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Highest decision-making body and quadrennial event of the Communist Party USA

30th convention in Chicago

The Communist Party USA has held 32 official national conventions, including conventions held while the party was known as the Workers Party of America (1921–1924), the Workers (Communist) Party of America (1925–1928), and the Communist Political Association (1943–1946). There were also half a dozen congresses held by the party's organizational predecessors, including the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party (1919), the competing Communist Labor Party (1919–1921) and Communist Party of America (1919–1921), and the merged (but "underground") Communist Party of America (1921–1923).

Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party

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In early 1919, the Socialist Party of America (SPA) was splitting between its socialist right and its communist left, known as the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party. In May 1919, the Boston SPA, Cleveland SPA, and Left Wing Section of New York City SPA adopted a resolution calling for a national left-wing conference on June 21, 1919. Admittance as "left-wing" was defined as endorsement of the program of the Left Wing Section of NYC SPA.

At the conference, the delegates divided into two groups: The majority, formed around the periodical The Revolutionary Age, wanted to take over SPA at the SPA's September convention in Chicago. The minority wished to exit the SPA and create a Communist Party immediately. The minority withdrew and formed the National Organization Committee for a Communist Party. This group was mainly made up of the suspended language federations and the Socialist Party of Michigan.

The Revolutionary Age majority formed the National Council of the Left Wing Section and began organizing for a takeover of the SPA's convention. However, by late August, the majority of this group decided to abandon this plan and merge into the National Organization Committee to create a new party at a convention in Chicago. A minority, led by Ben Gitlow and John Reed, split with the majority and attempted to infiltrate the Socialist Party convention alone.

Communist Party of America (1919)

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# City Date Notes
1st Chicago September 1–7, 1919 Founding Convention of the CPA.
2nd New York July 13–18, 1920 First convention after the split of the Michigan and Ruthenberg factions into CLP.
3rd New York February 1921

Communist Labor Party/United Communist Party

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# City Date Notes
1st Chicago August 31 – September 5, 1919 Founding Convention of the CLP.
Joint Unity Bridgman, Michigan May 26–31, 1920 Joint Unity convention of the CLP. Merged the CLP with the Ruthenberg group of the CPA. New group named United Communist Party (UCP).
2nd Kingston, New York December 24, 1920 – January 2, 1921

Communist Party of America (1921)

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# City Date Notes
1st Woodstock, New York May 15–28, 1921 Joint Unity convention of the CPA and the UCP, merging them into the Communist Party of America (CPA). 1st convention of new CPA.
2nd Bridgman, Michigan August 17–22, 1922 The 1922 Bridgman Convention was raided by the Justice Department.
3rd New York April 7, 1923 Dissolved underground CPA into aboveground Workers Party of America (WPA).

Workers Party of America

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# City Date Notes
1st New York December 23–26, 1921 Founding Convention of the WPA. Merged the Workers Council, the CPA's aboveground American Labor Alliance, and CPA-aligned other groups to form the Workers Party of America.
2nd New York December 24–26, 1922
3rd Chicago December 30, 1923 – January 2, 1924
sp. Chicago July 10, 1924 Nominating Convention of the WPA. Nominated William Z. Foster for President and Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President.

Workers (Communist) Party of America

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# City Date Notes
4th Chicago August 21–30, 1925 Changed name to Workers (Communist) Party (WCP). Ruthenberg minority given control of party by Comintern representative.
5th New York August 31 – September 6, 1927 Confirmed Jay Lovestone as Executive Secretary and Lovestone group as majority on party organs.
sp. New York May 25–27, 1928 Nominating Convention of the WCP. Nominated William Z. Foster for President and Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President.

