“Hall was born Arvo Kustaa Halberg in 1910 to Matt and Susan Halberg in Cherry, a rural community on Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. Hall’s parents were Finnish immigrants from the Lapua region, and were politically radical: they were involved in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and were early members of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1919”
“In 1934, Hall was jailed for six months for taking part in the Minneapolis Teamster’s Strike (led by Trotskyist Farrell Dobbs). After serving his sentence, Hall was blacklisted and was unable to find work under his original name. He changed his name to Gus Hall, derived from Kustaa (Gustav) Halberg. The change was confirmed in court in 1935.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Hall
He said the family always knew “Uncle Gus” was about to pay a visit to their little Iron Range community when all kinds of telephone repair trucks would appear in town...