Berkeley Mayor J. Stitt Wilson: Christian Socialist, Georgist, Feminist

Stephen E. Barton

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 2016, vol. 75, issue 1, 193-216

Abstract: J. Stitt Wilson (1868–1942) was a leading American Christian Socialist. When he was elected Mayor of the City of Berkeley in 1911 he had to shift focus from the broad moral and economic case for socialism to the specifics of municipal reform. He drew on the ideas of Henry George, feminist urban reformers in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the settlement house movement, and progressive and socialist mayors who preceded him. He became a leader in both the Socialist Party and the single-tax movement in California from 1911 to 1917, working with the shared belief that society, as a society, creates tremendous value that should be used for public benefit rather than taken as private profit. His story illustrates the creativity that can result when people are active in and learn from multiple social movements as well as the difficulties that can result from the tensions within and between movements. It illustrates, as well, some of the varied strands of the urban reform movement that helped create modern city government in America.

Date: 2016
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