End Poverty in California

File:Logo of EPIC News.svg

Logo of End Poverty in California's official newspaper

End Poverty in California (EPIC) was a political campaign started in 1934 by socialist writer Upton Sinclair (best known as author of The Jungle). The movement formed the basis for Sinclair's campaign for governor of California in 1934. The plan called for a massive public works program, sweeping tax reform, and guaranteed pensions. It gained major popular support, with thousands joining End Poverty Leagues across the state. EPIC never came to fruition due to Sinclair's defeat in the 1934 election, but is seen as an influence on New Deal programs enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Plan

The EPIC Plan, published in The Lie Factory Starts, 1934

Sinclair laid out his vision for EPIC in his 1933 book I, Governor of California, and How I ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future.<ref name=iGovernor>Template:Cite book</ref> Specifically, the plan called for state seizure of idle factories and farm land where the owner had failed to pay property taxes. Next, the government would hire the unemployed to work at the factories and on the farms on a basis of production for use instead of production for profit. The farms and factories would then operate as self-sufficient, worker-run co-ops.

EPIC also called for the implementation of California's first state income tax. The tax was to be progressive, with the wealthiest being taxed at 30%. The plan would also have increased inheritance taxes and instituted a 4% tax on stock transfers. EPIC also included government-provided pensions for the old, disabled, and widowed. To implement EPIC, Sinclair called for the creation of three new government agencies: the California Authority for Land (CAL), the California Authority for Production (CAP), and the California Authority for Money (CAM). CAL was to implement the plan for seizure and cultivation of unused farm lands. CAP was to do the same for idle factories. CAM meanwhile was to be used to finance CAL and CAP by issuing scrip to workers and issuing bonds for the purchase of lands, factories, and machinery.

Campaign

Front page of EPIC News following Sinclair's primary victory, August 29, 1934

After two previous unsuccessful runs for the U.S. Congress as a member of the Socialist Party, Sinclair was encouraged by the election of President Roosevelt in 1932 to switch his affiliation to the Democratic Party in September 1933. A grassroots movement soon formed in support of EPIC, with thousands joining End Poverty Leagues across the state. A weekly newspaper, the EPIC News, appeared in support of the plan, and reached a circulation of nearly a million by the time of the gubernatorial primary election in August 1934. Several EPIC-supporting candidates won their primaries for California State Assembly and Senate seats. Sinclair did not receive full support from the party establishment, however, and Roosevelt refused to endorse him, seeing the EPIC plan as too radical.Template:Citation needed Sinclair's opponents claimed that he sought to "Sovietize California".<ref name="washington">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Socialist Party in California and nationwide refused to allow its members to be active in any other party including the Democratic Party and expelled him, along with socialists who supported his California campaign. The expulsions destroyed the Socialist Party in California.<ref>James N. Gregory, "Upton Sinclair's 1934 EPIC Campaign: Anatomy of a Political Movement." Labor 12#4 (2015): 51-81.</ref>

Sinclair on the cover of Time magazine, October 22, 1934

EPIC faced major opposition by the Republican Party and major media figures. According to Greg Mitchell's 2017 article on EPIC in The Nation, opponents of EPIC "organized the most lavish and creative dirty-tricks campaign ever seen—one that was to become a landmark in American politics" involving "turning over a major campaign to outside advertising, publicity, media and fundraising consultants for the first time."<ref name=Nation />

The heads of Hollywood's major movie studios strongly opposed EPIC, largely due to Sinclair's proposal to hand over idle movie studio lots to unemployed film workers to make movies of their own. The studio heads reacted by threatening to move film operations to Florida and deducting money from employee paychecks to finance the campaign of Sinclair's Republican opponent for governor, Frank Merriam. Two of California's most influential figures in print media, William Randolph Hearst and Harry Chandler, also used their papers to support Merriam's campaign and attack Sinclair.

