Joseph Gelders

Joseph Gelders
Gelders in 1936
Born	November 20, 1898 Birmingham, Alabama, US
Died	March 1, 1950(1950-03-01) (aged 51) San Francisco, California, US
Alma mater	University of Alabama
Occupation(s)	Physicist, antiracist, civil rights activist, labor organizer, communist
Organizations	Southern Conference for Human Welfare National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax
Movement	Civil rights movement Women's poll tax repeal movement
Children	Blanche Hartman Marge Frantz
Relatives	Emma Gelders Sterne (sister) Nina Hartley (granddaughter)

Joseph Sidney Gelders (November 20, 1898 – March 1, 1950) was an American physicist who later became an antiracist, civil rights activist, labor organizer, and communist. In the mid-1930s, he served as the secretary and southern-U.S. representative of the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners. In September 1936, Gelders was kidnapped, beaten, and nearly killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan for his civil rights and labor organizing activities. After his recovery, Gelders continued his activism and cofounded the Southern Conference for Human Welfare and the National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax. He collaborated closely with other activists including Lucy Randolph Mason and Virginia Foster Durr. Internal injuries sustained during his kidnapping and assault led to Gelders' death on March 1, 1950.