Biography
Minnie Kalnin was a Communist Party member. Minnie Kalnin served a sentence in the New York Women's Prison at Auburn and was later pardoned by Governor Alfred E. Smith.
1920s custody-date review: Release after Governor Smith's pardon is documented in February 1923; the exact day remains unresolved. This was a New York State criminal-anarchy case, not the generic federal Espionage/Sedition charge previously displayed.
Sources: Laura Weinrib, Journal of Free Speech Law (2025), page 706 and note 140. Photographs and initial arrest dates remain unresolved.
The obituary says Kalnin, who went to prison with Anna Leisman, attended Leisman’s funeral. This corroborates their shared imprisonment and Kalnin’s presence outside prison by the funeral; no admission or discharge date is supplied.
