Biography
Israel Amter was a veteran New York Communist leader — long the face of the Party's unemployed and street-organizing campaigns — who, at about seventy and in poor health, was among the seventeen 'second-string' Communist leaders arrested in New York on June 20, 1951 under the Smith Act.
At the April 1934 convention, Amter reported on unemployed organizing and argued for closer cooperation between employed and unemployed workers. He credited relief struggles with winning food and public assistance while criticizing the low participation of party members in this work. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n085-apr-09-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
Page 1’s Robert Minor birthday-banquet notice recalls Minor, Israel Amter, William Z. Foster and Harry Raymond serving six months at Welfare Island after the 1930 unemployed demonstration. This is a retrospective collective description of the known prosecution; no new custody episode, lifetime total or replacement of source-dated bail interruptions is inferred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n206-aug-28-1934-DW-LOC.pdf
The September 8, 1930 Laisve, page 5, reproduces an International Labor Defense political-prisoner directory. Its row prints I. Amter, a term of 6 months–3 years, the year 1930 in the sentencing-year column, and confinement or correspondence location 800 Fordham Street, City Island, New York. This is an attributed historical directory entry; printed years and nominal terms are not exact intake dates or measured time served, and mailing boxes do not independently identify a prison. The directory contains stale or conflicting chronology, so this row does not override independently established conviction, death or release facts. Source: https://www.spauda2.org/laisve/archive/1930/1930-09-08-LAISVE.pdf#page=5
Daily Worker, January 4, 1935, page 5: In the quoted Harry Eisman memoir reviewed by Martha Campion, Amter is individually named among Foster, Minor, Raymond and Amter arrested in the March 6, 1930 unemployed-demonstration context. This is retrospective corroboration of the existing New York prosecution, without an additional arrest, exact sentence or custody endpoint inferred from the memoir. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1935/v12-n004-Nat-jan-04-1935-DW-LOC.pdf
The March 15, 1930 Daily Worker describes the five elected unemployed delegates appearing before Special Sessions and the Board of Estimate after their initial jail detention. The photo caption recalls refusal of bail and rearrest when bailed, while the news report and Foster meeting advertisement establish liberty before the planned March 24 trial. This is evidence of a pretrial bail gap, not proof of uninterrupted imprisonment from March 6 through later sentence; the exact bail-release day is not supplied here. The refusal of the defense requests for thirty or ten days to prepare is a procedural fact, not a completed sentence. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v06-n319-NY-mar-15-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1 and https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v06-n319-NY-mar-15-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The July 18, 1930 Daily Worker identifies Foster, Minor and Amter as still jailed after the March 6 unemployment demonstration and announces that a Communist Party/TUUL delegation would visit Welfare Island that day to notify them of their election nominations. It records their continued confinement and the proposed notification visit, not a new arrest or an accomplished release. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n172-NY-jul-18-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1 and https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n172-NY-jul-18-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The August14 report says ILD attorneys intended to seek permission to appeal to Justice Louis Brandeis because Harlan Stone was in Europe. It alleges the March6 unemployment defendants, despite misdemeanor accusations, had been held incommunicado, denied bail and refused jury trial. The Parole Commission recommended a six-month definite term (ten months for Raymond), but judicial confirmation remained necessary. The proposed October21 release for the three six-month defendants is not an accomplished discharge and cannot replace later verified endpoints. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n195-NY-aug-14-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3
The official House Clerk returns for the November 4, 1930 congressional election list Israel Amter as a candidate for New Yorks23rd Congressional District as a Communist. This corroborates electoral activity rather than a fresh arrest or custody endpoint. Source: https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1930election.pdf#page=17
