Hubert Henry Harrison, author, lecturer, editor, and labor leader, was born in Concordia, St. Croix, Danish West Indies (now United States Virgin Islands) on April 27, 1883.  Upon the completion of his elementary schooling in 1900, he moved to New York City, New York.  There he took on various service-oriented positions, including that of telephone operator and hotel bellman.  Beginning in 1901 he attended an evening high school program, finishing at the top of his class in 1907.  After graduation Harrison became a postal clerk. In 1909 Harrison married Irene Louis Horton, and soon distinguished himself as the leading authority on black politics and history.  Concluding that the color problem was actually a class problem (he would later change his mind), Harrison in 1909 became one of the few African American members of the New York Socialist Party.  In 1910 Harrison wrote a scathing analysis of Booker T. Washington and his philosophy of racial accommodation for the The New York Sun.  In retaliation, Washington in 1911 mobilized his considerable influence to have Harrison fired from his position in the post office. All the more motivated, Harrison became a full-time lecturer on black history and Socialist politics and soon emerged as … Continue reading Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)