Watt, George, 1913-1994

From an early age, George Watt (b. 1913) was involved in Communist activities, serving as executive secretary of the Communist National Student League. From 1937-1939, he was a political commissar in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Watt later served as a sergeant in the Army Air Force during World War II.

After the war, Watt became an official of the American Communist Party. He was one of a group of party officers convicted of sedition in 1953 (the conviction was overturned on appeal). Watt broke with the Communist Party in 1958. He died in 1994 at age 80.

Source: NY Times Obituaries, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/09/obituaries/george-watt-80-hospital-executive.html

From the guide to the Watt Family Papers, 1937-1940s, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)