Gil Green (politician)
Encyclopedia
Gil Green was a leading figure in the Communist Party of the United States of America until 1991. He is best remembered as the leader of the party's youth section, the Young Communist League
, during the tumultuous decade of the 1930s.
in 1906. His parents were working class
Jewish immigrants from the Russian empire
.
of the Communist International in Moscow
.
Later in 1935, the 6th World Congress of the Young Communist International
(YCI) elected Green to the Executive Committee and Secretariat of that body.
Green remained a prominent youth leader of the American Communist Party throughout the depression decade, attending the 1936 World Youth Congress held in Geneva
and serving as one of three YCI delegates to a meeting with the rival Socialist Youth International
that drew up a unity agreement with regards to aiding the Spanish Republic
in the ongoing Spanish Civil War
. Green was also a delegate to the 1938 World Youth Congress held in the United States at Vassar College
.
Leaving the communist youth movement at the end of the decade, Green was selected as a member of the National Board of the Communist Party, USA. He served as the party's top official, district organizer, of the key party district of New York from 1941 to 1945. Following the fall of his patron Earl Browder in 1945, Green was moved out of New York to become district organizer in Chicago
. He was returned to New York City and a place on the party's National Board in 1947.
Green's status as a top official of the Communist Party made him a target for prosecution during the McCarthy era
. Along with 11 other top party officials, Green was indicted in July 1948 under the Smith Act
and convicted and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment following a lengthy 1949 trial. Unlike his co-defendants Green became a fugitive from justice following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the verdict in 1951, remaining in the underground until voluntarily surrendering to authorities on February 27, 1956, Thereafter, Green was incarcerated in federal prison until July 29, 1961.
In the 1960s Green again returned prominence as the Communist Party's Chairman in New York, but he fell afoul of party leader Gus Hall
in 1968 when he joined a section of party members who vocally criticized the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia
. Thereafter, Green quit the National Committee, although he remained a member of the Communist Party for another two decades.
In 1991, following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union
, Green left the party and helped found the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
.
. He was 90 years old at the time of his death.
Green's papers reside at the Tamiment Library of New York University
in New York City.
Young Communist League, USA
The Young Communist League USA is the fraternal youth organization of the Communist Party USA. Although the name of the group has changed a number of times over the years, it dates its lineage back to 1920, shortly after the establishment of the first communist parties in America.-Early years:The...
, during the tumultuous decade of the 1930s.
Early years
Gil Green was born Gilbert Greenberg in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1906. His parents were working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
Jewish immigrants from the Russian empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
.
Political career
Green joined the Young Communist League in 1924 and rose through its ranks, becoming its national secretary in 1931. In 1935 Green was named one of three communist youth leaders named to the Executive CommitteeExecutive Committee of the Communist International
The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI, was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body...
of the Communist International in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Later in 1935, the 6th World Congress of the Young Communist International
Young Communist International
The Young Communist International was the parallel international youth organization affiliated with the Communist International .-International socialist youth organization before World War I:...
(YCI) elected Green to the Executive Committee and Secretariat of that body.
Green remained a prominent youth leader of the American Communist Party throughout the depression decade, attending the 1936 World Youth Congress held in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and serving as one of three YCI delegates to a meeting with the rival Socialist Youth International
Socialist Youth International
Socialist Youth International was an international union of socialist youth organisations. It was founded in Hamburg 1923, through the merger of the Young Workers' International and the International Community of Socialist Youth Organisations...
that drew up a unity agreement with regards to aiding the Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in the ongoing Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Green was also a delegate to the 1938 World Youth Congress held in the United States at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
.
Leaving the communist youth movement at the end of the decade, Green was selected as a member of the National Board of the Communist Party, USA. He served as the party's top official, district organizer, of the key party district of New York from 1941 to 1945. Following the fall of his patron Earl Browder in 1945, Green was moved out of New York to become district organizer in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He was returned to New York City and a place on the party's National Board in 1947.
Green's status as a top official of the Communist Party made him a target for prosecution during the McCarthy era
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
. Along with 11 other top party officials, Green was indicted in July 1948 under the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
and convicted and sentenced to a long term of imprisonment following a lengthy 1949 trial. Unlike his co-defendants Green became a fugitive from justice following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the verdict in 1951, remaining in the underground until voluntarily surrendering to authorities on February 27, 1956, Thereafter, Green was incarcerated in federal prison until July 29, 1961.
In the 1960s Green again returned prominence as the Communist Party's Chairman in New York, but he fell afoul of party leader Gus Hall
Gus Hall
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Hallberg , was a leader and Chairman of the Communist Party USA and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. As a labor leader, Hall was closely associated with the so-called "Little Steel" Strike of 1937, an effort to unionize the nation's smaller, regional steel...
in 1968 when he joined a section of party members who vocally criticized the Soviet Union's invasion of Czechoslovakia
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and her main satellite states in the Warsaw Pact – Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic , Hungary and Poland – invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalization...
. Thereafter, Green quit the National Committee, although he remained a member of the Communist Party for another two decades.
In 1991, following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Green left the party and helped found the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism is a democratic socialist group in the United States which originated in 1991 as the Committees of Correspondence, a moderate, reformist wing of the Communist Party USA...
.
Death and legacy
Green died on May 4, 1997 at a nursing home in Ann Arbor, MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
. He was 90 years old at the time of his death.
Green's papers reside at the Tamiment Library of New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in New York City.
Works
- Marxism and the World Today. New York: New York State Committee, Communist Party, n.d.
- Youth Confronts the Blue Eagle. New York: Youth Publishers, November 1933.
- United We Stand: For Peace and Socialism. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
- Young Communists and the Unity of Youth: Speech Delivered at the 7th World Congress of the Communist International. New York : Youth Publishers, October 1935.
- Facing the 8th Convention of the Young Communist League: Report, Delivered Jan. 1, 1937. New York : Young Communist League, n.d. [1937].
- Make Your Dreams Come True: Report to the 8th National Convention of the Young Communist League, New York City, May 2, 1937. New York: Workers Library Publishers, June 1937.
- The truth about Soviet Russia. New York: New Age Publishers, March 1938.
- America Must Act Now! New York: Workers Library Publishers, November 1941.
- New York State's Wartime Election. New York: New York State Communist Party, September 1942.
- Marxism and the World Today. New York: New York State Committee, Communist Party, n.d. [1944?].
- The Enemy Forgotten. New York, International Publishers, 1956.
- Revolution Cuban Style: Impressions of a Recent Visit. New York, International Publishers, 1970.
- Terrorism: Is It Revolutionary? New York: New Outlook Publishers, 1970.
- The New Radicalism: Anarchist or Marxist? New York: International Publishers, 1971.
- What's happening to labor. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
- Portugal's Revolution. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
- Cuba at 25: The Continuing Revolution. New York: International Publishers, 1983.
- Cold War Fugitive: A Personal Story of the McCarthy Years. New York: International Publishers, 1984.
External links
- Guide to the Gil Green Papers 1949-1993 at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner ArchivesTamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner ArchivesThe Tamiment Library is a research library at New York University that documents radical and left history, with strengths in the histories of communism, socialism, anarchism, the New Left, the Civil Rights Movement, and utopian experiments. The Robert F. Wagner Archives, which is also housed in...
.