Sources |
- [S16] Social Security Death Index, Berkeley, California (Hayden Perry).
Birth date: 26 Apr 1914 Death date: 2 Aug 2000 Number: 557-10-3612
- [S38] England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915, London, Middlesex, England.
Birth date: Apr 1914
- [S107] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.
- [S17] New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Year: 1929; Arrival: , ; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_4530; Line: 6; List number: .
Birth date: abt 1914
Birth place: England
Residence date:
Residence place: England
Arrival date: 8 Jul 1929
Arrival place: New York, New York
Departure date:
Departure place: London, England
- [S72] The Berkeley Daily Planet, Active octenegarian dies following fall.
Hayden Perry, 85, died early Wednesday as a result of a fall in the co urtyard of his home at Redwood Gardens, a senior citizens’ residence o n Derby Street. Born in England, Mr. Perry was a lifelong politica l activist, a union organizer for the Typographical Union and writer . He penned a recent “perspective” piece in the Daily Planet in opposi tion to the death penalty. He came to the U.S. in 1929 and during th e hard times of the ‘thirties, worked as a printer and typographer whe n he could, riding the rails and traveling in search of work when he c ouldn’t. He was a familiar figure in Berkeley, riding his bicycle t o meetings and taking it on trains to attend demonstrations all over t he Bay Area or going to Sacramento to testify on behalf of a wide rang e of left causes. Last year, he went to Seattle to join protests again st the World Trade Organization. On the day before he died, Mr. Perr y had been working at the Berkeley headquarters of the Gray Panthers a nd planning his next project. Mr. Perry’s friends at Redwood Garden s are planning a memorial for him, but have not yet set a date.
- [S73] Socialist Action Newspaper, Hayden Perry: Long-Time Socialist Action Journalist (Obituary).
HAYDEN PERRY: LONG-TIME SOCIALIST ACTION JOURNALIST(Obituary)
By Michael Schreiber
Hayden Perry, a founder of the Socialist Workers Party and of Socialis t Action-and a long-time contributor to Socialist Action newspaper-die d on Aug. 2. He was 86.
Hayden died in the hospital shortly after he had collapsed on the law n of the Oakland, Calif., apartment facility where he lived.
Until his last moment, Hayden was noted for his indefatigable energy . He participated in more meetings and rallies, staffed more literatur e tables, and wrote more articles and letters to the editor than almos t anyone you could name. His regular mode of transportation was by bic ycle.
One of Hayden's traits was a reluctance to talk much about himself. Ge nerally, he preferred to discuss politics and events.
He was especially interested in what young people were doing and sayin g. He was often critical of what he saw as the younger generation's re lative lack of interest in political involvement-though he never gav e up hope in the youth. He told me he thought that mobilizations of yo ung people in Seattle and other places were a good sign for the future .
Hayden was born in England in 1914 of working-class Irish parentage. W hen he was seven, he moved to the United States, settling with his fam ily in the New York area.
In Southern California, in 1934, he was introduced to left-wing politi cal activity through the "Ham and Eggs Party," which backed the campai gn of Upton Sinclair for governor. He soon met members of the Trotskyi st movement and was convinced by their revolutionary program.
In 1936, the Trotskyists entered the Socialist Party in order to influ ence and recruit the many young workers who were joining the party. Ha yden, who was living in San Francisco, also joined the SP at that time .
Soon afterward, however, the reformist leadership of the Socialist Par ty expelled the Trotskyist-led current-who had insisted, among other " transgressions," on the need to discuss party policy in regard to th e ongoing revolution in Spain. In 1938, the expelled revolutionaries f ounded the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). Hayden was among them.
During World War II, Hayden was drafted into the Army and served in th e South Pacific. Following the war, he lived for a time in Chicago an d in Akron and Youngstown, Ohio.
During this period he married his wife, Esther, and he perfected his t rade as a printer. In Akron, he printed a series of pamphlets for th e labor party clubs that had sprung up throughout the Midwest during t he post-war working-class upsurge.
In the 1950s, Hayden and Esther returned to San Francisco. At the en d of the decade, however, the SWP asked Hayden to come to New York Cit y in order to set up a print shop. Together with Bob Chester, a SWP le ader from Philadelphia, Hayden was able to accomplish the task-allowin g the party to print its own books for the first time.
This was a significant aid to the Trotskyist movement when, in the 196 0s, a new generation began to seek out revolutionary literature. Durin g that period, Hayden and Esther returned to the West Coast.
Despite their activity and commitment, however, both Hayden and Esthe r were summarily expelled from the SWP at the end of 1983 in a politic al purge organized by the clique around Jack Barnes, which had taken c ontrol of the party.
Hayden and Esther soon joined Socialist Action, which was formed by So cialist Workers Party members who had also been purged from the part y and who adhered to the SWP's historic revolutionary program.
Hayden was involved with many aspects of producing Socialist Action ne wspaper; he wrote for the paper, proof-read it, and then sold it on th e streets. As a journalist, Hayden had a knack of being able to writ e on current issues in a highly engaging and popular manner.
Ten of Hayden's Socialist Action articles from the late 1980s are coll ected in the pamphlet, "Everyday Life in Capitalist America" (Walnut P ublishers, 1996). The articles-concerning health care, education, home lessness, civil rights, and other topics-show the broad range of his i nterests.
In 1985, Hayden and Esther moved to England. Hayden hoped that, as a B ritish subject who had retired from his job, he might receive some o f the benefits of the country's (admittedly decayed) social welfare an d health care system.
On a trip to England, I visited them in the flat they had rented far i n the outskirts of London. They had just gone through an unusually col d and dreary winter, which had made it difficult to travel into the ci ty very often. Hayden felt isolated from political activity-and Esthe r had become ill.
After the better part of a year in Britain, they returned to Californi a. Esther largely recuperated, but dropped out of political activity . She died in 1994.
Around that time, Hayden also dropped from membership in Socialist Act ion, expressing political differences with the majority. But he was en tirely non-sectarian and continued to write articles for Socialist Act ion newspaper and to attend our activities as well as those of other l eft groups. Three years ago, he joined Solidarity.
The last time I spoke with Hayden, at a Mumia demonstration in San Fra ncisco, he told me that he was planning to write a letter to Socialis t Action-and I should look out for it. But he evidently didn't have th e time.
Hayden was such an active member of the Bay Area political scene that , for me, it has not quite sunk in yet that he's gone. He will be deep ly missed.
- [S31] Summit County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1840-1980, Akron, 1947.
Birth date: 26 Apr 1914 Marriage date: 24 Oct 1947
- [S31] Summit County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1840-1980.
Birth date: 11 Oct 1919
Birth place:
Marriage date: 24 Oct 1947
Marriage place:
|