59 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
59 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
**Albert Goldman** (1897 - 1960) was a civil rights lawyer and
|
|
[communist](Communism "wikilink") activist.
|
|
|
|
## Biography
|
|
|
|
### Childhood and Young Adulthood
|
|
|
|
Albert was born in 1897 in Minsk, Belarus (then the Russian Empire) and
|
|
to a Jewish family who emigrated to the US in 1904, settling in Chicago.
|
|
He attended school in Chicago and left for Cincinnati to study as a
|
|
rabbi in a Hebrew college. He was a star athlete, being captain of the
|
|
running and basketball teams. He graduated in 1919 and worked as a
|
|
tailor, being exposed to socialist ideas and joining the
|
|
[IWW](Industrial_Workers_of_the_World "wikilink") and Communist Party of
|
|
America. He went on to study at the Northwestern University Law School,
|
|
from which he graduated in 1925.\[1\]
|
|
|
|
### Communist Activism
|
|
|
|
Upon becoming a lawyer, he began to work for the legal defense of the
|
|
communist party, defending political radicals and trade unionists who
|
|
had broken the law from imprisonment. He traveled to the USSR in 1931,
|
|
and became disillusioned with Stalinism, and soon became a Trotskyist,
|
|
leading to his expulsion from the Communist Party. He joined the
|
|
Communist League of America, notably representing the CLA-led
|
|
[Minneapolis Teamsters strikers in
|
|
1934](Minneapolis_Teamsters_Strike_\(1934\) "wikilink"). He advocated
|
|
for a coalition of anti-stalinist leftists, but failed to gather support
|
|
for his position.
|
|
|
|
He later became the lawyer of [Leon Trotsky](Leon_Trotsky "wikilink")
|
|
who had been exiled in Mexico. Later defending him in the Dewey
|
|
Commission, led by [John Dewey](John_Dewey "wikilink"). He also worked
|
|
to translate and transfer Trotsky's writing collection to Harvard
|
|
University. He defended socialist workers for violating the Smith Act
|
|
during [World War II](World_War_II "wikilink") and became increasingly
|
|
critical of Trotskyism, arguing that Stalinism grew in strength and
|
|
World War II would not trigger a revolutionary wave like [World War
|
|
I](World_War_I "wikilink"). He was imprisoned and banned for being a
|
|
lawyer, leading to him opening a car rental business. He ran for mayor
|
|
of Chicago on a socialist platform but lost.\[2\]
|
|
|
|
### Death
|
|
|
|
Albert developed health problems towards the end of the 1950s, leading
|
|
to his death from cancer in 1960. His papers reside at the Wisconsin
|
|
Historical Society, located on the campus of the University of
|
|
Wisconsin, Madison.\[3\]
|
|
|
|
## References
|
|
|
|
<references />
|
|
|
|
1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Goldman_(politician)#Early_years>
|
|
2. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Goldman_(politician)>
|
|
3. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Goldman_(politician)#Death_and_legacy> |