Jack Hardy (born Dale Zysman; November 18, 1901 – July 2, 1993?), was a 20th-Century Communist author labor leader as "Jack Hardy", and a teacher and board member of the New York City

Teachers Union The New York City Teachers Union or "TU" (1916–1964) was the first New York labor union for teachers, formed as "AFT Local 5" of the American Federation of Teachers, which found itself hounded throughout its history due largely to co-membership ...

under his birth name "Dale Zysman". Investigation by the New York Board of Education (now the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

) led to public awareness that the two names belonged to one person and subsequent expulsion from the school system in 1941.

Career

High school coach

In November 1927, Zysman is pictured as a football coach of the "New Utrecht Gridders" of Brooklyn. In September 1928, he is listed as one of three football coaches in Brooklyn. "Zysman steps into the shoes of Hyman Saul, who withdrew after being at the helm for two years. Zysman was Saul's assistant in 1927." Zysman's football team lost in October 1928 but was thought ready to win in November. Yet shortly thereafter, the local ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' reported:

Although this is his first year at the helm as mentor, Dale Zysman is said to have already tired of the job. He has been meeting with mediocre success due to the fact that he was left with only a handful of veteran players. Zysman succeeded Hyman Saul, who resigned and withdrew from the school system last year.

By the end of the month, the newspaper was reporting that Zysman was one of four coaches expected to be fired for their team's poor season performance. However, Zysman weathered his first year, as he receives mention in the same position in 1930 for spring training. By September 1930 as the new football season started up, the local newspaper was reporting:

Coach Dale Zysman and Assistant Coaches Raskin and Levin have a powerful working force this season made up of 16 regulars and scrubs from 1929. In addition the newcomers are the most likely looking batch Coach Zysman has had to work with since he took over the team two years ago... Coach Zysman will be able t o master his plays earlier than in previous seasons and he hopes to get the jump on the rival schools and get off on the right foot at the outset.

Closet communist

In the 1920s, "Jack Hardy" was a member of a class taught by

Scott Nearing Scott Nearing (August 6, 1883 – August 24, 1983) was an American radical economist, educator, writer, political activist, pacifist, vegetarian and advocate of simple living. Biography Early years Nearing was born in Morris Run, Tioga County ...

that sought a law of social revolution (though, according to

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

, "an infiltration of Communists... really ran the class, steered the discussions," and tried to "make the law of social revolution a Marxian law.") Members included Sam Krieger, Eve Dorf, and her husband

Ben Davidson Benjamin Earl Davidson (June 14, 1940 – July 2, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end, primarily with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL). He was a three-time AFL All-Star with the ...

, as well as Alfred J. Brooks,

Myra Page Dorothy Markey (born Dorothy Page Gary, 1897–1993), known by the pen name Myra Page, was a 20th-century American communist writer, journalist, Trade union, union activist, and teacher. Background Page was born Dorothy Page Gary on Octobe ...

Benjamin Mandel Benjamin Mandel (October 2, 1891 – August 8, 1973) "Bert Miller" was a New York city school teacher and communist activist who later became an ex-communist director of research for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the Senat ...

, and Rachel Ragozin. In 1937, Hardy was one of eleven Communist Party members who was also a member of the board of the New York City Teachers Union and in December of that year became chairman of the board. (The Teachers Union and the

Teachers Guild The New York City Teachers Guild (1935-1960), AKA "Local 2, AFT" as of June 1941, was a progressive labor union that started as breakaway from the New York City Teachers Union and later merged into the United Federation of Teachers. History 19 ...

of New York reformed in 1960 as the

United Federation of Teachers The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) is the labor union that represents most teachers in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service teachers and nearly 30,000 paraprofessional educators in the union, as well as about ...

.) According to

Harvey Klehr Harvey Elliott Klehr (born December 25, 1945) is a professor of politics and history at Emory University. Klehr is known for his books on the subject of the American Communist movement, and on Soviet espionage in America (many written jointly with ...

, "The

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 pe ...

