Biography
Bertha Zimmerman was born 1885 in Riga, Russia (present-day Latvia). Immigrated to the United States in 1907.
Born 1885, Riga, Russia (present-day Latvia). Latvian. Housewife; garment worker. Migrated to US 1907. Married fellow deportee David Zimmerman in Boston that same year. Literate in Russian, Lettish, German, and some English. Joined the National Lettish Organization of the Socialist Party of America. 1908 son Erick born. Circa 1908 moved to Chicago, where involved in the IWW. Circa 1918 moved to Baltimore. September 1919 charter member of the Lettish Federation of the Communist Party of America; member of the party’s Baltimore Central Committee and distributor of its publication The Communist. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 2, 1920. Deported February 1, 1921.
INS file 54859/549; FBI file OG 391151
See also: Vernon L. Pedersen, The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57
Adapted from Kenyon Zimmer, Red Scare Deportees (kenyonzimmer.com), compiled from INS deportation case files.
