Activists who abandon normal lives to serve political and social causes suffer in many ways. They may lose their lives; they may go to prison; they may have trouble making ends meet and keeping their families together. Their suffering is the stuff books are made of.
But what happens to their children?
Against a background of controversial activism that reaches to militancy, even alleged espionage, the welfare and the destinies of activists’ children will be the theme of the Rosenberg Fund for Children’s 20th anniversary gala on October 17. Ray Luc Levasseur of the Ohio Seven, a militant activist acquitted of sedition in Springfield but convicted on other charges stemming from his group’s bombing of public buildings in the 1980s, will speak about the government’s dealings with his children and those of his associates in the group after they were arrested in the late ’80s. Members of the Ohio Seven have said the government held their children—nine in all—and subjected some to FBI interrogations until their parents went on a hunger strike to get them released to the care of family members.
The Rosenberg Fund for Children is linked intimately to the Ohio Seven and their Springfield trial. The Foundation was established by Robert Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed by the government in 1953 on charges of conspiring to pass U.S. government secrets to the Russians. Their sons, Robert and Michael, were adopted and raised by the Meeropol family. In the late 1980s, Robert, then weary of his work as a corporate lawyer, became interested in the Ohio Seven and followed the Springfield trial. When he heard Levasseur’s account of the pressure put on his and his colleagues’ children by the government, he saw the need for an organization that would assist the children of activists and political prisoners. That vision led to the establishment of the Rosenberg Fund for Children in 1990. The group’s first two grants were made to help send two Ohio Seven children to summer camp.
At the Rosenberg Fund gala, Levasseur will touch on such issues as why he had children while a part of his life was taken up with high-risk activism; what life was like for his family when he was living underground and then incarcerated; and what family values mean to people who feel that society needs radical change and want to help bring about that change. Also on the program is music by Evelyn Harris, formerly of Sweet Honey in the Rock. The gala takes place October 17 from 4 to 7 at the Northampton Center for the Arts; for full program information and ticket prices, visit www.rfc.org/20thanniversarygala or call (413) 529-0063.
