Clarence Hathaway and the 1934 Riot at Madison Square Garden

By Jim McCartney

How did Minnesota native Clarence Hathaway find himself bruised, beaten, and dangling from a railing in front of a packed house at Madison Square Garden in New York City?

The year was 1934. The poverty and social unrest from the Great Depression had warmed many citizens in America to more leftist ideologies, including socialism and communism. But that didn’t mean there was much love between Socialists and Communists. In fact, taking a cue from Moscow, American Communists declared that anyone who wasn’t communist was fascist. As a result, Communists called Franklin Roosevelt a “crypto-fascist” and Gov. Floyd Olson a “socialist-fascist” and an “unscrupulous demagogue.” Communists even urged Farmer-Labor Party members to “overthrow their leadership, adopt a militant, revolutionary program,” and join their side, according to an interview given by Communist Earl Browder with Theodore Draper in June 1955.

But the Communists’ greatest ire during that time, was reserved for the Socialist Party, and that led to a dramatic confrontation with Comrade Hathaway at the center.

To help build a coalition to fight the spread of fascism, on February 15, 1934, Hathaway shared the platform with party leader Browder to speak to 8,000 people at the Bronx Coliseum. The following day, the Socialist Party hosted a rally at Madison Square Garden to speak out against the recent slaughter of 1,000 protesting Austrian workers by Austrian right-wing nationalists. Featured speakers were to include labor leader Matthew Woll and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia.

That morning, the Daily Worker, where Hathaway served as editor, put out an extra edition denouncing Woll and La Guardia as “open fascist[s]” and urged their Socialist brothers not to let them speak.

Later that afternoon, Hathaway led 5,000 Communists carrying musical instruments, banners, and leaflets in a march to Madison Square Garden. The marchers booed and jeered the speakers, called Socialists “fascists,” and then a fight broke out with ushers who tried to stifle and remove them.

During the fracas, Hathaway snuck to the podium and announced himself. He later explained that he had hoped to quiet his fellow Communists. But, immediately, several Socialists jumped him, hit him with fists and chairs, and threw him over the platform railing. As Hathaway was carried out of the venue, Communists chanted, “We want Hathaway!” The meeting dissolved even further into chaos, with fights breaking out and chairs sailing over the balcony. The New York Police Department, asked by the Socialists to hold back, was allowed to enter the Garden to try to restore order. The rally, which was broadcast on national radio, was a fiasco.

Hathaway told the media that his “scalp was lacerated” by “Social-Fascist ferocity.” Many Communists believed the bruised and beaten Hathaway was a “martyr” to the cause. Hathaway gave as good as he got, according to some observers.

Most blamed the melee on Communists for disrupting the meeting. Public opinion quickly turned against them. A few prominent liberals resigned in protest from communist-aligned organizations. In a postmortem of the event by the American Communist Party (CPUSA), one leader felt it was a mistake for Hathaway to go to Madison Square Garden because he was editor of the Daily Worker, which published articles that regularly attacked Socialists. Hathaway told the investigating committee that he had entered the arena to “oversee Communist activity” and that his “instructions were to ensure order.” Ultimately, the CPUSA expressed no regret for the riot and blamed it on Socialist provocation.

Years later, Browder admitted that the riot was “distinctly avoidable” and blamed Hathaway. This struck one historian as disingenuous, given that Hathaway, at the time, was one of Browder’s closest colleagues and likely operating with his approval.