Will Weinstone

William Wolf "Will" Weinstone (1897–1985) was an American Communist politician and labor leader. Weinstone served as Executive Secretary of the unified Communist Party of America, the forerunner of today's Communist Party USA, from October 15, 1921 to February 22, 1922 and was an important figure in the party's activities among the auto workers of Detroit during the 1930s.

William Weinstone was born December 15, 1897 in Vilnius, then part of the Tsarist Russian Empire. Will was the son of Jewish parents who emigrated from Russia to escape that nation's pervasive anti-semitism during the late Tsarist period. His original surname was "Weinstein," a name which Will Americanized when he was older.

Weinstone was elected as an alternate delegate to the Left Wing National Conference held in New York City in June 1919, at which he was seated to replace a regular delegate on the last day of the gathering.

Weinstone was elected as a delegate to the founding convention of the Communist Party of America, called to order in Chicago on September 1, 1919.

During the first years of the 1920s the Communist Party of America was forced underground by the mass operation of the U.S. Department of Justice remembered as the Palmer Raids. During this interval, Weinstone served as Executive Secretary of the secret party organization from October 15, 1921 to February 22, 1922, under the pseudonym "G. Lewis."

Following the removal of Jay Lovestone and Benjamin Gitlow from the leadership of the Communist Party in the summer of 1929, Weinstone was added to the ranks of a new collective leadership called the Secretariat. Although he had aspirations of permanent leadership, he was ultimately unable to retain the top leadership, which soon fell to Earl Browder, a longtime factional rival.

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