Otto Huiswoud was the national organizer of the American Negro Labor Congress, he was barred from speaking by police at an interracial dance at the Pythian Temple.
Huiswood was born in Suriname. He was a founding member of the Communist Party in 1919 and was active in the African Blood Brotherhood, an early African liberation organization that advocated armed self-defense.
The dance continued with plainclothes and patrol officers from the Eight Precinct and headquarters scattered in small groups. It was reported that the black men got names and phone numbers from the white women who attended, which infuriated police officers.
The popular newspaper during that time, Afro, reported police officers threatened to revoke the Pythian Hall dance permit if Huiswoud was allowed to address the crowd. Although the police presence was strong at the dance, the Afro reported that several young men still expressed their determination to join the communists at the next meeting.
Because of pressure from the European government on anti-Communist, Huiswoud had to move between Belgium, Holland, and France in the 1930s before returning to the United States in 1939. He was later arrested by Dutch authorities and moved to Suriname in 1941. When he tried to gain re-entry to the United States, he was refused entry. Huiswoud moved to the Netherlands after World War II, where he lived for the rest of his life. Otto Huiswoud on February 20, 1961.
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