Harry W. Laidler

Harry Wellington Laidler (February 18, 1884 – July 14, 1970) was an American socialist writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as Executive Director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, and for his close political association with perennial Socialist Party Presidential nominee Norman Thomas. He also served a two-year term on the New York City Council.

Harry W. Laidler was born February 18, 1884, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a salesman. The Laidler family was comfortable, middle-class, and politically liberal. Young Harry attended public school in Brooklyn, before graduating to attend Wesleyan University, from which he obtained a Bachelor's degree in 1907.

Upon graduation, Laidler worked as a reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, attending Brooklyn Law School at night. Laidler's graduation from law school in 1910 also marked the end of his career as a news reporter. He subsequently enrolled in Columbia University in New York City, from which he obtained his Ph.D. in 1914.

Harry Laidler was a committed socialist from his teenage years, enrolling in the Socialist Party of America in 1903. In 1905 became a founding member of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS), a national organization dedicated to advancing the study of socialism on college campuses around the country through lectures, debates, and publications. Laidler was named to the ISS's executive committee as a representative of undergraduates. Upon his graduation from law school in 1910, he was named Secretary of the ISS, serving as well as editor of its magazine, The Intercollegiate Socialist, from the time of its launch in 1913. He continued to edit this publication and its successor, The Socialist Review, until 1921.

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