Edward K. Barsky

Edward K. "Eddie" Barsky (June 6, 1895 – February 11, 1975) was an American surgeon and political activist. Barsky is best remembered as the head of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, a Communist Party-sponsored organization which raised funds to aid refugees from the regime of Spanish strongman Francisco Franco in the late 1930s during the Spanish Civil War. In the 1950s Barsky became a cause célèbre as a victim of McCarthyism when he was imprisoned for refusing to provide information to the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Background Edward K. Barsky, known to his friends as "Eddie," was born in Manhattan, New York City, on June 6, 1895. His father and both brothers were doctors. He was the son of a surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City. Barsky attended City College of New York and graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in 1919. There he served with the Republican Medical Service in various American Hospitals. As a result, Barsky was charged with contempt of Congress, brought to trial for his willful defiance of Congressional subpoena, and sentenced to six months in prison.

Barsky was a consulting surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital at time of death. The Barsky material encompasses 2.5 linear feet of material, housed in five archival boxes, and is open to researchers without restriction.