It is with deep sadness we inform you about the passing of Professor Gerald J. Meyer, a co-founder of The East Harlem Historical Organization (predecessor to East Harlem Preservation).
Gerald, 81, was hospitalized on September 21 after an accidental fall on the steps outside his home, during which he suffered a number of serious injuries.
Professor Meyer was taken to Methodist Hospital and remained in a coma in the intensive care unit until he passed away from cardiac arrest on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
A visitation for Gerald was held Sunday, November 14, 2021 at the Joseph G. Duffy Funeral Home in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The Meyer family wishes to thank everyone for their kind words and loving support. Donations to Hostos Community College’s Circle of 100 Emergency Fund are very much appreciated.
About Gerald Meyer (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 of the college’s Building B 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-chairs the Vito Marcantonio Forum, which is dedicated to advancing the life and work of that great Italian-American fighter for the working class.
