Daniel Boone might never have expected his descendants to grow up in the moneyed world of Greenwich, Connecticut. But he would not have been surprised to learn that privilege did not keep Daniel Boone Schirmer from a free-spirited struggle against freedom and injustice.

Schirmer’s campaigns for economic equality began when he was an undergraduate at Harvard, where he also met his wife Peggy, a Radcliffe student and fellow member of the American Student Union. He joined the Communist Party in 1936, a fact that would later have dangerous repercussions in the McCarthy Era. The Boston Globe recounts that he fought for equal rights for veterans, African-Americans, and the unemployed.

The witch-hunting days of the Cold War put a stop to his activities and forced Schirmer underground. Perversely, it also gave him a chance to see quite a few New England towns, as he spent 4 years always on the move. The Boston police confiscated Communist books from his family home, and eventually Schirmer was arrested and spent two weeks in jail.

In the 1970s, after a PhD from Boston University, Schirmer found a new cause, and for the next 20 years, he campaigned for the Philippines's independence from the US. He spoke out against American imperialism and support of the Marcos dictatorship, called for the removal of US military bases, wrote books, and founded the Friends of the Filipino People organization.

He passed away in Cambridge, MA, on April 21. The International League of Peoples’ Struggles honored Schirmer as an Outstanding Anti-Imperialist Fighter, and many Filipino organizations paid their respects as well.