Harry Mordecai Winitsky (1898–1939) was an American
left wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
political activist who was a founding member of the
Communist Party of America. Winitsky is best remembered as one of the chief defendants of the New York
"Criminal Anarchism" prosecutions that were part of the
First Red Scare of 1919–1920. Winitsky served two years in prison of a 5 to 10-year sentence beginning in March 1920. Released on
bail in 1922, Winitsky was ultimately pardoned by
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928.
The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...
in January 1924. Winitsky left the Communist Party USA in 1929.
Biography
Early years
Harry Winitsky was born January 25, 1898, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the son of a painter who had emigrated to the United States from
Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to:
* Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547)
*Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721)
*Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...
.
As a boy, Winitsky attended public schools in New York City.
[Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 253.] Upon graduation, he stayed in New York to enroll at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, which he attended in 1917.
Early political career
From an early age, Winitsky became active in radical politics. He joined the youth section of the
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
, the
Young Peoples Socialist League in 1913 and went on to participate in the adult party itself through 1919.
In 1919, Winitsky became active in the
Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year—the Communist Party of America a ...
, becoming a founding member of the
Communist Party of America (CPA) in August 1919.
In 1918, Winitsky was twice jailed for participating in strike activities, serving a sentence of 10 days in
West New York, New Jersey, and an additional 30-day stint in
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,4 ...
.
Criminal Anarchism trial
During the CPA's brief interval of open public existence during the last half of 1919, Winitsky served as the Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of New York
[See]
"Speech by Harry Winitsky, Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of New York...December 22, 1919."
Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2005. — a position which drew him to the attention of law enforcement authorities, many of whom considered the Communist Party an illegal and
seditious organization. Paid
stenographers were assigned to transcribe Winitsky's public utterances, with a view to generating evidence for an eventual prosecution.
Although not themselves
anarchists, Winitsky was one of five prominent members of the American Communist movement charged under the
New York Criminal Anarchy Law of 1902, a piece of legislation hurriedly passed in the wake of the assassination of President
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
.
[Swinburne Hale, "Criminal Anarchy and Syndicalist Trials," in Alexander Trachtenberg and Benjamin Glassberg (eds.), ''American Labor Year Book 1921-22: Volume 4.'' New York: Rand School of Social Science, n.d. ]921
__NOTOC__
Year 921 ( CMXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* March – Battle of Pegae: Bulgarian forces under ''kavhan'' (first ...
pg. 18.
The indictments against Winitsky and his comrades charged under the New York law —
Benjamin Gitlow, who preceded him, as well as
James Larkin
James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim, was an Irish republican, socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and Willia ...
,
Isaac Ferguson, and
C.E. Ruthenberg
Charles Emil Ruthenberg (July 9, 1882 – March 1, 1927) was an American Marxist politician and a founder and head of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).
Biography
Early years
Charles Emil Ruthenberg was born July 9, 1882, in Cleveland, Ohio, th ...
, who followed — was based upon the publication and dissemination of the
Manifesto of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party in ''
The Revolutionary Age
''The Revolutionary Age'' was an American radical newspaper edited by Louis C. Fraina and published from November 1918 until August 1919. Originally the publication of Local Boston, Socialist Party, the paper evolved into the ''de facto'' nationa ...
'' on July 5, 1919.
Prosecutors used the theory that the Manifesto of the Left Wing advocated the abolition of organized government by unlawful means and that Winitsky, having been present at the Party's 1919 convention in Chicago, had subscribed to the ideas in it. An agent of the
Lusk Committee testified that he had purchased copies of the manifesto from the Party's New York state headquarters at 207 East Tenth Street.
Winitsky's trial commenced on March 19, 1920, before Judge Weeks in the Criminal Branch of the
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
and was completed on March 26.
[Hale, "Criminal Anarchy and Syndicalist Trials," pg. 19.] The jury remained out only a few hours before returning with a guilty verdict.
On March 29, Judge Weeks passed a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison, with Winitsky being transported to
Dannemora State Penitentiary
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannem ...
in
Dannemora, New York
Dannemora is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 4,898 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Dannemora, Sweden, an important iron-mining region.
