Abraham Lincoln Battalion Vet Clarence Kailin Dead at 95

Madison, Wisconsin – Clarence Kailin, age 95, of Madison, passed away peacefully of a stroke on Oct. 25, 2009, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Madison, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born Aug. 20, 1914, in Madison, the son of Russian immigrants Louis Kailin and Stella Schwid. He attended Randall grade school and Wisconsin High School and briefly enrolled in the University of Wisconsin.

He was a renowned social activist who led by example, building movements for unemployment compensation and against mortgage foreclosures, organizing the Steel Workers and the CIO. He was chief steward of his AFSCME Local at the U of WI.

He fought South African apartheid, racist injustice and discrimination in housing and employment; against intervention in sovereign nations, campaigning vigorously against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As a Jew he welcomed the creation of Israel, but championed the right of Palestinians to live free in their own land, identified with the Israeli peace movement’s condemnation of Israeli apartheid and opposed the use of U.S. tax dollars to underwrite it.

In the 1960s he became an historian on African-American history and taught the subject at home and at the Free University. He and his wife Maggie authored "Black Chronicle," a primer for school teachers, and led a successful effort to introduce it into the Wisconsin school curriculum. He led a national campaign to remove a racist plaque at the Hoover Dam and inspired a national dialogue about the hurtfulness to blacks and whites of the use of racist language. Among his many paid and unpaid occupations, he was machinist, writer, historian, photographer.

He was endlessly curious, self-educated, with a working knowledge of chemistry, physics and botany, who delighted in the beauty of life and nature with the innocence of a child. He loved gardening and summer-long camping and mountain climbing trips in the West. Like his father, he was a Jewish Socialist who believed that capitalism is the scourge of humanity, but he had faith that humankind will find an alternative in socialism.

He was a member of the Communist Party and later the Socialist Party. He was a founder of the Socialist Potluck. He fought for fully democratic practices within all progressive organizations. His humanism was so deep that he held the truest course even while the most hopeful movements that ever inspired the world were sullied by betrayal, brutality and opportunism. He mentored generations of neighbors and youth, giving his advice, sympathy and material possessions, always leading by example.

He counseled patience, perseverance, and understanding that fundamental change takes time. Kailin is most widely known internationally for his service at age 23 with the Abraham Lincoln Battalion in the Spanish Civil War from the earliest Jarama front at Madrid to the final battles at the Ebro, where he was seriously wounded. His manuscript "John W. Cookson, a Wisconsin Anti-Fascist in the Spanish Civil War," has been published in Spanish translation by the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Kailin returned many times to a hero’s welcome in Spain.

In 2009, he was the first member of the Lincoln Brigade to accept dual citizenship in Spain, awarded in gratitude by its government. Honoring his wishes, half of his ashes will be buried at the grave of the legendary Cookson, in Marça (Priorat) Catalonia. The Kailin family extend special thanks to the caring staff and residents at St. Mary’s Care Center, his home for the last four years.

Kailin is survived by his wife, Margaret (Maggie) Kailin; children, John, Laurel, Julie and Susan Kailin; grandchildren, Jennifer Hawkins, Megan Hawkins, Kimanzi Edari and Syovata Edari; and by great-grandchildren, Desmond Hawkins, Miles Treleven, Yazmine Edari, Nialah Edari, Razia Edari, Emayu Sellassie Edari, Jahsiah Edari and Solomon Edari. Kailin was preceded in death by his brother, Harvey Kailin; and sister, Dorothy Resnick. Memorial Service: Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF MADISON MEETING HOUSE, 900 University Bay Drive. Interment of ashes: Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, time TBA, Forest Hill Cemetery, 1 Speedway Road, Madison. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to "WisPACT Trust for Susan K. Kailin."