Philip Foner

Who was Philip Foner?

Philip Sheldon Foner was an American Marxist labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books, and wrote extensively on what were at the time academically unpopular themes, such as the role of radicals, blacks, and women in American history. In 1941, Foner became a public figure when he was stripped of his teaching position at City College of New York over his political views. Foner is best remembered for his massive 10-volume History of the Labor Movement in the United States, published between 1947 and 1994, and for the 5-volume collection The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass. His scholarship, publications and political affiliations were on the far left. He denied being a member of the Communist Party but he lost an academic position after accusations of being a Communist. His nephew Eric Foner refers to "Communist-oriented historians like Herbert Aptheker and my uncle Philip Foner."