Karsner, David, 1889-1941

David Fulton Karsner (1889-1941) was an American journalist and biographer. After working on newspapers in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City, he became managing editor of the socialist newspaper The New York Call. He wrote books about his associate Eugene V. Debs, the socialist leader and presidential candidate, and biographies of Andrew Jackson and others.

From the guide to the David Fulton Karsner papers, 1912-1929, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

David Fulton Karsner (1889-1941) was an American journalist and biographer.

After working on newspapers in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York City, he became managing editor of the socialist newspaper The New York Call. He wrote books about his associate Eugene V. Debs, the socialist leader and presidential candidate, and biographies of Andrew Jackson and others.

From the description of David Fulton Karsner papers, 1912-1929. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122580757

David Fulton Karsner (1889-1941), socialist activist, author and newspaperman, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Educated at the McDonough School in Baltimore, Karsner began his journalistic career in Chicago by 1907. There he developed an interest in socialism through his association with Upton Sinclair, and became acquainted with Clarence Darrow, Carl Sandburg, Jack London and other notable leftists. In 1911 Karsner relocated East and worked for a number of newspapers, including the New York Tribune, the Philadelphia Ledger and the New York Daily News . He served as Sunday editor and then managing editor of the Socialist Party's newspaper, The New York Call . In 1918, the Call assigned Karsner to cover the trial, United States of America v. William D. Haywood, et al., in which 166 members of the Industrial Workers of the World were charged and convicted of impeding the war effort under the 1917 Espionage Act. The case was tried in the District Court of the United States, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division in Chicago.

Karsner married Rose Greenberg, a Romanian-born Socialist with whom he had a daughter, Walta (named for Walt Whitman). After the marriage dissolved, Karsner married Esther Eberson. (Rose would later marry James P. Cannon, the leader of U.S. Trotskyism.)

Karsner wrote numerous biographies, including two volumes on the socialist leader and five-time presidential candidate, Eugene V. Debs, who became a close friend. Karsner collaborated with the aging Debs on his only published book, Walls and Bars, a prison memoir.

When he died of a heart attack at age 51 on February 20, 1941, Karsner was employed as a copyreader on the New York Post .

Among Karsner's works are: Debs: His Authorized Life and Letters from Woodstock Prison to Atlanta (1919); Horace Traubel: His Life and Work (1919); Talks with Debs in Terre Haute (and Letters from Lindlahr) (1922); Sixteen Authors to One (1928); Andrew Jackson: The Gentle Savage (1929);and Silver Dollar: The Story of the Tabors (1932).

From the guide to the David Karsner Papers, 1918-1930, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)