Der Hammer, Workers' Monthly, April 1934
The Yiddish-speaking community played a prominent role in leftist political activism in the U.S. during the early twentieth century. Der Hammer (The Hammer) was a Yiddish-language monthly magazine associated with Morgen Freiheit (Morning Freedom), a communist daily established in New York City in 1922. During the late 1920s and 1930s, prominent artists, most of whom were Jewish, contributed cover illustrations and political cartoons to Der Hammer, including William Gropper, its most frequent contributor. By contributing illustrations to communist periodicals with a broad circulation, artists with leftist political leanings were able to circulate their art and ideas to a large audience.