Simon W. and Sophie Gerson Papers
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Abstract
Simon W. (Si) Gerson, 1909-2004, was the longtime New York State, and later national legislative/political action director for the Communist Party, and was an advocate of proportional representation and ballot access for minor political parties, including in the 1980s-90s as a leader of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE). He served as Confidential Examiner to Manhattan Borough President Stanley M. Isaacs, 1938-40, managed Communist election campaigns (later writing a biography Pete: The Story of Peter V. Cacchione, New York's First Communist Councilman), and organized activities in support of the Communist Party leaders indicted under the Smith Act, as was Gerson. In the 1950s he was executive editor of the Party's newspaper, the Daily Worker, and of its later successor, the Daily World. Along with his wife, Sophie Melvin Gerson, an organizer of the Gastonia Textile Strike of 1929, he was a longtime resident of and community activist in the Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The papers contain clippings, correspondence with leading communists and political figures, published and unpublished writings including manuscripts, memorandums, newspaper columns, reviews and reports, a scrapbook and speeches, including materials relating to Cacchione's career and death, and to Gerson's several campaigns for public office, research notes and typescript drafts for several chapters of a never-completed book, "Do We Really Have Free Elections (ca. 1990)," a related manuscript by Adam Lapin, "Tweedledum and Tweedledee: The American Two Party System," Communist Party internal documents, including reports by leading figures, many relating to the communist political crises of 1956-58 and 1989-91, and minutes of and correspondence relating to COFOE and the publication Ballot Access News. Other materials document Sophie's organizing work on behalf of older people, and include administrative records, correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, and ephemera.
Historical/Biographical Note
Simon W. (Si) Gerson, 1909-2004, was the longtime New York State, and later national legislative/political action director for the Communist Party, and was an advocate of proportional representation and ballot access for minor political parties, including in the 1980s-90s as a leader of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE). He served as Confidential Examiner to Manhattan Borough President Stanley M. Isaacs, 1938-40, until controversy over his Party membership caused him to resign this position, managed Communist election campaigns (later writing a biography Pete: The Story of Peter V. Cacchione, New York's First Communist Councilman), unsuccessfully campaigning to succeed Cacchione after his death in 1947, and organized activities in support of the Communist Party leaders indicted under the Smith Act, as was Gerson. In the 1950s he was executive editor of the Party's newspaper, the Daily Worker, and of its later successor, the Daily World. Along with his wife, Sophie Melvin Gerson, an organizer of the Gastonia Textile Strike of 1929, he was a longtime resident of and community activist in the Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.
Simon W. Gerson Selected Bibliography: Monographs and articles in periodicals (excluding book reviews and newspaper articles):
------, "A People's' Constitution for New York." New York State Communist Party, n.d.
"The New Left Social Fascism." Communist, 9 (July, 1930): 622-631.
It Is Happening Here. New York: New York State Committee, Communist Party, 1941.
Public Speaking: A Speakers Guide Book, by Peter V. Cacchione; foreword by Simon W. Gerson. New York : Workers Library Publishers, 1942.
"Thomas E. Dewey: His Record." Communist 22 (May, 1943): 461-468.
Pete Cacchione--His Record. New York: Workers Library, 1943.
"The Stork Club Goes for Dewey." New Masses 60, no. 11 (Sep 11, 1946): 17-20.
"How You Can Beat Dewey." New Masses 61, no. 6 (November 5, 1946): 4-5.
"Electoral Coalition Problems." Political Affairs, 26 (October, 1947): 894-901.
"La Guardia: Guerrilla Warrior." New Masses (October 7, 1947): 9-12.
The Killing of William Milton, by Art Shields, Introduction by Simon W. Gerson. New York: Daily Worker, 1948.
Either the Constitution or the Mundt Bill: America Can't Have Both. New York: New Century, 1950.
"The Jury System and Democratic Rights." Political Affairs, 31: 35-44 (July, 1952).
The Outlook for the N.Y. City Elections. New York State Communist Party (1954).
The Rights You Save May Be Your Own. New York: New York State Communist Party, 1954.
"A Communist at Cornell." Masses & Mainstream, 8 (July, 1955): 28-35.
Pete: The Story of Peter V. Cacchione, New York's First Communist Councilman. New York: International Publishers, 1976.
"On Building a Mass Anti-monopoly Party." Political Affairs (October 1977): 22-26.
After Fifty Years: Revisiting the U.S.S.R. New York : NWR Publications, 1978.
