John Gates

Gates was married for 47 years to Lillian Schwartz and died in 1992 in Miami Beach, Florida.

John Gates was born as Solomon Regenstriet in New York to Polish-Jewish parents; his father was owner of a candy store and ice-cream parlor. After the Wall Street Crash, his father had to become a waiter.

Gates started attending the City College of New York in 1930 and became highly influenced with the writings of Karl Marx. As a result, he joined the Young Communist League and participated in the campaign to free the Scotsboro Boys.

In 1932, Gates shifted to Ohio and gave up his Regents Scholarship at the City College to join the YCL as a Party Organizer. He did various jobs under the National Youth Administration project, Works Progress Administration, etc.

Gates was sentenced to jail for 30 days in 1935 for circulating leaflets during a strike in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He was not given a chance to plead; the town mayor acted as a judge and sent him to jail.

In 1937 Gates joined the International Brigades, an organization that was attempting to defend the Popular Front during the Spanish Civil War, for which he travelled to France and Spain.

Gates was appointed the head of the Young Communist League in New York State after his return to the United States in 1938. He also served as Secretary of the Friends of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

In 1949, Gates was sent to prison for 5 years as he was one of the 12 ‘Kingpin Commies ‘and was convicted under the Smith Act.

Gates’ appointment as the editor of the Communist Party’s newspaper ‘the Daily Worker’ is considered to be the most important work of his life as his faith in Communism came alive in this period.