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// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Si Gerson a good singer? He's a germs-ton better.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Simon Gerson)

Si Gerson
Gerson in 1969
Confidential Examiner to the
Borough President of Manhattan
In office
January 1, 1938 – September 27, 1940
Borough President
Personal details
Born(1909-01-23)January 23, 1909
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 26, 2004(2004-12-26) (aged 95)
New York City, U.S.
PartyCommunist
Spouse
​
(m. 1932)​
Children
  • William
  • Deborah
EducationCity College of New York
OccupationJournalist, activist, politician
Known for
First Communist to hold any appointed office in New York City
Signature
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service
1944–1946
RankPrivate
Battles/wars

Simon William "Si" Gerson (January 23, 1909 – December 26, 2004) was an American communist politician, journalist and activist. A leading member of the Communist Party USA, he was considered its expert on campaigns and elections. He was at the center of several controversies during his career, including his expulsion from the City College of New York in 1928, his appointment as confidential examiner to the Borough President of Manhattan in 1938, and his attempted appointment to the New York City Council in 1948. He also served as executive editor of the Daily Worker and its successor, the Daily World.

Early life

[edit]

Simon William Gerson[1] was born in New York City on January 23, 1909, the eldest child of Jewish immigrants from the Grodno region, located in modern-day Belarus.

Both of Gerson's parents were members of the Socialist Party of America, and his mother, Dr. Helen Movshovitz, later became a member of the Communist Party USA and supported William Z. Foster's presidential campaigns. Gerson's father supported Norman Thomas' campaigns.

Career

[edit]

Gerson joined the Young Communist League USA while attending the City College of New York and was expelled from the college in 1928 for leading anti-ROTC activities.[2] He joined the Communist Party itself in 1931,[3] working as a sports columnist,[4] city hall correspondent, state legislative correspondent and city editor of the Daily Worker.[5] He later served as executive editor of the paper and its successor, the Daily World.[6]

Pvt. Gerson (right) and Pfc. Philip H. Dunbar give Christmas candy to Filipino children in San Jose, Mindoro Island, December 25, 1944
Gerson (standing) reviews election returns with Robert G. Thompson, Israel Amter and Benjamin J. Davis Jr. at the Hotel McAlpin, November 7, 1946

In 1937, Gerson was appointed confidential examiner (also known as assistant)[7] to Republican Manhattan Borough President-elect Stanley M. Isaacs,[8] making him the first Communist to hold any appointed office in New York City.[9][10] In this position, he was charged with handling complaints and ensuring other members of the borough president's staff did their jobs.[11] He served from the beginning of 1938 until his resignation in September 1940;[12] facing a legal challenge from the American Legion on his right to hold office, Gerson could not afford a legal team and the City Corporation Counsel refused to take his case.[13][14] Gerson later served in the Pacific theater during World War II.[15][16]

In 1947, incumbent Communist New York City Councilman Peter Cacchione unexpectedly died. Under city law, council vacancies had to be filled by a member of the same political party as the previous officeholder, but when the Communist Party nominated Gerson,[10] the council refused on the grounds that the Communist Party was not legally a political party.[17] Instead, the seat was left vacant,[18] and a special election was held the following year. Although he received the nominations of the Communist and American Labor parties (earning 18,000 votes on the former ballot line and 132,000 votes on the latter), he came in third place with 15% of the vote, behind Republican Jacob P. Lefkowitz and Democrat Jack Kranis, the victor.[19]

Gerson's FBI mugshot, 1951

On the morning of June 20, 1951, Gerson and 16 other Communist Party leaders were arrested by the FBI and charged with violating the Smith Act.[20] In September 1952, Judge Edward J. Dimock dropped the charges against Gerson and Isidore Begun, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict them.[21]

In 1958, Gerson co-signed an appeal urging the Communist Party not to purge John Gates and other reformists.[22] After this failed, however, Gerson remained in the party. He later served as campaign manager for Gus Hall during the 1976, 1980 and 1984 presidential elections.[6][23] As a legislative representative for the Communist Party, Gerson advocated for proportional representation and instant runoff voting, and served as secretary of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections.[10]

Personal life and death

[edit]
Gerson with his wife Sophie and their children c. 1953

Gerson married Sophie Melvin, the "Red flame" of the Communist Party, in 1932, with whom he had two children, William and Deborah.[10] Melvin was a passionate union organizer[24] who gained notoriety due to her involvement in the 1929 Loray Mill Strike, during which she was imprisoned.[25]

Gerson died in Brooklyn, New York on December 26, 2004.[10]

Legacy

[edit]

Gerson and Melvin's papers were donated to the Tamiment Library after their deaths.[26]

In his memoir A Long Journey, George Blake Charney, a former member of the Communist Party, characterized Gerson as follows:

