Daily Worker columnist Joseph North was born Jacob Soifer in Ukraine to Jessie Soifer and Balia Yasnitz in 1904. The family immigrated to the United States when he was 9 months old and settled in Pennsylvania. Joseph North began working in a Pennsylvania textile mill at the age of 12 and later worked summers in the shipyards of his hometown. Joseph graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for several years as a reporter for various Pennsylvania newspapers. In 1935 he was one of the founders of the weekly New Masses and served as its editor for 15 years. Joseph North also served as a communist party organizer and a correspondent for the Daily Worker. Through his work as a journalist, he reported on many major events including labor strikes of the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II. Joseph died on December 22, 1976.