' Local 5 in New York, the union's largest affiliate, was ommunistParty stronghold. Its vice president, Dale Zysman, was a Communist who used the pen name of Jack Hardy." Klehr also mentions that

Bella Dodd Bella Dodd (née Visono; 1904 – 29 April 1969 ) was a teacher, lawyer, and labor union activist, member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) and New York City Teachers Union (TU) in the 1930s and 1940s ("one of Communi ...

was a close associate. In Dodd's memoir, she states: "We had one man in the eachersUnion who was so talented in manipulation that he was regarded as the

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

of the Union -- Dale Zysman, also known as Jack Hardy. He had been to Moscow."

Dismissal

In 1938, Zysman remained vice president of the Teachers Union. In 1939, he was listed as a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

official using the name "Jack Hardy, identified as a New York schoolteacher" when providing visa for a false passport obtained for Fred E. Beal (fugitive from justice and a leader of the 1929 Gastonia strike)." who was to travel on to disillusionment in the Soviet Union. In 1940, U.S. Representative Martin Dies, Jr. (Democrat - Texas, 2nd district) had already marked him out as a subversive: "Dale Zysman, teacher in the public schools of New York, has written books for the Party under the name of 'Jack Hardy'." In February 1941, he championed the plight of other teachers before he, too, got call to testify. By March 1941, Zysman was implicated again:

A conference of Communists attended by history teachers from both
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...
and City College to lay out a broad program of publication of pamphlets and brochures giving the Communist interpretation of history was described to the Rapp-Coudert legislative committee today at a public hearing. The committee's star witness so far, William M. Canning, City College instructor who resigned from the Communist Party last year, also added 17 more names of alleged City College Communists to the 34 he cited yesterday, and described how - the Communists sought, usually with success, to dominate meetings of the College Teachers' Unions. The meeting of the Communist historians, Canning said, was held in the office"of Alex Trachtenberg, president of International Publishers. 'The purpose,' he said under questioning by committee counsel
Paul Windels Paul Windels Sr. (December 7, 1885 – December 15, 1967) was an American lawyer and government official. He served as Corporation Counsel of New York City under Fiorello La Guardia from 1934 to 1937. Biography Windels was born in Brooklyn, Ne ...
, 'was to discuss a program for proving the validity of the thesis the Communists were then using that Communism was Americanism of the 20th Century.' Canning did not give the date of the meeting, but it apparently was before the signing of the Hitler-Stalin pact in 1939. Those present, he said, included Dale Zysman, vice-president of Local 5 of the Teachers Union, teachers Henry L. Klein and Emil Morais of Brooklyn College,
Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...
and Jack Foner of the
CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
history faculty, and two well-known Communists who were not teachers, Anna Rochester and Henry Aptheker, as well as Canning himself.

Another paper reported that "Dale Zysman," vice president of the Teachers Union, asserted that he knew of a 'dozen or so' high school teachers who have been subpoenaed by the committee and the latter group confirmed that a number of such Instructors had already testified as to conditions in their schools." Later that March, the ''

New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American conservative news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) online-only publisher of political and economic opinion pieces, as we ...

'' reported that Zysman was not only the communist "Jack Hardy" but also "Richard Enmale," a name devised "by taking the first two letters from the names,

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''

Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

." On June 5, 1941, William Levich, former assistant director of the Workers School, and Benjamin Mandel testified before the Coudert committee that Zysman, then a Manhattan P.S. 39 teacher and vice president of the Teachers Union, that he a communist and someone who had recently been to the Soviet Union, and had used the Party name "Jack Hardy." That same day, Alfred J. Brooks, a teacher at Brownx P. S. 61, and

Howard Selsam Howard Selsam (born Howard Brillinger Selsam; 28 June 1903 – 7 September 1970) was an American Marxist philosopher. Background Howard Brillinger Selsam was born on 28 June 1903 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His parents were John T. Selsam, a g ...