Communist Party USA

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# City Date Notes
6th New York March 4–10, 1929 Renamed from WCP to Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Lovestone faction won majority. However, Comintern placed Gitlow as Executive Secretary, removing Lovestone.
7th New York June 21–25, 1930 Elected Earl Browder General Secretary.
sp. Chicago May 28–29, 1932 Nominating Convention of CPUSA. Nominated William Z. Foster for President and James Ford for Vice President.
8th Cleveland April 2–8, 1934
9th New York June 24–28, 1936
10th New York May 27–31, 1938
11th New York May 30–June 2, 1940
New York November 16, 1940 Special Convention of CPUSA.
12th New York May 20–22, 1944[1] CPUSA renamed to Communist Political Association (CPA).
13th New York July 26–28, 1945 CPA re-renamed to Communist Party USA (CPUSA). Browder removed as General Secretary, replaced by Eugene Dennis.
14th New York August 2–6, 1948 Endorsed Henry Agard Wallace for President.
15th New York December 28–30, 1950
16th New York February 9–12, 1957
17th New York December 10–13, 1959
18th New York June 22–26, 1966
sp. New York July 4–7, 1968[2] special delegate convention[2] held at the Hotel Diplomat to nominate presidential ticket; Charlene Mitchell nominated for president and Michael Zagarell nominated for vice president[3]
19th New York April 30 – May 4, 1969
20th New York February 18–21, 1972
21st Chicago June 26–29, 1975
22nd Detroit[4] August 23–26, 1979

Convention did not nominate a ticket for the 1980 presidential election. Instead, delegates granted the party's central committee the authority to select a ticket, which the central committee later authorized on November 18, 1979, to nominate Gus Hall for president and Angela Davis for vice president.[4]

23rd Cleveland November 10–13, 1983
24th Chicago August 13–16, 1987
25th Cleveland December 5–8, 1991 First convention after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the failed August coup.
26th Cleveland March 1–3, 1996 First convention after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
27th Milwaukee July 6–8, 2001 520 attendees.[5] First convention after the death of Gus Hall. CPUSA adopted "Bill of Rights Socialism" as policy.
29th New York May 21–23, 2010 A "few hundred" attendees.[7]
30th Chicago June 13–15, 2014 Convention had "about 300"[8] or "nearly 375" attendees.[9] While CPUSA ultimately made no changes, discussion subjects included incorporating "Socialism of the 21st Century" into the party platform and dropping Marxism–Leninism from the party constitution.
31st Chicago June 21-23, 2019 "Over 300" attendees[10] of which "over 200" delegates.[11] Of the 71 members of the new CPUSA National Committee, 28 were women, 14 African-American, 14 Latinx, and 3 LGBTQ. 24 are younger than 50 years old.[12]
32nd Chicago June 7-9, 2024 "Over 350" attendees.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ "Minutes of the Communist Party Convention, Saturday, May 20, 1944" (PDF). Marxists.org. 1944. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  2. 1 2 ""Delegate, Special Convention Communist Party, U.S.A., July 4-7, 1968"". Historic Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  3. ↑ West, E. James (September 24, 2019). "A Black Woman Communist Candidate: Charlene Mitchell's 1968 Presidential Campaign - AAIHS". Black Perspectives (AAIHS). Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Kihss, Peter (November 20, 1979). "Gus Hall and Angela Davis Lead Communist Party's Ticket for '80". Books, The New York Times Archives. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  5. ↑ Wheeler, Tim (July 14, 2001). "We will fight for jobs, equality & peace". Communist Party USA. Archived from the original on August 21, 2003.
  6. ↑ Webb, Susan (July 9, 2005). "Reds come out fighting: Time to turn up heat vs. ultra-right, Communist meet says". People's Weekly World. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007.
  7. ↑ Albano, Teresa (May 21, 2010). "Communist Party convention opens in New York". People’s World. Retrieved February 20, 2026.
  8. ↑ Grossman, Ron (June 14, 2014). "Communist Party USA gathers in Chicago". Chicago Tribune.
  9. ↑ Pecinovsky, Tony (August 8, 2014). "Reflections on the Communist Party convention". Communist Party USA. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  10. ↑ Morning Star staff (June 28, 2019). "CPUSA elects new leadership to take party into next centenary". Morning Star. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020.
  11. ↑ VietnamPlus (VNA) (June 24, 2019). "CPV congratulates Communist Party USA on 100th anniversary". VietnamPlus. Archived from the original on February 22, 2026.
  12. ↑ "31st National Convention: Report on the new CPUSA National Committee". Communist Party USA. July 23, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  13. ↑ Special to People’s World (June 12, 2024). "PHOTO FEATURE: 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party USA". People’s World. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
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  • William Z. Foster, History of the Communist Party of the United States. New York: International Publishers, 1952. Appendix A. Gives starting dates of all conventions up to 1951.
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