date=April 13, 2018 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref>
==Background==
Oscar Ameringer was born in [[Achstetten]], Germany in 1870.<ref name="ALWW">Solon De Leon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.) (1925). ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York City: Hanford Press, pg. 18.</ref> He came to America at the age of 15.
He taught himself English by reading library books, and went on to become a self-taught musician, portrait painter, writer, editor, political organizer, and standup-comedian who warmed up crowds for [[Eugene Debs]] and other socialist luminaries.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
==Career==
===Ohio===
His father, a cabinet maker, sent young Oscar to join his brother in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], where he tried his hand as a furniture maker and musician.<ref name="dictionary left" /> He joined the [[Knights of Labor]] in 1886 and the [[American Federation of Musicians]] in 1903,<ref name="ALWW" /> but soon found his way into the newspaper industry working for a union newspaper in [[Columbus, Ohio]].<ref name= "encylopedia left"> {{Citation |author1= Georgakas, Dan |author2= Buhle, Mari Jo |author3= Buhle, Paul |encyclopedia= Biographical Dictionary of the American Left |title= Ameringer, Oscar |edition= 2 |year= 1990 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford |isbn= 0195120884 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00buhl_0/page/44 44–45] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofam00buhl_0/page/44 }}</ref> This paper, called the ''Labor World'', introduced Ameringer to the labor struggles in the South, and he was soon on the front lines of a bitter labor dispute in [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].<ref>Ameringer, O. (1983). If you don't weaken: the autobiography of oscar ameringer. (1 ed., p. 189). Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>
===Oklahoma===
[[File:Oscar Ameringer 1911.jpg|thumb|left|Ameringer in 1911.]]
After briefly organizing workers in Louisiana, Ameringer moved to Oklahoma to work for the Socialist Party. In Oklahoma, he was identified with the state party's social democratic "Yellow" faction, which supported replicating the centralized organizational model established by [[Victor L. Berger]] in Milwaukee, which was opposed by the more left-wing "Red" faction, which advocated greater decentralization.<ref name=maisano>{{cite web |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/07/socialist-party-red-states-debs-ameringer-history-rural-socialism |title=When America’s Red States Were Red |last=Maisano |first=Chris |date=July 8, 2021 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=July 10, 2021}}</ref> In spring of 1907, Ameringer started his first camp meeting tour of Oklahoma moving from town to town and relying on the hospitality of local farmers sympathetic to his cause.<ref>Oscar Ameringer (1983). ''If You Don't Weaken: The Autobiography of Oscar Ameringer.'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 227.</ref> Although known for rousing speeches filled with humor and wit, Ameringer believed "something more than schoolhouse meeting, encampments and soap-box preaching was needed if the world was to be saved".<ref name="iydw278" />
In 1909, Ameringer along with other Socialists formed the ''Industrial Democrat'', but the paper's initial assignment covering a debate on a proposed amendment to weaken state power over corporations caused a fracture between Ameringer and the paper.<ref>Bissett, J. (1999). Agrarian socialism in america: Marx, jefferson, and jesus in the oklahoma countryside. (1 ed., pp. 72-73). Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. {{ISBN|0806131489}}</ref> He was fired from the editor position, only to move to the Socialist party's new paper, the ''Oklahoma Pioneer''.<ref name="iydw278">Ameringer, O. (1983). If you don't weaken: the autobiography of oscar ameringer. (1 ed., p. 278). Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.</ref>
In [[1911 Oklahoma City mayoral election|1911]], Ameringer made a major push into politics running for mayor of [[Oklahoma City]]. He gathered twenty-three percent of the vote<ref>Thompson, Jack.(2007). Oscar Ameringer. In Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved from http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/a/am014.html</ref> and "came within a few hundred votes of being elected".<ref name="OA 280">Ameringer, ''If You Don't Weaken,'' pg. 280.</ref> Of course, the noted humorist described his loss as "a narrow escape both for Oklahoma socialism and [himself]".<ref name="OA 280" /> In 1912, the Oklahoma [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist Party]] voted to abolish the ''Oklahoma Pioneer'' as its official newspaper and a year later recalled Ameringer from his seat on the National Executive Committee<ref>James R. Green (1978). ''Grass-Roots Socialism''. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, pg. 278.</ref> as a result of a factional struggle within the party.<ref name=maisano />
===Wisconsin===
By 1913, Ameringer had already moved to [[Milwaukee]] to serve as county organizer for the Socialist Party of Milwaukee County and work as a columnist and editor on their newspaper, the ''Milwaukee Leader.''<ref>Ameringer, ''If You Don't Weaken,'' pg. 285.</ref> After another unsuccessful foray into politics in Wisconsin, in which his campaign was derailed by his arrest and indictment for obstruction of recruiting by the United States army, Ameringer decided to move again. He claims in his autobiography that "the idea behind the sensational arrests was to destroy [him and other Socialists] politically".<ref>Ameringer, ''If You Don't Weaken,'' pg. 340.</ref>
===Oklahoma=== After his [[Wisconsin]] years, Ameringer moved back down to Oklahoma to fight against a [[Ku Klux Klan]] candidate for governor and then to Illinois in 1920 where he edited the ''Illinois Miner'', a publication aimed against [[UMWA]] president [[John L. Lewis]]. In 1931, Ameringer again returned to Oklahoma and founded what would be his last newspaper, ''[[The American Guardian]].''
The ''American Guardian'' continued in existence for a decade, finally being terminated early in 1941.<ref name=Ross420>Jack Ross, ''The Socialist Party: A Complete History.'' Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, 2015; pg. 420.</ref> The paper's subscriber list was assumed by the national liberal news weekly, ''[[The Nation]],'' with the folksy populist Ameringer bringing his regular column to that publication's pages.<ref name=Ross420 />
==Personal life and death==
Oscar Ameringer died age 73 on November 5, 1943.
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Oscar Ameringer}} *{{Find a Grave|16518337}} * [http://okc.net/2011/12/24/pastprologue-oscar-ameringer-two-of-a-kind-1921/ "Two of a Kind", 1921- Ameringer's response to the Russian Revolution ] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ameringer, Oscar}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States]] [[Category:People from Biberach (district)]] [[Category:Achstetten]] [[Category:Politicians from Milwaukee]] [[Category:Editors of Wisconsin newspapers]] [[Category:Journalists from Oklahoma]] [[Category:National chairmen of the Socialist Party of America]] [[Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Oklahoma]] [[Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin]] [[Category:Writers from Oklahoma]] [[Category:Writers from Wisconsin]] [[Category:American trade unionists of German descent]]