Biography
Victor Jeremy Jerome was the longtime cultural commissar of the Communist Party USA and the editor of the partys cultural and theoretical magazine Political Affairs from 1937 to 1956. He was the partys leading public theorist on questions of art, film, and literature, and the author of The Negro in Hollywood Films (1950) and the autobiographical novel A Lantern for Jeremy (1952).
Indicted in the Foley Square Second String in June 1951 and convicted alongside the rest of the CPUSA national board in January 1953, he was sentenced to three years in federal prison and served at the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut. After his release he resumed editing Political Affairs and remained in the party until his death in London in 1965.
The July 4, 1951 National Guardian individually named V. J. Jerome among the New York Smith Act defendants who had been released on bail after their recent arrests. This pretrial release is distinct from any later sentence service; the report does not establish this person’s exact release day or a measured custody total. National Guardian, July 4, 1951, p. 5.
The released FBI file on Claudia Jones, New York 100-81752, records Victor Jeremy Jerome’s release on bail on July 24, 1951, and identifies John T. McTernan as his defense counsel in its April 21, 1952 list. It separately records remand after the January 21, 1953 verdict and release on appeal bail on February 17, 1953. These bail interruptions are distinct from his later prison term. FBI, Claudia Jones released file, part 8, sections on bail and counsel.
