Louis Weinstock

Louis Weinstock (May 14, 1903 – November 26, 1994) was an American trade unionist and Communist Party leader.

Biography

Louis Weinstock was born near Tokaj, in a Jewish family.[1] Weinstock originally worked as a painter before he lost his job in the Great Depression and became involved in union organizing.[2] Weinstock became the secretary of the New York branch of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, where his leftist politics angered union leadership.[3] In 1932, Weinstock became head of the AFL Trade Union Committee for Unemployment Insurance and Relief.[4] In this position, he helped convince the AFL to support unemployment compensation for its members.[5] In July 1946, Weinstock became a member of the Communist Party national board.[6] Weinstock later served as the business manager of the Daily Worker.[7]In 1951, Mátyás Rákosi told Joseph Starobin that Weinstock was an FBI informant but American leaders in the Party did not believe the accusation.[8]

Weinstock was indicted under the Smith Act on June 20, 1950, along with twenty other leaders in the Party.[9] Following his arrest, a group of 40 trade union leaders formed the Trade Union Committee to Defend Louis Weinstock to support his legal defense.[10] On February 3, 1953, Weinstock was found guilty of violating the Smith Act and sentenced to three years in prison.[11] While in prison, Weinstock became friends with fellow inmate Dashiell Hammett and he later attended Hammett's funeral in 1961.[12] In August 1959, Weinstock was subpoenaed to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee with 10 other teachers from the Faculty of Social Science, as part of the Committee's investigation into Communist teachers.[13] Weinstock died on heart failure in 1994, in Redlands, California.[14]

References

  1. ^ Garlin, Sender (March 1952). "Louis Weinstock: Not for Sale". Jewish Life. 6 (5): 14.
  2. ^ Tomlins, Christopher L.; King, Andrew J., eds. (1992). Labor law in America : Historical and critical essays. The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 238. ISBN 0801843626.
  3. ^ One union : A history of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades, 1887-2003. Aspatore Books. 2004. p. 129. ISBN 158762172X.
  4. ^ Lorence, James J. (1996). Organizing the unemployed : Community and union activists in the industrial heartland. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 35. ISBN 0791429873.
  5. ^ Folsom, Franklin (1991). Impatient armies of the poor : The story of collective action by the unemployed, 1808-1942. Niwot, CO: The University Press of Colorado. p. 343. ISBN 0870811843.
  6. ^ Isserman, Maurice (1982). Which side were you on? : The American Communist Party during the Second World War. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. p. 235. ISBN 0819550590.
  7. ^ "Louis Weinstock, 91, A Top Communist And a Union Leader (Published 1994)". The New York Times. 1994-11-29. Retrieved 2025-09-23.
  8. ^ Hodos, George H. (1987). Show trials : Stalinist purges in Eastern Europe, 1948-1954. New York: Praeger Publishers. p. 169. ISBN 0275927830.
  9. ^ Lannon, Albert Vetere (1999). Second String Red : The Life of Al Lannon, American Communist. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 126. ISBN 0739100025.
  10. ^ "40 Unionists Form Weinstock Defense Body". The Daily Worker. July 31, 1951. p. 1.
  11. ^ Ranzal, Edward (February 4, 1953). "13 Secondary Reds Get Their Wish; Jail Sentences Instead of Russia". The New York Times. p. 1.
  12. ^ Bruccoli, Matthew J.; Layman, Richard, eds. (2002). Hardboiled mystery writers, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross Macdonald : A literary reference. New York: Carroll & Graf. p. 228. ISBN 0786710292.
  13. ^ Light, Robert E. (August 3, 1959). "Un--Americans set stage for attacks on teachers". National Guardian. p. 1.
  14. ^ "Louis Weinstock; Union, Communist Party Official". Los Angeles Times. 1994-11-30. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
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