Pages 2 and 5 repeat a release demand for Foster, Minor, Amter and Raymond, described as in prison for fighting for unemployment insurance. This is contemporary evidence of an ongoing defense campaign, not a new prosecution, exact gate-release date or additional numerical duration. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n221-NAT-sep-13-1930-DW-LOC.pdf
The March6 New York unemployed-delegation account reports incommunicado detention and fresh charges delaying release until March12, followed by April11 trial and return to the Tombs after conviction without bail. Predicted Sing Sing confinement is prospective and not a verified transfer. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1930/v05n05-may-1930-LD.pdf#page=7
The September 15, 1930 Daily Worker, page 4, prints I. Amter’s signed column as prisoner No.52350, ending Written at Hart’s Island Penitentiary. Earlier reports print conflicting prisoner numbers. This historical byline is retained without replacing the existing identifier, inferring a transfer date or adding a custody episode. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1930/v07-n222-Nat-sep-15-1930-DW-LOC.pdf#page=4
The June 1930 Labor Defender places Israel Amter at Hart's Island during the unemployed-delegation imprisonment. It reports denial of bail pending appeal and announces a June 3 appeal argument and a separate felonious-assault hearing. These are a contemporary confinement snapshot and scheduled proceedings, not new convictions, completed release dates or total time served. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1930/v05n06-jun-1930-LD.pdf#page=9
A separate 1921 arrest, not the 1930 case
The National Defense Committee’s 1922 account, page 3, names I. Amter among the men arrested in New York City on April 29, 1921. The 2006 editor identifies him as Israel Amter. The account describes initial dismissal followed by renewed police detention and indictments, with these cases dismissed on December 21, 1921 except a separate charge against Jakira. Bail-setting and dismissal are not proof of the physical-release day. This is an earlier event distinct from the 1930 dates in the current case; no exact admission or discharge is inferred.
1930 unemployment-demonstration custody, not the later Smith Act prosecution
The July 4, 1936 Daily Worker, page 4, describes Amter as having spent six months in jail with William Z. Foster, Robert Minor and Harry Raymond following the police attack on the March 6, 1930 unemployment demonstration. The 1930 case dates must not be described as a 1951 Smith Act prosecution. The unrelated Smith Act charge and no-prison-sentence wording are removed from that 1930 row; the reviewed article does not specify the formal 1930 charge, so the charges field remains unfilled. This correction does not change the stored arrest, sentencing, entry or release dates, nor establish new endpoints. Amter’s later Smith Act prosecution is a separate matter.
Earlier 1925 New York street-meeting detention
The September 12, 1925 Daily Worker describes an earlier New York street-meeting arrest of the Workers (Communist) Party speaker it calls “Comrade Amter.” After the police ordered the meeting at Tenth Street and Second Avenue to disperse, Amter continued speaking and was arrested. Jack Stachel immediately mounted the platform and was arrested in turn. The International Labor Defense actually bailed the two out under $500 bonds each. The article names Joseph R. Brodsky as their defense attorney and says the judge would consider their cases further; it supplies no final disposition or formal charge. The Amter identification rests on the distinctive surname together with the New York Communist leadership context, not a guessed first name for the separately mentioned Gordon.
This is a separate 1925 episode, not the later prosecution already represented in the case records. Arrest followed by actual bail release documents executed detention, but not its length: the article does not independently fix the physical admission or release day, and it does not establish an overnight or longer stay. No day, month-duration, nominal sentence or current ongoing custody is inferred. The new historical episode therefore has unknown endpoints and an unknown actual total; every older case and stored subtotal remains unchanged.
Daily Worker, national edition, September 12, 1925, original pages 1, 2. Contemporary political allegations are attributed to the report.
A Hart's Island prisoner byline in 1930
The August 30, 1930 Daily Worker, page 4, prints the political essay Fifty-Nine Multi-Millionaires Control the Country under the byline I. Amter, identifying him as prisoner No. 52351 and the Communist candidate in the Bronx 23rd Congressional District. The essay ends with Written at Hart's Island Penitentiary. The distinctive name, candidacy and unemployment-delegation context identify Israel Amter in his already recorded 1930 imprisonment. The reported prisoner number belongs to this historical episode; it is not a current custody identifier. The article does not supply new admission, transfer or release dates or an additional duration.
