Vasily Roberts (a.k.a. Wasily Robetz)
Born: c. 1882, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1915; then to US 1917
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Socialist Party of America before joining Philadelphia’s First Russian Branch of the Communist Party. He was arrested January 7, 1920, and deported to Russia February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54811/947; FBI file OG 382735.
Jack Robey
Born:
Nationality:
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: IWW
An IWW member arrested in Sand Point, Idaho, in 1918. He was released, then rearrested and deported to an unknown country October 28, 1919. No further information has been located.
Sources: One Big Union Monthly, March 1920.
Alfred Robinson
Born: 1893, Chislehurst, England
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: English
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1905
Affiliation: IWW
Worked throughout the United States and Canada. In July 1919 he joined the IWW’s Metal and Machinery Workers’ Industrial Union No. 300. Arrested in Detroit during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported March 27, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54709/578; FBI file OG 8000-385119.
Abraham Rodríguez (a.k.a. Abram Rodríguez)
Born: Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner; labor organizer; poet
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Partido Liberal Mexicano; IWW
In 1911 he formed a PLM group in Del Valle, Texas, and reportedly “a colonel in the rebel army that overthrew the dictatorship in Mexico.” After returning to mining work in Arizona, he belonged to IWW Local 800 and chaired its grievance committee. Indicted in the federal IWW trial of 1917, he was arrested in New Mexico after an armed standoff with authorities. Charges were dropped in exchange for deportation to Mexico.
In Cananea, he continued organizing on behalf of the IWW.
Sources: FBI file Misc 18346.
Juan Rodríguez
Born: 1885, Asturias, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Cook; laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: IWW
His father died in Spain before he was born.
In 1916 he jumped ship in the United States and was arrested in Philadelphia in February 1919 as a suspected radical, though authorities could not prove it. (However, his is listed as an IWW member in IWW publications.) A deportation warrant was instead issued based on illiteracy, illegal entry, and likelihood of becoming a public charge. He requested voluntary departure to Cuba, which was granted, and departed August 22, 1919, aboard the SS Moro Castle.
Sources: INS file 54648/27.
Konstantin Romanchuk
Born: 1895, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immgrated to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Bridgeport, Connecticut, around July 1919 and became its secretary. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/396; FBI file OG 376791.
Gavril Romanovich (a.k.a. Gabriel; G.R.D.)
Born: 1896, Kozhevniki, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: immigrated to US 1915
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Russian Federation of the Socialist Party of America, then in 1919 transferred to the Russian Branch of the Communist Party of America, becoming secretary of its Waterbury, Connecticut branch. Arrested during a raid on headquarters in March 1920, he was deported to Russia February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/462; FBI file OG 379909.
Jesus Romo
Born: c. 1884, Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: IWW; anarchist
Joined the IWW in Los Angeles in February 1919 and quickly became a delegate for its General Recruiting Union; he was probably previously a member in Morenci, Arizona, where his father and brothers were also activists. Arrested June 9, 1919 for distributing literature outside an employment agency, he declared he “was born an anarchist.” Deported August 18, 1919.
Continued organizing for the IWW in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Sources: INS file 54616/232; FBI file OG 363737.
Angel Roncal
Born: 1896, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Sailor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: IWW
He reportedly spent time in South America before immigrating to the U.S. in 1916.
A member of the Niagara Falls IWW branch, he was arrested in September 1918 for failing to register for the draft, with IWW literature found in his possession. After five months in jail without trial he was released in February 1919 but immediately detained for deportation. He was deported to Spain around July 1, 1920.
Sources: Buffalo Commercial, February 1 and 3, 1919; Buffalo Times, February 20, 1919; Cattaraucus Republican, March 27, 1919; Buffalo Express, April 30, 1919; Illustrated Buffalo Express, June 22, 1919.
Maxim Rosak (a.k.a. Max; Roosak)
Born: c.1887, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Driller
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Formerly a member of the Russian Federation of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia, he transferred into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested January 7, 1920, he was deported to Russia February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54811/948; FBI file OG 379897.
Savely Roshkov (a.k.a. Charles Roshko)
Born: 1893, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Employed by Singer Manufacturing Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he belonged to the International Association of Machinists’ Local No. 30 and took part in a 1919 wildcat strike. He was also a member of the Union of Russian Workers branch there. Arrested February 12, 1920, he was deported to Russia January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/143; FBI file OG 382709.
Mikail Rosnak (a.k.a.Michael Rosnack; Bosnack)
Born: 1897, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (present-day Romania)
Nationality: Romanian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Blacksmith’s helper
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1917
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Expelled from Canada during World War I as an “enemy alien,” he moved to the United States and in 1919 joined URW Branch No. 6 in Detroit. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he testified that the detective who arrested him called him “worse than a nigger,” and gave him “a smash in the face.” He was deported to Romania March 17, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54739/469.
Janet Johnstone Roy (Janet Johnstone MacKay)
Born: 1895, Milmathort, Scotland
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Scottish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; IWW
Supported the Independent Labour Party before emigrating.
In Lawrence, Massachusetts, she joined the Socialist Party and the IWW’s Textile Workers Industrial Union No. 1000. After moving to Chicago and then Seattle, she was arrested with her sister in a police raid on an IWW hall in October 1918. She married Ian V. MacKay, a naturalized U.S. citizen, in January 1919. Deported July 23, 1919.
She later reunited with her husband in British Columbia, where she died in 1972.
Sources: INS files 54379/532 and 54379/532A; Frances H. Early, A World Without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I; Heather Mayer, Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924; Ancestry.com.
Margaret Roy (Margaret Ray)
Born: 1893, Milmathort, Scotland
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Scottish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; IWW
Emigrated to Canada in 1913, then returned to Scotland in 1916 to retrieve her sister Janet.
In Lawrence, Massachusetts, she and Janet joined the Socialist Party and the IWW’s Textile Workers Industrial Union No. 1000. After moving to Chicago and then Seattle, she was arrested with her sister during a raid on an IWW hall in October 1918. She married U.S. citizen Alonzo Ray in January 1919, but was deported July 23, 1919.
Sources: INS files 54379/532 and 54379/532A; Frances H. Early, A World Without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I; Heather Mayer, Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924.
