The Communist Party USA has held thirty-two official conventions including nomination conventions and conventions held while the party was known as the Workers Party of America, the Workers (Communist) Party of America and the Communist Political Association. There were also a number of congresses held by the earlier (though often underground) organizational predecessors of the party, including the Communist Labor Party of America, the United Communist Party and two groups known as the Communist Party of America. The Communist Party's 31st National Convention took place in Chicago from June 13 to 15 in 2019.[1]
A resolution for a national conference of left leaning organizations within the Socialist Party of America had been adopted by the Boston local in May 1919 and endorsed by a number of other locals. Admittance as left-wing was defined as endorsement of the left-wing program adopted by the Left Wing Section of Greater New York.[2] When the conference met the delegates divided between a group around the periodical The Revolutionary Age that wanted to infiltrate the Socialist Party's convention in Chicago that September and those who wished to 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 majority formed a national left-wing council and attempted to arrange a take over of the Socialist Party's convention. However, by late August the majority decided to forgo this plan and joined with 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.[3]
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding | Chicago | September 1–7, 1919 | Manifesto and program. Constitution. Report to the Communist International | |
| Second | New York | July 13–18, 1920 | First after the departure of the Michigan and Ruthenberg factions; The Communist Vol. II #8 Aug 1, 1920 | |
| Third | New York | February 1921 |
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding | Chicago | August 31 – September 5, 1919 | Founds Communist Labor Party; Minutes of the Founding Convention of the Communist Labor Party of America; Constitution of the Communist Labor Party of America at Early American Marxism | ||
| Joint Unity | May 26–31, 1920 | The CLP and the Ruthenberg group of the CPA merge into the United Communist Party Program and constitution of the United Communist Party of America. | |||
| Second | December 24, 1920 – January 2, 1921 |
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joint Unity | May 15–28, 1921 | CPA and UCP merge | ||
| Second | Bridgman, Michigan | August 17–22, 1922 | Raided by the Justice Department Reds in America; the present status of the revolutionary movement in the U. S. based on documents seized by the authorities in the raid upon the convention of the Communist party at Bridgman, Mich., Aug. 22, 1922, together with descriptions of numerous connections and associations of the Communists among the Radicals, Progressives, and Pinks | |
| Third | New York | April 7, 1923 | Dissolves underground CPA into aboveground Workers Party of America |
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founding | New York | December 23–26, 1921 | Merges the Workers Council, the CPAs aboveground American Labor Alliance and other groups to form the Workers Party of America Program and constitution, Workers Party of America, adopted at national convention, New York City, December 24, 25, 26, 1921 | |
| Second | New York | December 24–26, 1922 | Constitution of the Workers Party of America, as amended by the Second National Convention, New York December 24-25 and 26, 1922 | |
| Third | Chicago | December 30, 1923 – January 2, 1924 | The second year of the Workers Party of America report of the Central Executive Committee to the Third National Convention held in Chicago, Ill., Dec. 30, 31, 1923 and Jan. 1, 2, 1924 : theses, program, resolutions. Program and constitution | |
| Nominating | Chicago | July 10, 1924 | Nominates William Z. Foster for President and Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President |
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth | Chicago | August 21–30, 1925 | Changes name to Workers (Communist) Party, Ruthenberg minority given control of party by Comintern representative The fourth national convention of the Workers (Communist) Party of America : Report of the Central Executive Committee to the 4th national convention ...; From the Third Through the Fourth Convention of the Workers (Communist) Party of America | |
| Fifth | New York | August 31 – September 6, 1927 | Confirms Jay Lovestone as Executive Secretary and Lovestone group as majority on party organs | |
| Nominating | New York | May 25–27, 1928 | Nominates William Z. Foster for President and Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President Acceptance speeches; The platform of the class struggle; national platform of the Workers (communist) party, 1928. |
| Convention | City | Date | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sixth | New York | March 4–10, 1929 | Adopts current name. Lovestone faction wins majority, but replaced by Gitlow as Executive Secretary by the Comintern | ||
| Seventh | New York | June 21–25, 1930 | Elects Earl Browder General Secretary | ||
| Nominating | Chicago | May 28–29, 1932 | Nominates William Z. Foster for President and James Ford for Vice President | ||
| Eighth | Cleveland | April 2–8, 1934 | Report of the Central Committee to the Eighth Convention of the Communist Party of the USA, Held in Cleveland, Ohio, April 2–8, 1934. | ||
| Ninth | New York | June 24–28, 1936 | Report of the Central Committee to the ninth National Convention of the Communist Party of the U.S.A. | ||
| Tenth | New York | May 27–31, 1938 | Report to the Tenth National Convention of the Communist Party on Behalf of the Central Committee. | ||
| Eleventh | New York | May 30–June 2, 1940 | |||
| Special | New York | November 16, 1940 | |||
| Twelfth | New York | May 20–22, 1944 | Changes name to Communist Political Association; The road ahead to victory and lasting peace, | ||
| Thirteenth | New York | July 26–28, 1945 | |||
| Fourteenth | New York | August 2–6, 1948 | Endorses Henry Agard Wallace for President; Eugene Dennis indicts the Wall Street conspirators. | ||
| Fifteenth | New York | December 28–30, 1950 | What it means to be a Communist | ||
| Sixteenth | New York | February 9–12, 1957 | |||
| Seventeenth | New York | December 10–13, 1959 | |||
| Eighteenth | New York | June 22–26, 1966 | |||
| Nineteenth | New York | April 30 – May 4, 1969 | |||
| Twentieth | New York | February 18–21, 1972 | Toward Chicano liberation; the Communist Party position. | ||
| Twenty-first | Chicago | June 26–29, 1975 | |||
| Twenty-second | Detroit | August 23–26, 1979 | Resolution on the path to native American liberation : adopted at the 22nd Convention, CPUSA, August 23-26, 1979. | ||
| Twenty-third | Cleveland | November 10–13, 1983 | |||
| Twenty-fourth | Chicago | August 13–16, 1987 | |||
| Twenty-fifth | Cleveland | December 5–8, 1991 | First convention after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the failed August coup | ||
| Twenty-sixth | Cleveland | March 1–3, 1996 | First convention after the dissolution of the Soviet Union | ||
| Twenty-seventh | Milwaukee | July 6–8, 2001 | First convention after the death of Gus Hall; "Bill of Rights Socialism" becomes policy; archived website | ||
| Twenty-eighth | Chicago | July 1–3, 2005 | Archived web page | ||
| Twenty-ninth | New York | May 21–23, 2010 | Convention web page | ||
| Chicago | June 13–15, 2014 | Convention web page | |||
| Chicago | June 21-23, 2019 | Convention web page | |||
| Thirty-second | Chicago | June 7-9, 2024 | Convention web page |