JUNE 5, 1940 – NOVEMBER 10, 2021
Gerald Meyer was a founding member of the faculty at Hostos Community College (CUNY). During the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, he served as the chair of the Save Hostos Committee that succeeded in keeping the college open. He helped establish many college-wide entities including the Gay and Lesbian Club and the Hostos Solidarity Coalition. After retiring, he co-founded The Circle of 100 Scholarship and Emergency Fund. For his advocacy and generosity to Hostos, Community College, Room B-115 was renamed the "Vito Marcantonio Conference Room" in honor of Dr. Meyer on February of 2012.
Dr. Meyer authored Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902-1954, which is in its fourth printing, and with Philip Cannistraro co-edited The Lost World of Italian American Radicalism. Dr. Meyer published over ninety articles and reviews on a wide range of subjects, including: Italian-American educator, Leonard Covello; the intersections of radicalism and immigrants; and culture and the Left. Dr. Meyer served on the editorial boards of Socialism and Democracy and Science & Society. He co-chaired the Vito Marcantonio Forum, which is dedicated to advancing the life and work of that great Italian-American fighter for the working class.
"What I Learned from Jerry Meyer," The Indypendent