Isaac Edward Ferguson, known to his friends as "Ed," was born November 23, 1888, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the son of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi.
[1] During his time at the University of Chicago, Ferguson briefly became involved in radical politics, leaving the socialist movement upon graduation.
[1] That gathering elected Ferguson as National Secretary of the Left Wing, a position which he formally retained until the establishment of the Communist Party of America (CPA) early in September.
[1] Ferguson joined his co-thinker, Cleveland Socialist Party leader C. E. Ruthenberg, as a charter member of the CPA and attended its founding convention in Chicago.
The pair were charged with violation of a previously unused 1902 New York law prohibiting the advocacy of "Criminal Anarchism," which had been passed in the aftermath of the assassination of President William McKinley.
[1] It was the lack of proof of close ties between the two defendants and the publication of the Left Wing Manifesto that was the ultimate reason for the reversal.