Ferry, Elinor

Elinor Ferry (1915-1993), journalist, labor organizer, and socialist. Ferry became a sports writer for the Hearst newspaper chain at the age of 16 and shortly after helped organize the Newspaper Guild. From there, she became an assistant to Michael Quill, head of the Transport Workers Union. In the 1950s, Ferry documented the activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and worked to aid those who refused to testify on Fifth Amendment grounds before Congressional committees investigating Communism. Ferry was also active in the Independent Socialist Party (ISP), which attempted to unite former Communists with other socialists, from 1958-1960. In the 1960s Ferry worked on an unpublished book-length manuscript on Whittaker Chambers and his role in the Alger Hiss case. At one time Ferry was married to George Kirstein, publisher of The Nation .

From the guide to the Elinor Ferry Papers, undated, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)

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