11 Facts About Henry Winston

Henry M Winston was an African-American political leader and Marxist civil rights activist.

Henry Winston was left permanently blind as a result of being denied medical treatment by the US Government while he was imprisoned for his communist beliefs.

An early member of the Communist Party USA, Henry Winston was elected to the party's National Board in 1936, serving as Chairman of the CPUSA from 1966 to 1986.

Henry Winston was born on April 2,1911, to Joseph and Lucille Winston in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The economic situation of the poor Winston family was troubling enough to force Henry to leave high school early.

Henry Winston himself served in the Army, participating in the liberation of France from Nazi occupation.

Henry Winston marked the war's end with an honorable discharge from the military.

Back to political activity after his World War II discharge and the reorganization of the Party in 1946, Henry Winston, along with the rest of the CPUSA leadership, was a victim of an early Cold War attempt by the American government to "decapitate" the Communists' leading ranks.

In disguise, traveling around the country under a false name, Henry Winston was sheltered by people sympathetic to Marxism and leftist political work.

Henry Winston was elected CPUSA Chairman in 1966, sharing the running of the party organization with Gus Hall, the General Secretary.

Henry Winston died on December 13,1986, aged 75, in the Soviet Union, where he had again returned in search of medical treatment.