Jennifer Meeropol is the granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the daughter of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol. Jenn became the Executive Director of the RFC on September 1, 2013. Prior posts on this page were written by Robert (unless otherwise noted), and represent his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by the RFC.My daughter, Jenn (the RFC’s Grantmaking Coordinator), and I spent last weekend in Rochester and Buffalo attending RFC receptions as part of our 20/20/20 program. We call it 20/20/20 because we will celebrate the RFC’s 20th anniversary by holding at least 20 events around the country during the 20-months that started in September. We managed to beat the snows and catch the tail end of one of the best fall color seasons we’ve had in the last decade.
I recently received a notice from one of my favorite organizations, The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). (Full disclosure, my younger daughter, Rachel Meeropol, works as an attorney there so I may not be entirely objective.) The CCR has reissued its pamphlet, “If An Agent Knocks” as a public service. Since this pamphlet is designed as an aid for targeted activists, and the RFC’s mission is to provide for the educational and emotional needs of the children of targeted activists, I am reproducing the CCR’s information about their pamphlet here as a service to the RFC community:
In the last issue of our newsletter I announced that the Attica Fund Prison Visit Program was in financial trouble and needed a $10,000 infusion. Two weeks ago I reported here that in response to my appeal a generous donor had stepped forward and offered to match dollar for dollar all contributions earmarked for the Attica Fund up to a total of $5,000.
Last Saturday’s RFC reception in Seattle, the second event in a series of 20 to celebrate our 20th anniversary, was a big success. Once again, we had a bigger crowd and raised more than we anticipated. Those who attended were very engaged. I was particularly impressed by the lively in-depth discussion we had after my talk. We ended by addressing the issue of the RFC’s definition of “political prisoner.”
In 1994 the RFC initiated its Prison Visit Program to enable the children and grandchildren of political prisoners to visit their incarcerated parents and grandparents. But it was under-capitalized, and we had to siphon funds from our regular granting to sustain it.