In the face of this coordinated opposition, and without the backing of Roosevelt, Sinclair fell behind Merriam in the polls. On November 6, 1934, Merriam defeated Sinclair with 1,138,620 (48.9%) to Sinclair's 879,537 (37.8%). Even in defeat, Sinclair received twice as many votes as any previous Democratic candidate for governor. In addition, two dozen candidates running on the EPIC platform were elected to the state legislature, including Culbert Olson, who became governor four years later.<ref name=Nation />

Movement

The EPIC movement continued after Sinclair's defeat. It "recalled a mayor, kicked out a district attorney, replaced the governor with one of our choice" between 1934 and 1938, according to Robert A. Heinlein, who by then was deputy publisher of the EPIC News. Heinlein also ran for the State Assembly in Hollywood and Beverly Hills in 1938. He lost, causing him to take up science fiction writing to pay off his campaign debt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sinclair's EPIC platform, especially the production for use plank,<ref name=phipps>Template:Cite web</ref> inspired the formation of "Commonwealth Builders Inc." in the state of Washington, which pursued an "End Poverty in Washington" campaign that elected 35 state legislators and a U.S. Senator, Lewis B. Schwellenbach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The organization would later become the Washington Commonwealth Federation.<ref name=phipps/>

During the 1936 Democratic Party presidential primaries, an EPIC slate nominally pledged to Sinclair for president was registered in California;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> they actually supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, but opposed U.S. Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, who headed the president's slate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Among the EPIC slate's candidates were Sinclair, his wife Mary Craig, geographer Peveril Meigs, labor leader Herbert Stanley Calvert, and State Assemblymen Ben Rosenthal, Ernest O. Voigt, and Amos Franklin Glover. The slate lost to Roosevelt's by a margin of eight to one.<ref name=statement>Template:Cite book</ref>

Legacy

Despite Sinclair's defeat, EPIC is recognized as having been very influential in shaping Roosevelt's New Deal programs.<ref name="washington"/> In late 1934, Harry Hopkins, a senior adviser to Roosevelt who went on to oversee many New Deal programs, proposed an "End Poverty in America" campaign that The New York Times wrote “differs from Sinclair's plan in detail, but not in principle.”<ref name=Nation>Template:Cite web</ref> Consumer and producer cooperative programs administered by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and Farm Security Administration can be at least partly attributed to EPIC.<ref name=story>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, universal basic income advocate and former Mayor of Stockton Michael Tubbs created "End Poverty in California" (EPIC), a nonprofit antipoverty organization with the same name and acronym that was inspired by Sinclair's campaign.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sinclair's movement is thought to have been extremely influential in California politics, setting the tone for campaigns between state Democrats and Republicans for decades to come.<ref name=story/>

Candidates supported

Statewide office

• Upton Sinclair, candidate for governor of California (1934),<ref name=EPIC/> muckraker, author of several novels including The Jungle
• Sheridan Downey, U.S. Senator from California (1939–1950), candidate for lieutenant governor of California (1934)<ref name=EPIC>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Patrick J. Cooney, candidate for California Attorney General (1934)<ref name=EPIC/>
• Erroll O. Shour, candidate for California Attorney General (1934)<ref name=epicnews>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Frank C. Jordan, California Secretary of State (1911–1940)<ref name=EPIC/>
• Will H. Kindig, Los Angeles City Council member (1935–1937),<ref name=LA/> candidate for California State Controller (1934)<ref name=EPIC/>
• William A. Ward, candidate for California State Treasurer (1934)<ref name=epicnews/>
• George Edward Acret, candidate for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California (1934)<ref name=EPIC/>
• John F. Dondero, candidate for California State Board of Equalization (1934)<ref name=factory>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Fred R. Drinkhouse, write-in candidate for California State Board of Equalization (1934)<ref name=epicnews/>
• Orfa Jean Shontz, member of the California State Board of Equalization (1935–1939)<ref name=EPIC/>

