Biography
k-Cleveland, Roland b. August 5, 1911, New Haven, Connecticut; Father Henry Edward Cleveland (1895-1957), mother Lillian May Ploff (1884-1963); Attended college at Yale; Prior military service in the National Guard, 12th Cavalry, 2 years; Served as a medic in the Army 1930-2; Single; Actor (worked for the Federal Theater Project), Masseur, Draftsman, and Teacher; CP January 1938, Federation of Government Employees CIO; Received Passport# 33130, San Francisco series, on January 12, 1938 which listed his address as 3615 Floral Drive, Los Angeles, California; Sailed January 28, 1938 aboard the Lafayette; Arrived in Spain via Agullana on February 3, 1938; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln-Washington BN, Company 2, Medic; Rank Soldado; Missing in action July 28, 1938, Gandesa, Ebro Offensive.Siblings: brother Herbert Cleveland (1915-1922), sisters Ellen May Cleveland (1916-1986) and Shirley Eta Cleveland(?-?).
Source: Scope of Soviet Activity; Figueres List; Pay; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 873, ll. 18-20; USSDA 2:0451; Alvah Bessie, Men in Battle. Code A
Biography Roland Cleveland was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on August 5, 1911. He studied at Yale and at the New Haven Physical Culture Institute. From 1930 to 1932 he served in the 122nd Cavalry, U. S. Army National Guard, where he was trained as a medic. Cleveland's passion was acting; he was working for the Federal Theater Project when he volunteered for the International Brigades. Shortly after joining the Communist party he left for Europe in January 1938. In Spain, Cleveland was a medic assigned to the second Company of the Lincoln-Washington Battalion. On July 28, 1938, during the Ebro Offensive, he was reported missing in the Gandesa sector. ~ Chris Brooks
Photograph: Roland Cleveland, Practicante, Company 2, Lincoln-Washington, May 1938. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 11; ALBA Photo number 11-0204. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries; and Cleveland from a family photograph, L-W Tree, Ancestry.
