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Louis Weinstock

Released
Date of birth:14. 05. 1903
Date of death:26. 11. 1994
Age:91† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1950s
State:New York
Time Imprisoned:
2 Years 4 Months
Support
Communism Labor Organizing Communist Party USA
Louis Weinstock

Biography

Louis Weinstock was a Brooklyn house-painter, longtime organizer for the painters union, and treasurer of the Communist Party USA. He was indicted in the Foley Square Second String in June 1951 and convicted with the rest of the second string in January 1953. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Daily Worker, June 17, 1936, page 4: As secretary-treasurer and executive head of Painters District Council No. 9, Weinstock announced a campaign against employers forcing painters to return part of their wages. The article says he had been elected on a rank-and-file ticket the previous February, leading the body for twelve locals in Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond. It reports the first contractor’s arrest and Weinstock’s efforts to enforce agreements and investigate kickbacks on public-school jobs. The contractor’s arrest is not attributed to Weinstock. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1936/v13-n145-NY-jun-17-1936-DW-Q.pdf

The December 16, 1932 report describes the trade-union unemployment-insurance delegation arriving in Cincinnati November 21 and meeting November 22–23 after exclusion from the AFL convention. It identifies Weinstock as national secretary and describes police jostling the delegation, which left the picket. This documents organizing activity, without an arrest inferred from the confrontation. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1932/v09-n300-NY-dec-16-1932-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2

Page 3 identifies him as national secretary of the A. F. of L. Rank and File Trade Union Committee, presenting its report at the San Francisco unemployment-insurance and relief conference and participating as a New York painters’ Local 490 member. Resolutions called for rank-and-file control, social insurance and release of Mooney, Billings and other political prisoners. This is earlier union-organizing context, without a new custody claim. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n243-NAT-oct-10-1934-DW-LOC.pdf

Case

Charges: Conspiracy to teach and advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government (Smith Act of 1940)
Arrested: Jun 20, 1951
Sentenced: Feb 3, 1953
Incarcerated: Jan 11, 1955
Released: May 1957
Sentence: 3 years
Convicted: Yes