State legislative office

• James J. Boyle, California Assemblyman (1933–1939)<ref name=Olson>Template:Cite news</ref>
• James M. Cassidy, California Assemblyman (1933–1941)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• John Gee Clark, California Assemblyman (1935–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• Leon M. Donihue, California Assemblyman (1935–1939)<ref name=Eastbay>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Ralph W. Evans, California Assemblyman (1935–1937)<ref name=Olson/>
• Gene Flint, California Assemblyman (1935–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• Lee E. Geyer, U.S. Representative (1939–1941), California Assemblyman (1935–1937)<ref name=Campaign>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Wilbur F. Gilbert, California Assemblyman (1935–1941)<ref name=Olson/>
• Amos Franklin Glover, California Assemblyman (1935–1937)<ref name=Olson/>
• Augustus F. Hawkins, U.S. Representative (1963–1991), California Assemblyman (1935–1963), first African American congressman from California<ref name=Campaign/>
• Charles A. Hunt, California Assemblyman (1933–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• William Moseley Jones, Speaker of the California State Assembly (1937–1938), California Assemblyman (1933–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• Frank D. Laughlin, California Assemblyman (1935–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• Elmer E. Lore, California Assemblyman (1935–1941)<ref name=Olson/>
• John D. McCarthy, California Assemblyman (1933–1937)<ref name=Olson/>
• Walter McGovern, California State Senator (1935–1939)<ref name=factory/>Template:Efn
• Culbert Olson, Governor of California (1939–1943), California State Senator (1935–1939)<ref name=Olson/>
• Ellis E. Patterson, U.S. Representative (1945–1947), Lieutenant Governor of California (1939–1943), California Assemblyman (1933–1939)<ref name=Bardin>Template:Cite news</ref>
• John B. Pelletier, California Assemblyman (1935–1946)<ref name=Olson/>
• Fred Reaves, California Assemblyman (1935–1940)<ref name=Olson/>
• Paul A. Richie, California Assemblyman (1935–1943)<ref name=Olson/>
• Ben Rosenthal, California Assemblyman (1935–1940)<ref name=Olson/>
• Ernest O. Voigt, California Assemblyman (1935–1943)<ref name=Olson/>
• Jerry Voorhis, U.S. Representative (1937–1947), candidate for State Assembly (1934)<ref name=Campaign/>
• Charles J. Wagner, California Assemblyman (1935–1937)<ref name=Eastbay/>
• Ralph Lewis Welsh, California Assemblyman (1935–1939)<ref name=Olson/>

Local office

• John W. Baumgartner, Los Angeles City Council member (1933–1945)<ref name=LA/>
• G. Vernon Bennett, Los Angeles City Council member (1935–1951)<ref name=LA/>
• James Marshall Carter, Federal judge (1949–1979), candidate for Los Angeles City Council (1935)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Parley Parker Christensen, Los Angeles City Council member (1935–1937, 1939–1949), Farmer-Labor candidate for President of the United States (1920)<ref name=LA/>
• Charles W. Dempster, California Assemblyman (1931–1935),<ref name=LA>Template:Cite news</ref> candidate for Los Angeles City Council (1935), served in three separate state legislatures (Montana, Idaho, and California)
• John Anson Ford, Los Angeles County supervisor (1934–1958)<ref name=Campaign/>
• James M. Hyde, Los Angeles City Council member (1931–1939)<ref name=LA/>
• Herbert C. Legg, Los Angeles County supervisor (1934–1938, 1950–1958)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Delamere Francis McCloskey, Los Angeles City Council member (1941–1945),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> candidate for Los Angeles municipal judge (1935)
• James B. McSheehy, San Francisco Board of Supervisors member (1918–1942)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Supporters

Elected officials

• Franklin Pierce Buyer, Los Angeles City Council member (1933–1939)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn
• Charles J. Colden, U.S. Representative (1933–1938)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Thomas F. Ford, U.S. Representative (1933–1945)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• John S. McGroarty, U.S. Representative (1935–1939)<ref name=Campaign/>
• Byron N. Scott, U.S. Representative (1935–1939)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Efn
• Henry A. Wallace, United States Secretary of Agriculture (1933–1940)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• J. Stitt Wilson, former Socialist mayor of Berkeley (1911–1913)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Activists