I had come to know Si during our trial and during the underground period when we functioned, or rather suffered, together in the national administration committee under the baleful eyes of Foster, Gannett, and Perry. I had a warm admiration for his political abilities and acumen and for his vision. Si was an editor and a competent one; he was also a political man who aspired to office in the City Council... In the period before 1956 we had had so much in common in our judgment of people and policy. Si could not tolerate the windbags and with Alan Max conducted a consistent and witty campaign against “bagoo,” the wooden language of the party and all the insufferable habits of the bureaucracy. We shared a common view about the need for radical changes. During the upheaval he joined Dennis, and in the course of time our relationship became somewhat strained. I suppose that I and the others felt that he belonged with us all the way, and that by standing with Dennis as the crisis sharpened he had violated our trust and his own convictions as well. I suppose, too, that his dilemma was that he aspired to be the liberal and the Communist at the same time, to resolve the dichotomy between the vanguard and the United Front—the Dimitrov man.

— George Blake Charney, A Long Journey, 1968[27]

[edit]

Works

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  • Pete Cacchione – His Record. New York: Workers Library Publishers. October 1943.
  • Either the Constitution or the Mundt Bill: America Can't Have Both!. New York: New Century Publishers. June 1950.
  • Pete: The Story of Peter V. Cacchione, New York's First Communist Councilman. New York: International Publishers. 1976.
  • After Fifty Years: Revisiting the U.S.S.R. New York: International Publishers. 1978.
  • Do We Have Free Elections?. New York: International Publishers.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Voices for Freedom. New York City: Civil Rights Congress. 1951. p. 33. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  2. ↑ Klehr, Harvey (1984). The Heyday of American Communism: The Depression Decade. New York: Basic Books. p. 309. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  3. ↑ "NOTORIOUS FIGURES IN COMMUNIST LIST; WANTED BY THE F.B.I. IN DRIVE ON COMMUNISTS". The New York Times. New York. June 21, 1951. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Name Gerson To City Council". The Worker. New York. December 7, 1947. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Gerson Designated To Succeed Cacchione". Daily Worker. New York. December 2, 1947. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Smallwood, Frank (1983). The Other Candidates: Third Parties in Presidential Elections. University Press of New England. pp. 81–97.
  7. ↑ "Isaacs Names Gerson Again–As Examiner". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. February 24, 1938. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Daily Worker Reporter Named to City Position". Daily Worker. New York. December 22, 1937. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Isaacs Appoints Communist as Aid". Daily News. New York. December 23, 1937. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Fishman, Joelle (January 28, 2005). "Si Gerson, 95, journalist and electoral expert". People's World. Chicago. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  11. ↑ "ISAACS PICKS GERSON, COMMUNIST, AS AIDE". The New York Times. New York. December 23, 1937. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  12. ↑ "S. W. Gerson Returns To Daily Worker as Political Writer". Daily Worker. New York. December 23, 1940. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Gerson Quits Post As His Trial Starts". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. September 27, 1940. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Gerson Resigns, Assails Attack on Civil Rights". Daily Worker. New York. September 28, 1940. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)". aad.archives.gov. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  16. ↑ "S. W. Gerson Is Named City Editor". The Worker. New York. March 3, 1946. Retrieved September 28, 2025.
  17. ↑ "BROOKLYN ENJOYS RACE ALL ITS OWN; All 3 Candidates in Election for City Council Vacancy Are Campaigning Hard". The New York Times. New York. October 26, 1948. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  18. ↑ Harris, Harold H. (July 9, 1948). "Politics and People". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Gerson, Simon W." ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  20. ↑ Singer, Michael (June 21, 1951). "F.B.I. Seizes 17; Roundup Aimed At Peace Movement". The Daily Worker. p. 1.
  21. ↑ "2 N.Y. Smith Act defendants freed". National Guardian. October 2, 1952. p. 7.
  22. ↑ Horne, Gerald (1994). Black Liberation/Red Scare: Ben Davis and the Communist Party. Newark: University of Delaware Press. p. 287. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  23. ↑ Johnpoll, Bernard; Klehr, Harvey (1986). Biographical Dictionary of the American Left. Westport: Greenwood Press. pp. 153–155. ISBN 0313242003. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Sophie Gerson, labor heroine and communist, 96". People's World. Chicago. May 26, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  25. ↑ John A. Salmond, Gastonia, 1929: The Story of the Loray Mill Strike. UNC Press Books, 1995
  26. ↑ "Simon W. and Sophie Gerson Papers". findingaids.library.nyu.edu. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  27. ↑ Charney, George Blake (1968). A Long Journey. Chicago: Quadrangle Books. pp. 304–305. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
[edit]
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