Paul Pembroke Crosbie (February 27, 1881-July 30, 1949) was an American Communist Party official.
Paul Pembroke Crosbie (February 27, 1881-July 30, 1949) was an American Communist Party official.
Crosbie was educated at Lake Forest Academy and Harvard University, where he was a classmate of Franklin D. Roosevelt. [1] Crosbie joined the military and was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in August 1917. [2] During the First World War, Crosbie fought in the Field Artillery at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. [3]
Crosbie began his political career as a Democrat. [4] While serving as a captain of the Democratic Party in Queens, Crosbie resigned in protest of a Party executive's refusal to resign from a personal real estate business. [5] In 1934, while working as an insurance agent in Manhattan, Crosbie joined the Communist Party. [6] He stated that he decided to join the Party because of his opposition to Roosevelt's agricultural policy. [7] Crosbie's membership in the American Legion was challenged in 1934 by another Legion member because of his Communist Party affiliation but a trial board upheld his membership. [8] Crosbie was finally forced out of the American Legion in 1941, ostensibly for non-payment of dues, although Crosbie argued that he had paid. [9]
Crosbie ran several unsuccessful campaigns as the Communist Party's nominee for Queens County Councilman between 1937 and 1943. [5] In October 1939, the Court of Appeals banned Crosbie from appearing on the ballot as a Communist Party candidate for New York City Councilman, along with Israel Amter, Isidore Begun, and Peter Cacchione. [10]