Mary Lou Montauk, a lifelong member and supporter of the Socialist Workers Party, died Jan. 5, a few days before turning 93.
A meeting to celebrate her life and political contributions will be held Jan. 21 at 8400 Enterprise Way in Oakland, California, with a buffet at 6 p.m. and program at 7. Speakers will include Socialist Workers Party leaders Norton Sanlder, Betsey Stone and Osborne Hart.
Montauk joined the SWP’s youth section in 1944 just before the giant strike wave that swept the country after World War II. In the 1950s she was active in the Chicago branch when the party was deeply involved in early civil rights struggles, including support for the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and fights against racist terror.
As a member of the Oakland branch in the 1960s and ’70s, she helped win to the party a new generation of youth who were inspired by the Cuban Revolution, the Black struggle, the movement against the Vietnam War and the fight for women’s rights.
In her later years, Montauk joined the team of party supporters who organize the production of books by SWP leaders and other revolutionaries.
The political work of the generations she was part of helped lay the basis for the party being able to move forward today.
For further information about the meeting, contact (510) 686-1351 or email swpoak@sbcglobal.net.