Steve Nelson (activist)
Encyclopedia
Stjepan Mesaros, best known as Steve Nelson (1903 - 1993) was a Croatian-born American political activist. Nelson achieved public notoriety as the political commissar
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
in the Spanish Civil War
and a leading functionary of the Communist Party, USA. Nelson is best remembered for having been prosecuted and convicted under the Smith Act
in 1953.
, Croatia
on January 1, 1903 of ethnic Hungarian
extraction. The Communist Party of the United States would later claim he was born in Steelton, Pennsylvania
.)
Mesaros emigrated to the United States of America with his mother and three sisters 1919. He started working in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant. A succession of blue-collar jobs followed
. He went on to join the adult Workers (Communist) Party
in 1925.
He met Margaret Yaeger, a typist in the Pittsburgh office of the Party. They married and went to Detroit in 1925, where he worked in the auto industry as an assembly line worker and union organizer. In 1928 the Nelsons moved to New York City. Nelson studied marxism at the New York Workers' School and afterwards, with the onset of the Great Depression
, the Nelsons worked for the Communist Party full time.
Nelson organized the International Unemployment Day
demonstration on March 6, 1930, at which he, Joe Dallet and Oliver Law
were beaten up and arrested. Two weeks he was among the 75,000 demonstrators to demand unemployment insurance.
Nelson and his wife were sent to Moscow in 1931, he visited the International Lenin School
for two years. He was a courier for the Communist International (Comintern), delivering documents and funds to Germany, Switzerland and China. On return to the United States in 1933, they settled in Wilkes-Barre.
In 1937 he immediately tried to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
, but had to stay in Pennsylvania where he agitated coal miners. After the severe setback at Jarama
, Nelson, Joe Dallet and 23 others were allowed to fight in Spain. At first arrested by the French, they reached Spain climbing the Pyrenees
mountains and met the International Brigades
at Albacete
in May 1937.
Nelson started the war as political commissar
of the Lincoln Battalion. After heavy loses at Brunete the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and the George Washington Battalion were merged into the Lincoln-Washington Battalion. Mirko Markovicz, a Yugoslaw-American, was appointed as commander of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion and Nelson became his political commissar. In August 1937 the American forces were reorganized. Nelson was promoted to brigade commissar and Robert Hale Merriman
became brigade chief of staff.
Hans Amlie became commander of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion. In the fighting at Belchite
, which started very bad, only two soldiers of twenty-two survived a first attempt to take the church of the town. Nelson then led his men in a successful diversionary attack and Amlie's men could enter the fortified town. Nelson was shot in the face and leg, Merriman and Amlie received head wounds. After recovering in Valencia, Nelson was given the task to escort prominent visitors like John Bernard
, Dorothy Parker
and Ernest Hemingway
.
In the 1940s, Nelson rose to the top ranks of the communist party. After years on the West Coast, the Nelsons returned east, when he was elected to the National Board of the party. He settled in Pittsburgh as District Secretary of Western Pennsylvania.
the state and federal government.
Nelson initially received a 20-year prison sentence, $10,000 in fines and $13,000 in prosecution costs. He was jailed in Pittsburgh for seven months and then released on bail pending his appeal.
In 1953 he and five others were indicted under the Federal Smith Act. This time the find was 5 years and $10,000. All six were granted bail.
In 1956 in Pennsylvania v. Nelson, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Pennsylvania Sedition Act, saying that the Federal Smith Act superseded this and all similar state laws
In the same year testimony at the first trial was found to have been perjured and a new trial was granted. In 1957 the government dropped all charges against the defendants.
's revelations about Stalin. In 1963 he became the National Commander of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB)
In 1975 he retired with his beloved wife of 60 years to a home he had built in Truro
, Cape Cod
.
Political commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....
in the 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...
and a leading functionary of the Communist Party, USA. Nelson is best remembered for having been prosecuted and convicted 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...
in 1953.
Biography
Stjepan Mesaros ("Stephen Mesarosh") was born in SubockaSubocka
Subocka is a village in Croatia....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
on January 1, 1903 of ethnic Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
extraction. The Communist Party of the United States would later claim he was born in Steelton, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.)
Mesaros emigrated to the United States of America with his mother and three sisters 1919. He started working in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant. A succession of blue-collar jobs followed
Political career
In 1923, by now using the Americanized name "Steve Nelson," he joined the youth section of the American Communist Party, the Young Workers LeagueYoung Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
. He went on to join the adult Workers (Communist) Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
in 1925.
He met Margaret Yaeger, a typist in the Pittsburgh office of the Party. They married and went to Detroit in 1925, where he worked in the auto industry as an assembly line worker and union organizer. In 1928 the Nelsons moved to New York City. Nelson studied marxism at the New York Workers' School and afterwards, with the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Nelsons worked for the Communist Party full time.