Daily Worker, August 30, 1930, original page 4. Contemporary allegations and custody descriptions are attributed to the newspaper.
The August 1 issue prints a joint statement attributed to the imprisoned New York unemployed delegates Foster, Minor, Amter and Raymond, calling on workers to join the anti-war demonstrations, oppose wage cuts and demand unemployment insurance. It links the prison statement to the March 6 unemployed demonstration. This is a dated record of political writing and activity during the existing case; it does not establish another arrest, a new jail admission or an actual release.
The Trade Union Unity Council requested permission for a committee to consult the imprisoned March 6 unemployed delegates on a municipal relief campaign, and sent its proposals to Foster, Minor, Amter and Raymond. The advertised parole dates and six- or ten-month recommendations are prospective, not proof of a physical release. Engdahl’s campaign announcement identifies Foster as still held at Hart’s Island; the visitation request refers to Welfare Island collectively, so no individual dated transfer is inferred from the differing location references.
The issue prints Commissioner R. C. Paterson’s reply confirming that the TUUC committee of five could not visit the imprisoned unemployed delegates as a body. Individual visits remained governed by the rule allowing one visitor at a time, two weeks apart. This is the documented refusal following the earlier request to consult on unemployment relief, not evidence of a new arrest or discharge. Proposed parole reductions remain prospective.
Amter’s signed essay on racial equality and the Soviet Union is identified as written at Hart’s Island Penitentiary. The original printed byline gives prisoner number 52350, although the existing record gives 52351 and a separately reviewed Foster byline uses 52350. The discrepancy is retained without replacing Amter’s stored number or assuming the two men shared an identifier. The essay provides a dated record of his prison writing and opposition to racial discrimination, not a new custody episode.
Daily Worker, August 28, 1934; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
Protest and trial announcements before April 11
The April 8 issue announces a protest for April 9 at the Central Opera House against the threatened imprisonment of the New York March 6 unemployment delegation. Its page 3 continuation anticipates trial that Friday, April 11, in Special Sessions before three judges without a jury and warns of possible six-year penalties. These are campaign announcements and threatened exposure before the proceedings, not proof of a completed trial, an imposed six-year term or an actual admission. An adjacent caption criticizes Chief Magistrate McAdoo’s refusal of bail; it does not date a new remand or erase the separately documented March 12 bail gap. Existing later verdict, sentencing, individual custody intervals and numerical storage are preserved, without treating release demands as evidence of uninterrupted detention.
Daily Worker, April 8, 1930, original pages 1, 3. Accounts and allegations are attributed to the newspaper; prospective proceedings are not treated as completed events.
Daily Worker, January 4, 1935; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
Daily Worker, September 13, 1930; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
The issue reports the four elected unemployed delegates still confined and prints Commissioner R. C. Paterson’s August 21 letter denying repeated political conferences in prison. It permits ordinary individual screened visits and correspondence while recalling the earlier Welfare Island nomination ceremony. This is contemporary confinement and visiting-policy evidence; it does not erase pretrial bail gaps, prove a fresh admission, or replace later established release dates.
A March 24, 1930 pretrial hearing report
The March 25, 1930 Daily Worker names Israel Amter among the five New York unemployment delegates whose Special Sessions hearing the previous day was continued to April 11. It reports police excluding spectators and a proposed labor jury, and describes defense attorney Joseph Brodsky seeking time to prepare witnesses and moving pictures of police violence. In this March 24 hearing, the report identifies Assistant District Attorney Unger as opposing a longer delay and Judge Voorhees as denying it. These are hearing-specific roles, not a finding that Unger was the sole prosecutor at the later trial or that Voorhees replaced the separately recorded trial panel. April 11 was still a future hearing date. The newspaper’s rhetoric about the period since arrest is not evidence of continuous imprisonment across the separately documented March 12 bail release; no new admission, discharge, conviction or numerical custody total is inferred.
Daily Worker, March 25, 1930, original pages 1 and 3. Allegations and courtroom descriptions are attributed to this contemporary newspaper.
