Cullinen, George Ambrose, Jr..

Biography

Cullinen, George Ambrose, Jr. (“Whitey”; Cullen); b. October 29, 1914, San Francisco, California; Father George A. Cullinen (1880-1948), mother Eunice (Ensign) Cullinen (1896-1920); High School education; Single; Seaman; YCL December 1934; Received Passport# 25023, San Francisco series, on February 26, 1937 which listed his address as 480 Pine Street, and 37 Clay Street, both San Francisco, California; Sailed March 17, 1937 aboard the President Roosevelt; Arrived in Spain on May 20, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Washington BN, Co. 1, Section 3; Served at Brunete; Shell shocked; Last unit Lincoln-Washington BN, Co. 2; Rank Soldado; Political repatriation; Returned to the US on November 4, 1937 aboard the Lafayette; WWII Merchant Marine, rank Master Oceans; Married Sonia (Rabiniwitz) Cullinen, two children Sydney Cullinen-Palencia and Robbin Cullinen; d. March 3, 2003, Wilmington, Windham, Vermont.
Sibling: brother Richard McTavish Cullinen (1920-?).
Source: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Pay (under Cullen); Washington; Repatriation List (3/20/1938, ll. 1); RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 849, ll 20, List of American Comrades that have been Repatriated as per October 15 1937; USSDA 2:0478, 53:0507; ALBA 217 George Cullinen Papers; (obituary) The Volunteer, Volume 25, No. 2, June 2003, p. 17; George Cullinen, Wild Grapes and Ratttlesnakes, The Memoirs of a Premature Anti-Fascist, Bloomington, IN: George Cullinen, 2004. Code A
Biography George Cullinen (1912-2003) was born in San Francisco and graduated from NYU. Arrested in France with 30 other volunteers he spent 30 days in prison. After his release Cullinen traveled by coastal liner, the Capitan Seguro, from Marselles to Barcelona. After serving in Spain, he became a maritime captain, and, with his wife Sonia operated a progressive elementary school in Queens, NY. After retiring to Vermont, he developed an interest in film he and his wife collaborated in founding the annual film festival in Burlington. Culline made several documentaries, including the prize-winning "Washington to Moscow" about the nuclear freeze protests of the early 1980s. The film won the UNESCO Prize at a peace film festival in Hiroshima, Japan. George Cullinen died on March 3, 2003, while vacationing in Florida. He was 88.
Photograph: George Cullinen, April 26, 1997, by Richard Bermack.