Nelson organized the International Unemployment Day
International Unemployment Day
International Unemployment Day was a coordinated international campaign of marches and demonstrations, marked by hundreds of thousands of people in major cities around the world taking to the streets to protest mass unemployment associated with the Great Depression...
demonstration on March 6, 1930, at which he, Joe Dallet and Oliver Law
Oliver Law
Oliver Law was an African American communist and labor organizer, who fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War. He was the commander of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade for four days.-Background:...
were beaten up and arrested. Two weeks he was among the 75,000 demonstrators to demand unemployment insurance.
Nelson and his wife were sent to Moscow in 1931, he visited the International Lenin School
International Lenin School
Situated in Moscow and shrouded in secrecy, the International Lenin School was founded in 1926 as an instrument for the "Bolshevisation" of the Communist International and its national sections, following the resolutions of the fifth Congress of the Comintern. Between 1926 and 1938 the school...
for two years. He was a courier for the Communist International (Comintern), delivering documents and funds to Germany, Switzerland and China. On return to the United States in 1933, they settled in Wilkes-Barre.
In 1937 he immediately tried to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
Abraham Lincoln Brigade
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....
, but had to stay in Pennsylvania where he agitated coal miners. After the severe setback at Jarama
Jarama
Jarama is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid when El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez...
, Nelson, Joe Dallet and 23 others were allowed to fight in Spain. At first arrested by the French, they reached Spain climbing the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
mountains and met the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
at Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....
in May 1937.
Nelson started the war as political commissar
Political commissar
The political commissar is the supervisory political officer responsible for the political education and organisation, and loyalty to the government of the military...
of the Lincoln Battalion. After heavy loses at Brunete the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and the George Washington Battalion were merged into the Lincoln-Washington Battalion. Mirko Markovicz, a Yugoslaw-American, was appointed as commander of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion and Nelson became his political commissar. In August 1937 the American forces were reorganized. Nelson was promoted to brigade commissar and Robert Hale Merriman
Robert Hale Merriman
Robert Hale Merriman was an American professor of economics at the University of California. He joined the Republican forces in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and commanded the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades....
became brigade chief of staff.
Hans Amlie became commander of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion. In the fighting at Belchite
Belchite
Belchite is a village in the province of Zaragoza, Spain, about 40 km southeast of Zaragoza. It is the capital of Campo de Belchite comarca and is located in a plain surrounded by low hills, the highest of which is Lobo...
, which started very bad, only two soldiers of twenty-two survived a first attempt to take the church of the town. Nelson then led his men in a successful diversionary attack and Amlie's men could enter the fortified town. Nelson was shot in the face and leg, Merriman and Amlie received head wounds. After recovering in Valencia, Nelson was given the task to escort prominent visitors like John Bernard
John Bernard
John Toussaint Bernard was a United States Representative from Minnesota.A native of the French island of Corsica, Bernard was born in 1893 in the town of Bastia. Moving to the United States in 1907, he would later work as an iron miner before enlisting in the United States Army during World War I...
, Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles....
and Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
.
In the 1940s, Nelson rose to the top ranks of the communist party. After years on the West Coast, the Nelsons returned east, when he was elected to the National Board of the party. He settled in Pittsburgh as District Secretary of Western Pennsylvania.
Legal difficulties
In August 1950, after a raid on the Pittsburgh Party Headquarters, Nelson and two local party leaders were arrested and charged under the 1919 Pennsylvania Sedition Act for attempting to overthrowSedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
the state and federal government.
Nelson initially received a 20-year prison sentence, $10,000 in fines and $13,000 in prosecution costs. He was jailed in Pittsburgh for seven months and then released on bail pending his appeal.
In 1953 he and five others were indicted under the Federal Smith Act. This time the find was 5 years and $10,000. All six were granted bail.
In 1956 in Pennsylvania v. Nelson, the United States Supreme Court overturned the Pennsylvania Sedition Act, saying that the Federal Smith Act superseded this and all similar state laws
In the same year testimony at the first trial was found to have been perjured and a new trial was granted. In 1957 the government dropped all charges against the defendants.
Later years
Nelson left the Communist Party in 1957 after Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's revelations about Stalin. In 1963 he became the National Commander of the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB)
In 1975 he retired with his beloved wife of 60 years to a home he had built in Truro
Truro, Massachusetts
Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located two hours outside Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the northern tip of Cape Cod, in an area known as the "Outer Cape"...
, Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
.
Further reading
- Historical/Biographical Note, Steve Nelson Papers, Tamiment Library
- Eby, Cecil: Comrades and Commissars, 2007
- Pennsylvania -v- Nelson, 350 U.S. 497 (1956)
- Mesarosh -v- United States, 352 U.S. 808 (1956)