"The 1978 Midterm Elections." Political Affairs 57, no.1 (January, 1978): 18-21.
"Vito Marcantonio: From Republican to Radical." Political Affairs (November, 1979)
"Independence and Coalition; The Communist View." Political Affairs (December, 1979): 7-12.
"From Truman Doctrine to Reagan Doctrine." Political Affairs (August, 1987): 15-21.
"How to Win Political Democracy." Political Affairs (November, 1985): 14-17.
"Does the U.S. Have Free Elections?" Political Affairs (December, 1990): 10-14.
"Again, on Political Independence." Si Gerson and Jarvis Tyner. Political Affairs (January, 1993): 41.
Arrangement
Folders are arranged alphabetically, except for boxes 27-31, which have not been arranged by an archivist. The collection is arranged into five series:
Series I: Papers, 1927-2001
Series II: Scrapbooks, undated
Series III: Photographs, 1927-1991
Series IV: Addendum, 1918-1947
Series V: Addendum 2011, undated
The collection is organized into four series: I, Papers; II, Addendum; Scrapbook; III, Addendum; IV, Addendum, 2011. Each is arranged alphabetically, and the contents of each folder are arranged chronologically, except for boxes 27-31, which are unprocessed.
Scope and Content Note
The papers contain clippings, correspondence with leading communists and political figures, published and unpublished writings including manuscripts, memorandums, newspaper columns, reviews and reports, a scrapbook and speeches, including materials relating to Cacchione's career and death, and to Gerson's several campaigns for public office (including a speech recorded on two phonograph discs), research notes and typescript drafts for several chapters of a never-completed book, "Do We Really Have Free Elections (ca. 1990)," a related manuscript by Adam Lapin, "Tweedledum and Tweedledee: The American Two Party System," Communist Party internal documents, including reports by leading figures, many relating to the communist political crises of 1956-58 and 1989-91, minutes of and correspondence relating to Coalition for Free and Open Elections (COFOE) and the publication Ballot Access News, clippings relating to Sophie Gerson's activities in Gastonia, North Carolina during the 1929 textile strike there, and audiocassettes and reel to reel tapes (public programs honoring the Gersons, and Gus Hall "Updates"). Other materials document Sophie's organizing work on behalf of older people, and include administrative records, correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, and ephemera.
Notable individuals represented include: Ann Rosenhaft and Richard Winger (COFOE), Irving Adler, Helen Alfred (Peace Publications), Zaccariah Chafee, Mike Davidow, William O. Douglas, Harry Eisman, Fred Fine, William Z. Foster, Gil Green, Dorothy Healey, Murray Kempton, James Jackson, Al Lannon, Robert Minor, George Morris, Otto Nathan, Joseph North, John Pittman, Al Richmond, Lester Rodney, Morton Sobell, Norman Thomas, Robert Thompson, Carl Winter, and Alden Whitman (New York Times).
Subjects
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Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Simon W. Gerson and Sophie Gerson were transferred to New York University in 2005 by Deborah Gerson. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Simon W. Gerson Papers; TAM 330; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Deborah Gerson in 2005; additional materials were donated by Robert Hard and Sarah Steiner in 2011. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 2005.009, 2005.011, NPA.2005.225, 2011.043, and 2011.080. In May 2024, Frieda Gerson donated an accretion of materials documenting Sophie Gerson's organizing work on behalf of older people; the accession number associated with this gift is 2025.011.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
The following items from the 2025 accretion were appraised out of the collection by Tamiment-Wagner Curator Shannon O'Neill after arrival at NYU due the water damage: shipping labels, bulk mail for Brooklyn-wide Interagency Council of the Aging and Bensonhurst Council for Senior Citizens. Duplicate copies of meeting agendas for the Bensonhurst Council for Senior Citizens were also discarded.
Separated Material
Three manuscripts by Mike Gold have been separated to the Michael Gold: Peter V. Cacchione Manuscripts (TAM 339). Approximately 30 audiocassettes (1980s) that include "Gus Hall Updates" and several interviews with Simon Gerson have been separated to the Simon W. Gerson Audiocassettes (OH 054).
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs separated from this collection during processing were established as a separate collection, the Simon W. Gerson Photographs (PHOTOS 214). In 2014, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Simon W. Gerson Papers (TAM 330).
In January 2025, an accretion of materials documenting Sophie Gerson's organizing on behalf of older people was rehoused in archival boxes and folders, and incorporated into the collection intellectually within Series I and physically in Box 33. These materials were inventoried at the folder-level.
