Frank Lovell

After he had left the campus, Lovell earned his living as a seaman, chiefly on the West Coast of the United States.

In the 1930s, Lovell came into contact with Trotskyist movement led by James P. Cannon and he became one of the first members of the Socialist Workers Party, and in 1942 he was elected to its National Committee.

As a seaman, Lovell was active in the Sailors Union of the Pacific and the leader of many strikes.

Lovell ran for Governor of Michigan on the SWP ticket in 1954, 1958 and 1964, and as candidate for Mayor of Detroit in 1953 amidst an atmosphere of McCarthyism.

In the early 1980s, Lovell, and several other members of the SWP, got into a sharp conflict with the new, younger party leadership under Jack Barnes.