 | |
| Predecessor | Charles H. Kerr & Co. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886 |
| Founder | Charles H. Kerr |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Chicago |
| Distribution | AK Press, PM Press (special editions) |
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | Radical politics |
| Official website | charleshkerr |
The Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company is an American publishing company. The company was established in Chicago, Illinois, in 1886 as Charles H. Kerr & Co. by Charles Hope Kerr, originally to promote his Unitarian views. As Kerr's personal interests moved from religion to populism to Marxism and he became interested in the labor movement, the company's publications took a similar turn. During the 1920s Kerr ceded control of the firm to the Proletarian Party of America, which continued the imprint as its official publishing house throughout its four decades of organized existence.
Control moved again during the decade of the 1960s, this time to a circle of Chicago radicals with close affinity to the ideas of the Industrial Workers of the World, who gave the company its current operating moniker. The Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company remains in operation in the second decade of the 21st century, making it the oldest radical book publisher in America.
The Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company continues to publish books. Its most recent is Make Love, Not War: Surrealism 1968!, with essays by Penelope Rosemont, Don LaCoss and Michael Lowy.