, a professor at Brooklyn College, refused to testify. Two of the day's witnesses were

Benjamin Gitlow Benjamin Gitlow (December 22, 1891 – July 19, 1965) was a prominent American socialist politician of the early 20th century and a founding member of the Communist Party of the United States, Communist Party USA. At the end of the 1930s, Gitlow t ...

and Joseph Zach, both former high-ranking Communists. Gitlow testified that Brooks had lived in the Soviet Union from 1926 until 1932 and worked a

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

office under the name of "A. G. Bosse." Seven teachers, including Henry L. Klein and Zysman, refused to testify that day. "Mr. Zysman insisted he was not "declining to answer," but "refraining from answering," reported the ''New York Sun''. The following day, Friday, June 6, 1941:

Dr. Harold G. Campbell, superintendent of schools, acting upon evidence of alleged Communist activity by the teachers, canceled Klein's assignment and suspended Alfred J. Brooks of Public School 61, the Bronx, and Dale Zysman, vice president of the Teachers Union of Public School 89, Manhattan.

On June 10, 1941, Zysman had a letter to the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' published:

Editor School Page — Sir: Statements about me on the School Page of June 6 are inaccurate and misleading. You state that "for years there has been speculation" as to whether Dale Zysman and Jack Hardy are the same person and that "Mr. Zysman has remained mum on the subject." The facts of the matter are that nearly two years ago I addressed a communication to the Board of Superintendents advising them that "I have published several books under the pen name of Jack Hardy." This has long been a matter of common knowledge to all of my friends and most of my associates. I sent a copy of this communication to the Board of Education and shortly thereafter it was quoted in the ''New York Teacher'', monthly organ of the Teachers Union. I also advised the Coudert Committee of the same fact when I appeared before them at a private hearing on October 9 last. When so much was made of this fact at the public hearings of the Coudert Committee on June 4, I was at a loss to understand what the "exposure" was all about. Except, of course, that for reasons of their own Messrs. Coudert and Windels seem to prefer to do things this way. DALE ZYSMAN. Vice-president, Teachers Union

By June 12, the board had affirmed the suspension of two of the teachers who refused to testify before the Rapp-Coudert Committee: Alfred J. Brooks and Dale Zysman. On September 9, 1941, Zysman went en trial at the Board of Education for refusing to testify before the Rapp-Coudert legislative committee, investigating subversive activities in public schools. Harold C. Campbell accused Zysman Communist party involvement, hampering the legislative inquiry, giving false testimony at private hearings, then refusing to testify at open hearings. "Zysman has filed a general denial of the allegations." On September 17, 1941, the ''New York Sun'' ran the headline "Zysman Identified as Red: Teachers Union Leader Tried in Absence After He Walks Out on Hearing." The article states:

Dale Zysman, teacher at P.S. 89, Manhattan, and vice president of the Teachers Union, today walked out on a trial begun by the Board of Education to inquire into charges that he had been guilty of subversive activities and, under the party name of Jack Hardy, had written a number of tracts expounding communistic doctrines.

Zysman's attorney

Vito Marcantonio Vito Anthony Marcantonio (December 10, 1902 – August 9, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician who served East Harlem for seven terms in the United States House of Representatives. For most of his political career, he was a member of ...

had asked for a ten-day stay because the Board had failed to present "an itemized bill of particulars," which stay the Board denied, so Zysman walked out. The Board's counsel, Charles C. Weinstein, declared that charges served on Zysman in July been itemized and constituted a bill of particulars. Weinstein called the walk-out a "smokescreen" and asked that the trial proceed, a request granted.

, a former teacher and former communist, then testified that he had known Zysman in the party as "Jack Hardy." Further, Zysman/Hardy was "especially active in the Pioneer Youth, the junior wings of the Reds." Lastly, Mandel stated that any Communist teacher was expected by the Party to "inculcate communistic ideals in children." (By 1941, Mandel had become a special investigator for the

Dies Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

and later served on the committee's successor

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

as chief researcher during the

Hiss Hiss or Hissing may refer to: * Hiss (electromagnetic), a wave generated in the plasma of the Earth's ionosphere or magnetosphere * Hiss (surname) * ''Hissing'' (manhwa), a Korean manhwa series by Kang EunYoung * Noise (electronics) or electro ...