• Bill Busick, former chairman of the Socialist Party of California (1930–1932)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Herbert Stanley Calvert, labor leader<ref name=statement/>
• Ralph C. Dills, campaign manager for Lee Geyer,<ref name=Campaign/> future California Assemblyman (1939–1949), California State Senator (1967–1998)
• George H. McLain, pension promoter<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Kate Richards O'Hare, activist, chairwoman of the End Poverty League<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• John C. Packard, attorney of Upton Sinclair, future chairman of the California Industrial Welfare Commission (1940–1947)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Performers

• Charlie Chaplin, actor<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Jean Harlow, actress<ref>Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow; Eve Golden, 1991</ref>
• Groucho Marx, comedian<ref name=Giov/>
• Will Rogers, humorist<ref name=Campaign/>

Writers

• Reuben W. Borough, editor of EPIC News,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> candidate for U.S. Senate (1952)
• Gene Fowler, author, co-founder of 'Author's League for Sinclair'<ref name=Campaign/>
• Robert A. Heinlein, candidate for State Assembly (1938),<ref>(afterword to For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs, 2004 edition, p. 247, and the story "A Bathroom of Her Own"). Also, an unfortunate juxtaposition of events had a Konrad Henlein making headlines in the Sudetenlands.</ref> author of several science fiction novels including Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers
• Lillian Hellman, playwright<ref name=Giov>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Aldous Huxley, author<ref name=Campaign/>
• Nunnally Johnson, screenwriter<ref name=Campaign/>
• Dudley Nichols, screenwriter<ref name=Campaign/>
• Dorothy Parker, poet<ref name=Giov/>
• Frank Scully, journalist, co-founder of 'Author's League for Sinclair'<ref name=Campaign/>
• Mary Craig Sinclair, writer, wife of Upton Sinclair<ref name=statement/>
• Donald Ogden Stewart, screenwriter<ref name=Giov/>
• Dorothy Thompson, journalist, co-founder of 'Author's League for Sinclair'<ref name=Campaign/>
• Rob Wagner, editor and publisher of Script<ref name=Campaign/>

Miscellaneous

• Peveril Meigs, geographer<ref name=statement/>
• Stanley Mosk, lawyer, future Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1964–2001)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• 1934 California gubernatorial election
• Washington Commonwealth Federation
• Ham and Eggs Movement
• Townsend Plan

Sources

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite web

Further reading

• Template:Cite book
• Wagner, Rob Leicester. Hollywood Bohemia: The Roots of Progressive Politics in Rob Wagner's Script (Janaway, 2016) (Template:ISBN)
• Gregory, James N. "Upton Sinclair's 1934 EPIC Campaign: Anatomy of a Political Movement." Labor 12#4 (2015): 51–81.
• Mitchell, Greg. The campaign of the century: Upton Sinclair's race for governor of California and the birth of media politics (New York: Random House, 1992).
• Sinclair, Upton. The Literary Digest, October 13, 1934 End Poverty in California: The EPIC Movement
• Sinclair, Upton. Gregory et al., eds. "Upton Sinclair's End Poverty in California Campaign". washington.edu Mapping American Social Movements Through the 20th Century project (U of Washington).
• Star, Kevin (1997). Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California. Oxford UP. Template:ISBN.

External links

• Upton Sinclair's EPIC (End Poverty in California) Campaign at the University of Washington
  • Campaign Story - Upton Sinclair's EPIC Movement
  • Who Voted for Sinclair? Upton Sinclair's End Poverty in California Campaign
  • Upton Sinclair's EPIC News
  • EPIC News Cartoons
  • Anti-Sinclair Political Cartoons
  • EPIC Campaign Pamphlets (Pro and Con)
  • EPIC Campaign News Coverage
  • End Poverty in Washington State (EPIW)
  • "We Have A Plan" a film by Lyn Goldfarb
• "Democrats back Upton Sinclair for Governor--outtakes." Fox Movietone News Story 23-308, September 20, 1934.