CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Louis Shapiro (communist)

American activist

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ58892268 ↗
Source-derived summary

Louis Shapiro (also known as Louis Bain; died July 1921) was an American political activist who was a founding member of the Communist Party of America, the Executive Secretary of its Central Executive Committee, and a representative of the Jewish Federation.

Career

Shapiro was a member of the Socialist Party of America and active in the formation of its left wing. In 1919, he became a founding member of the Communist Party of America. Sharpiro was an organizer of District No. 2 (New York) and then Secretary of an early Communist Party following the Party's second convention on July 13–18, 1920.

Death

In February 1921, Shapiro went on Party business to the Soviet Union. In mid-July 1921, on the trip home, he died of heart disease in Hamburg, Germany.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Louis Shapiro (communist)” as american activist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1921, 1919, 1920—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Louis, Shapiro and communist can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as american activist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q58892268. The first chronological checks are 1921, 1919 and 1920.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Louis Shapiro (communist)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Louis Shapiro (communist) primary sources, Louis Shapiro (communist) archive and Louis research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Louis Shapiro (communist)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Louis Shapiro (communist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.