-Chambers Case. In his 1952 memoir, Chambers noted, "I knew personally just one member of its staff—Ben Mandel, its able chief researcher... the former business manager of the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

''.") On September 18, 1942, the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' reported that the trial committee of the Board of Education was ready to open a new trial tomorrow of another teacher facing similar charges, after "having completed its trial of Dale Zysman, teacher at P. S. 89, Manhattan, and vice-president of the Teachers Union, accused of communistic activities and of writing communistic books under the name of Jack Hardy." In 1942, Zysman filed a lawsuit to recover his pension after his dismissal:

The pension board voted to file a letter from Dale Zysman, publish school teacher who was dismissed from service last December as a result of the Rapp-Coudert investigation, Mr. Zysman had asked permission to have his accumulated pension contributions in the pension fund at 4 per cent interest, arguing that this privilege is granted to resigned teachers for a period of five years after they leave the service. Mr. Zysman was represented at yesterday's meeting by Samuel Greenfield of the Teachers Union, who cited the pension law as proof that no distinction is made between persons who are dismissed and those who resign... "Mr. Zysman is asking for no special privilege."... Mr. Zysman is appealing against his dismissal and the Retirement Board has informed him that it will hold his money and will pay interest on it if the appeal is sustained.

(In 1952, Chambers recalled, "Circa 1941, Zysman's party membership was suspected or discovered. He was eased out of the schools in an incident that made a day's headlines. Later, he went to work for the Communist Labor Research Group, which included among others, Comrade

Grace Hutchins Grace Hutchins (August 19, 1885 – July 15, 1969) was an American labor reformer and researcher, journalist, political activist and communist. She spent many years of her life writing about labor and economics, in addition to being a lifelong de ...

." Chambers is probably referring to the

Labor Research Association The Labor Research Association (LRA) was a left-wing labor statistics bureau established in November 1927 by members of the Communist Party USA, Workers (Communist) Party of America. The organization published a biannual series of volumes known as ...

Works

Hardy described the inspiration for his book ''The First American Revolution'': "The thesis of this book is taken from V. I.

's famous address to American workers: "The history of modern civilized America opens with one of those great, really liberating, really revolutionary wars... It was a war of the American people against English robbers who subjected America and held it in colonial slavery..." His book ''Labor and Textiles'' formed part of a series by

International Publishers International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history. Company history Establishment International Publishers Company, Inc., was founde ...

which included: ''Labor and Steel'' by Horace B. Davis, ''Labor and Coal'' by

Anna Rochester Anna Rochester (March 30, 1880 — May 11, 1966) was an American labor reformer, journalist, political activist, and Communist. Although for several years an editor of the liberal monthly '' The World Tomorrow,'' Rochester is best remembered as a ...

, ''Labor and Lumber'' by Charlotte Todes, ''Labor and Automobiles'' by Robert W. Dunn, and ''Labor and Silk'' by

(illustrated by Chambers' future wife,

Esther Shemitz Esther Shemitz (June 25, 1900August 16, 1986), also known as "Esther Chambers" and "Mrs. Whittaker Chambers," was a pacifist American painter and illustrator who, as wife of ex-Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers, provided testimony that "helped substan ...

). * ''The Economic Organization of the Soviet Union'', with

(New York,

Vanguard Press The Vanguard Press was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left-wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on ra ...

: 1927) * ''Labor and Textiles: A Study of Cotton and Wool Manufacturing'', with Robert W. Dunn (New York,

: 1931) * ''Clothing Workers: A Study of the Conditions and Struggles in the Needle Trades'' (New York,

: 1935) * ''The First American Revolution'' (New York,

: 1937) * '' The Civil War in the United States'' by

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Teachers Union The New York City Teachers Union or "TU" (1916–1964) was the first New York labor union for teachers, formed as "AFT Local 5" of the American Federation of Teachers, which found itself hounded throughout its history due largely to co-membership ...

Communist Party of the United States of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

* Robert W. Dunn * Alfred J. Brooks *

Charles J. Hendley Charles James Hendley (June 4, 1881 – December 23, 1962) was an American teacher, education reformer, and union activist. He served as president of the New York City Teachers Union (TU) from 1935 to 1945 (just after a minority split off to form ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Jack (labor leader) American trade union leaders Members of the Communist Party USA 1900s births 1993 deaths