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1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse G Deen
Birth Year: abt 1897
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Iowa
Marital status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1930: Walnut, Pottawattamie, Iowa, USA
Map of Home: View Map
Street address: Walnut Street
House Number: Apr 9
Dwelling Number: 59
Family Number: 59
Home Owned or Rented: Owned
Home Value: 6000
Radio Set: Yes
Lives on Farm: No
Age at first Marriage: 24
Attended School: No
Able to Read and Write: Yes
Father's Birthplace: Iowa
Mother's Birthplace: Iowa
Able to Speak English: Yes
Occupation: Barber
Industry: Barber Shop
Class of Worker: Employer
Employment: Yes
Veteran: Yes
War: WW
Household Members:
Name Age
Jesse G Deen 33
Relinde M Deen 30
Darwin D Deen 5
Donna D Deen 2


1940 United States Federal Census
Name: Jesse Deen
Age: 43
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1897
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthplace: Iowa
Marital Status: Married
Relation to Head of House: Head
Home in 1940: Walnut, Pottawattamie, Iowa
Map of Home in 1940: View Map
Street: Walnut Street
Farm: No
Inferred Residence in 1935: Walnut, Pottawattamie, Iowa
Residence in 1935: Same House
Resident on farm in 1935: No
Sheet Number: 6A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation: 160
Occupation: Gas Sewice
House Owned or Rented: Owned
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented: 2500
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: High School, 2nd year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 41
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 1,056
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Jesse Deen 43
Relinda Deen 40
Darwin Deen 15
Donna Deen 12
Dannual Deen 9


Grew up during the depression. Had multiple “jobs” to make help make ends meet. In 1940 his family inherited a farm and left the town of Walnut. Darwin stayed behind to finish his last year of High School.

Fall 1942
Lived alone during final year of High School

Was on varsity basketball team, but made coaches put him on football team as a receiver although he only weighed about 130 lbs

Fall 1943
Went to University of Iowa as an electrical engineering major, failed calculus in his first semester

Met “Red” Weir, ) became member of the Pacifist movement

Returned home for Christmas went drinking with friends, crashed and totaled the family car. His father, Jesse told him his tuition would go to replacing the family car so he could not return to college. He had bad vision and could not join a fighting force. Red told him to join the Merchant Marines unless he wanted to sit behind a desk.

1944
Joined Merchant Marines, sailed out of port of New York as an electricians assistant and gunner’s mate. Ship was sunk on the way to Murmansk, he was rescued by Polish fisherman. On the way home he was washed overboard, but was rescued again. Upon returning home he was sent to psychiatric facility in Long Island.
Moved to Greenwich Village

Read Sinclair Lewis

Became a follower of C.L.R. James and joined the Workers’ Party )

He drove across country to sail out of the port of San Francisco. Met former English teacher on a south Pacific Island where she was serving as a navy nurse. Traded goods to borrow an Army jeep so he could take her out on a date. Was one of the first ships in Tokyo Harbor after VJ Day.

1945
Shipped out of San Francisco, arrived at port of Tokyo right after the surrender.

1948 - 1951
Became friends to James Baldwin, Staughton Lynd and C.L.R. James

Met Maya Deren, Delmore Schwartz and James Baldwin, worked and ate at Connie’s Calypso on MacDougal Street, where he met Ruth Casellis, girlfriend of “Red” Weir

1951 -54
Organized for Civil Rights boycotts. Darwin was in at the scene the night that sheriff Willis McCall tried to assassinate Samuel Shepherd and Walter Irvin of the Groveland Four. Upon seeing the sheet covering the bodies in the back of the sheriff’s car, Darwin jumped in, pulled the sheet off the bodies revealing that Irvin was still alive, and snapped a photograph of him. Before McCall could catch Darwin, he ran off to the local newspaper forcing the sheriff to take Irvin to the local hospital. Irvin survived his injuries.

1954
Became a sound engineer, then cameraman and made documentary films and newsreels. These included Banfa and Venice Film Festival award winner “On the Bowery.”

1956
Joseph Murray, A Police Officer of the 88th Police Precinct, City of New York, being duly sworn, says that in violation of Section 2143 of the Penal Law, On Sunday, Oct 14, 1956, at 3 o’clock P.M., at 51 Saint Felix Street, in the County of Kings, City and State of New York, the defendant, Darwin Deen, Labor prohibited on Sunday did paint the front of the building at 51 St. Fleix St. in violation of Article 192 Section 2143 P.L. 

April 1, 1957

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT,
v.
DARWIN DEEN, APPELLANT
Beldock, Hallinan and Kleinfeld, JJ., concur; Nolan, P. J., and Murphy, J., dissent.

Appeal from a judgment of a City Magistrate, holding a Court of Special Sessions of the City of New York, Borough of Brooklyn, convicting appellant of a violation of section 2143 of the Penal Law, which prohibits all "labor" on Sunday, excepting the works of necessity and charity. The undisputed facts show that appellant, who was not a painter by trade, on a Sunday afternoon gratuitously painted a portion of the front of a private residence owned by his mother-in-law. He had started the painting on Friday, continued it on Saturday, and was completing it when he was served with a summons by a police officer. There were no churches in the vicinity, appellant created no disturbance, and the next-door neighbor did not complain of appellant's acts. Judgment reversed on the law and information dismissed. The findings of fact are affirmed. The construction of the Sabbath statute "must be one which harmonizes with the reason of the thing." The reason of the statute is stated in section 2140 of the Penal Law to be the prohibition of certain acts which are serious interruptions of the repose and religious liberty of the community. Having this purpose in mind, we are of the opinion that the acts performed by this appellant are not encompassed within the word "labor" as used in section 2143. By common understanding, custom and usage in the community, the work here performed by the appellant is not the kind of labor proscribed by the statute.

Nolan, P. J., and Murphy, J., dissent and vote to affirm with the following memorandum:
In our opinion, appellant's activities constituted labor within the meaning of the statute, and the evidence is sufficient to establish that it did not fall within either of the exceptions therein specified. The enactment of the statute was within the power of the Legislature , which alone can decide how Sunday shall be kept, and which is the sole judge of acts proper to be prohibited. We may not sit in review of its discretion or determine the expediency, wisdom or propriety of its action on matters within its power. If labor such as that performed by appellant is to be exempted from the operation of the statute, such exemption must be accomplished by the Legislature. We may not usurp its functions by legislating judicially.

Other documentaries included The Virtuoso Teacher and The New Met: Countdown to Curtain , and Montreal Expo .

1974
Became business agent and president of his union local, Local 644 IASTE, served in that position for over ten years.

HIs last project was “Mrs Soffel”, a theatrical feature in 1984.