Biography
George Alexander was a Young Communist League activist prosecuted over an anti-war demonstration in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on September 1, 1934. Police arrested him after he chained himself to a pole where demonstrators had intended to speak. He was convicted of riot and inciting to riot and sentenced to a year at the Pennsylvania Training School at Morganza. Alexander was free on bail during the appeal campaign. He began serving the sentence on October 5, 1936, after the conviction was upheld.
A December 20 dispatch published December 21, 1935 dates Judge Graff’s sentencing in the Armstrong County antiwar case. It describes a two-year reformatory punishment, differing from the concurrent one-year terms documented in another account; that conflict is retained without converting either imposed punishment into actual service. Gus Sofis received a reported three-month workhouse term, sixteen others probation, and Caroline Hart’s appearance was postponed because of illness. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n307-NY-dec-21-DW-Q.pdf#page=3
Separate immigration proceeding reported in 1935
The September 3, 1935 report describes immigration proceedings against the Young Communist League activist following the McKeesport anti-war demonstration. It says Alexander was under a $500 cash bond, that a hearing before Examiner Shrode had been continued without a new date, and that attorney Benjamin Sigal represented him. This is an additional administrative proceeding, not proof that he was physically confined throughout the bond period, that deportation occurred, or that his later Morganza sentence had begun. No admission, release, deportation day or additional served-time counter is added.