The town of Dannemora contains a village also called Danne ...
.
An appeal of the case was refused.
Later political career
In October 1921 the Workers' League nominated Benjamin Gitlow and Winitsky as their candidates for
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and President of the
Board of Aldermen
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...
respectively. The
New York City Board of Elections
The Board of Elections in the City of New York (NYCBOE) conducts New York elections within New York City. It is an administrative body of ten Commissioners, two from each borough upon recommendation by both political parties and then appointed by ...
invalidated both nominations on the grounds that the prospective candidates were convicted criminals and were still imprisoned, and had therefore "been deprived of citizenship."
John R. Voorhis, President of the elections board, stated that "We could not possibly permit the names of these men to go on the ballot. It would be a pretty state of affairs to allow felons and criminals to become eligible for office and take their places beside decent men and women."
The League sued the Board of Elections, and New York Supreme Court Justice Mullan ordered the Board to restore the candidates' names to the ballot. By the end of October, though, the
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...
had reversed the decision, and their names did not appear on the ballot in November.
Winitsky was freed on bail in May 1922.
Following his release from prison, he became active in the activities of the underground Communist Party of America and in its parallel "legal" organization, the
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America (WPA) was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929.
Background
As a legal political party, the Workers Party accepted affiliation fr ...
.
Winitsky was a participant in the party's
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
mass organization, the
Trade Union Educational League, headed by
William Z. Foster
William Zebulon Foster (February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a Political radicalism, radical American labor organizer and Communism, Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party US ...
.
Winitsky was a delegate to the ill-fated
August 1922 convention of the underground CPA in
Bridgman, Michigan — a gathering raided by state and federal law enforcement authorities.
For attending this gathering Winitsky was
indicted under
Michigan's "
Criminal Syndicalism" statutes, although he was never brought to trial on this charge.
Winitsky worked as a manager of the Communist Party's
Yiddish-language daily, ''
Morgen Freiheit
Morgen Freiheit (original title: ; English: ''Morning Freedom'') was a New York City-based daily Yiddish language newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party, USA, founded by Moissaye Olgin in 1922. After the end of World War II the paper's pro- ...
'' from 1922 to 1923.
From 1923 to 1924 Winitsky worked as a
functionary
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
for the
Federated Farmer-Labor Party, a Communist Party sponsored effort to establish what it termed a "class-based" independent political party.
Governor Al Smith pardoned Winitsky on January 7, 1924, stating that "I am satisfied that Winitsky has been sufficiently punished for the crime which he committed, and I have accordingly granted him a pardon."
In 1929, Winitsky left the
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
to cast his lot with expelled party leader
Jay Lovestone and his so-called
Communist Party USA (Majority Group).
["Harry Winitsky," ''Workers Age'' ew York vol. 8, no. 38 (September 23, 1939), pg. 3.] Winitsky was not long in this organization, however, as a few years later he rejoined the Socialist Party of America, remaining active in that organization until the time of his death.
Death and legacy
At some time before his death in 1939, Winitsky changed his name to Harry Wynn.
Winitsky died of heart disease on September 10, 1939, in the
Morrisania Hospital in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. He had been living at 2690 Morris Avenue. Winitsky was just 41 years old at the time of his death and was survived by his widow and three brothers: Irving, William, and Benjamin Wynn.
Norman Thomas, frequent Presidential candidate of the Socialist Party, was the chief speaker at Winitsky's funeral, held in New York City.
Footnotes
Works
"Speech by Harry Winitsky, Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of New York: Delivered at a Meeting Held at 175 E Broadway, NYC, December 22, 1919."Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2005.
"The Facts Speak for Themselves,"''The Revolutionary Age''
ew York v. 1, no. 8 (Feb. 15, 1930), pp. 14–15.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winitsky, Harry
1898 births
Activists from New York City
American socialists
Members of the Socialist Party of America
American Marxists
Members of the Communist Party USA
1939 deaths