Adolph Ross was born in New York City. The son of a Polish-English mother and an Austrian-born father, Ross spent his infancy in a Knights of Pythias orphanage, later acquiring the surname Ross from his mother's second husband.

Ross became involved in politics at a young age, joining the Young Communist League and the National Student League while still in high school. In 1937 Ross volunteered for service in the Spanish Civil War, but was not granted permission until 1938, when he obtained a Spanish visa and traveled under the pseudonym Adolfo Rodriguez. In Spain he fought in the Ebro Campaign and in August 1938 was severely wounded while fighting in the Sierra Pandols. He returned to New York on December 31, 1938.

After service in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a Link Trainer instructor, Ross moved to Long Island with his wife Lillian and in the late seventies began compiling lists for a complete biographical directory of those who served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Originally sponsored by the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB), the project continued under the auspices of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA). ALBA has planned to expand and publish the project data. Although Ross printed several versions of the "ALBA Biographical Dictionary Project" in the 1980s and 90s, he intended that the data included would be further refined. After his death in 1998, ALBA Executive Board member and Spanish Civil War historian Christopher Brooks continued Ross's research, amassing additional biographical data on Lincoln Brigade veterans and other Americans who served in Spain.

Adolph Ross's project was the basis of a list of Lincoln Brigade volunteers and medical personnel included in a souvenir brochure (No Pasaran! The 50th Anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade) published by ALBA/VALB in 1986. This list, with additions and corrections by Tamiment Library staff and others, is available on the web site of the Tamiment Library, at: http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/alba_names.html