John Mihelic

John Mihelic, an active member of the Socialist Party of America and a Communist Party member, compiled a sizable collection of socialist literature.  Mihelic's collection includes work from Daniel De Leon, the man credited with bringing socialist democratic concepts to mainstream America. Mihelic defined himself as a poet for the labor cause, condemning the perceived evils of capitalism.  His poems exemplify the socialist notion that a better way of life can be realized through union organization. Mihelic actively raised money for the International Workers of the World and their General Defense Committee in Chicago. The committee defended those IWW members incarcerated after the Centralia Massacre in 1919.