Carl Winter (activist)

Carl Winter in 1948

Carl Winter (September 25, 1906 - November 16, 1991) was an American Communist Party official and newspaper editor. He was convicted under the Smith Act in 1949.

Biography

Winter was born Philip Carl Weisberg, to parents who had emigrated from Russia to Cleveland.[1] Winter joined the Young Communist League in 1922 and became a member of the Communist Party in 1925.[2] In 1927, Winter married Helen Allison Wagenknecht, another member of the Communist Party and the daughter of Alfred Wagenknecht.[3] Winter served as the educational director of the Ohio Communist Party before he was made chairman of the Party in Michigan.[4] He travelled to the Soviet Union eight times between 1933 and 1935.[5]

On July 20, 1948, Winter was indicted along with eleven other members of the Communist Party's national board and charged under the Smith Act with advocating for "the overthrow and destruction of the Government".[6] He was arrested in Detroit while driving home with his wife.[7] Winter had supported the government's use of the Smith Act in 1941 against members of the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party.[8] The Smith Act, according to Winter, would not be used to convict "genuine progressive individuals and organizations".[9] George Crockett acted as Winter's defense lawyer during the trial.[10] Winter and the other defendants received a sentence of five years in federal prison.[11] Winter served his sentence at Lewisburg Penitentiary, where he discussed legal issues with fellow inmate Alger Hiss.[12]

In 1966, Winter became the editor of The Worker, replacing James E. Jackson.[13] Winter died of a heart attack in November 1991, after giving a speech at the Party's Manhattan headquarters.[14]

References

  1. ^ Johnpoll, Bernard K.; Klehr, Harvey, eds. (1986). Biographical Dictionary of the American Left. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 422. ISBN 0313242003.
  2. ^ Porter, Russell (1949-09-01). "COMMUNIST DENIES SHIFT WAS FORCED; Party Reorganization in 1945 Was Discussed Freely at Meetings, Winter Testifies (Published 1949)". The New York Times. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. ^ Zumoff, Jacob A. (2021). The Red Thread: The Passaic Textile Strike. Rutgers University Press. p. 10. ISBN 9781978809918.
  4. ^ Daniel, Hawthorne (1952). Judge Medina: A Biography. New York: Wilfred Funk. p. 222.
  5. ^ "BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF ACCUSED REDS; Data Include Places of Birth Activities, Records, Party Posts and Varied Names (Published 1949)". The New York Times. 1949-10-15. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  6. ^ Shannon, David A. (1959). The decline of American Communism; A history of the Communist Party of the United States since 1945. New York: Harcourt, Brace. p. 196.
  7. ^ Martelle, Scott (2011). The Fear Within: Spies, Commies, and American Democracy on Trial. Rutgers University Press. p. 39. ISBN 9780813549385.
  8. ^ Horne, Gerald (1994). Black Liberation/Red Scare: Ben Davis and the Communist Party. Newark: University of Delaware Press. p. 213. ISBN 0874134722.
  9. ^ Steele, Richard W. (1999). Free Speech in the Good War. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 139. ISBN 0312173369.
  10. ^ "Geo. Crockett Reprimanded by Michigan Court". The Daily Worker. November 17, 1954. p. 8.
  11. ^ Brandt, Joseph (1981). Gus Hall bibliography : The Communist Party, USA : philosophy, history, program, activities. New York: New Outlook Publishers. p. 5. ISBN 0878981497.
  12. ^ Weinstein, Allen (1997). Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case. New York: Random House. p. 467. ISBN 067977338X.
  13. ^ "THE WORKER NAMES NEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (Published 1966)". The New York Times. 1966-01-26. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  14. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (1991-11-20). "Carl Winter, Imprisoned by U.S. As Communist Leader, Dies at 85 (Published 1991)". The New York Times. p. 23. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
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