Charles Krumbein
American Communist leader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles Krumbein (February 10, 1889 – January 20, 1947) was an American Communist activist.
Biography
Krumbein initially joined the Socialist Party.[1] He left the SP in 1919 and became a founding member of the Communist Labor Party.[2]
Back row, L-R: T.J. O'Flaherty, Charles Erickson, Cyril Lambkin, Bill Dunne, John Mihelic, Alex Bail, W.E. "Bud" Reynolds, "Francis Ashworth."
Seated L-R: Norman Tallentire, Caleb Harrison, Eugene Bechtold, Seth Nordling, C. E. Ruthenberg, Charles Krumbein, Max Lerner, T.R. Sullivan, Elmer McMillan.
Krumbein was a delegate to the 1922 Bridgman Convention of the Communist Party of America.[3] He was arrested with 17 other Party members but was later pardoned by Illinois Governor Len Small.[4] Krumbein was one of seven Americans invited to study at the International Lenin School in May 1926.[5] In January 1935, Krumbein plead guilty to the charge of having traveled with a false passport in 1930, and received an eighteen month sentence at Lewisburg Penitentiary.[6] Despite their political differences, Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas wrote a letter to Roosevelt asking for clemency for Krumbein, describing him as "a man of character and devotion to his cause".[7] Krumbein was elected to serve as the national treasurer for the Communist Party at their convention on May 22, 1943.[8]
Krumbein was married to fellow Communist Party activist Margaret Cowl.[9] He died of a heart attack on January 20, 1947, while on vacation in Miami Beach.[10]