Jennifer Meeropol is the granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the daughter of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol. Jenn became the Executive Director of the RFC on September 1, 2013. Prior posts on this page were written by Robert (unless otherwise noted), and represent his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by the RFC.
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the long struggle for justice and activist parents’ ability to remain committed to their causes knowing they may not see the fruits of their sacrifice in their lifetime. The fact that it’s now been more than 70 years since my grandparents’ executions is no doubt partially responsible for this introspection.
It has been a while since I’ve provided RFC supporters with an update on my parents’ case. Almost two years ago in July, 2022, my brother and I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of the National Security Agency (NSA) asking for the declassification and release of the agency’s files relating to our mother, Ethel Rosenberg. We filed this request almost two years ago and since then, progress has been slow; however, at long last we have news to report.
The RFC has had a busy spring: in the last month, we granted over $230,000 in funds to support the children of targeted activists. After two whirlwind granting meetings, we are closing our spring granting season with 88 total grants awarded to RFC beneficiary families, including four amazing families who are new to our community.
In 2017 the RFC embarked on what became a deeply engaging 18+ month strategic planning process. It began with a survey of current and former Board, staff and consultants and resulted in a plan that we committed to using in our daily work to help guide key decisions. As part of the process, we revisited our founding documents, recommitted to our core mission and values, drafted a vision statement, identified key priorities and crafted strategies and targets to guide and evaluate our programming for the next few years. The final version of the plan was approved by the Board in January 2019 for 2019-2023.
In August 2017 an envelope with no return address arrived at the RFC office. Inside were two pieces of blank, lined paper and seven $1 bills. There was no note or identifying information other than a postmark from Greensboro, NC. I recorded the donation as an anonymous contribution and didn’t think much more about it.