Elmer Allison

In 1905, Elmer's sister, Hortense Allison, married his friend and party comrade Alfred Wagenknecht, an active leader of the radical Pike Street Branch directed by newspaper publisher Hermon F. Titus.

Together with Wagenknecht, Allison was briefly jailed in 1907 during the free speech fight between Seattle's Socialists and the city administration over the right to speak from soapboxes on public sidewalks.

Allison continued to fulfill the role of editor for this publication for some time, yielding the chief editorial post to James P. Cannon in August 1920 he arrived in Cleveland.

In 1921, Allison was elected Secretary of the American Labor Alliance, headquartered in New York, an auxiliary of the underground Communist Party of America which advocated an open, legalized existence and participation in political campaigns.

The group's founding convention, held in New York City in the first days of January 1922, elected Allison to the governing Central Executive Committee of the new organization.

Allison made at least one campaign for elective political office, running for New York State Senate in the 14th District on the ticket of the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926.