He remains active for the Rosenbergs

When Robert Meeropol was 3 years old, his parents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were arrested. When he was 6, they were executed for conspiracy to commit espionage. Robert and his brother , Michael , spent years researching the hysteria surrounding their parents' trial for leaking information on the atomic bomb to the Russians, and pressured the government into reopening the case. Recently declassified documents indicate Julius may have been spying for the Russians, but the case against Ethel was particularly thin. After years of searching for justice for his parents, Meeropol found a way to turn a negative experience into a positive opportunity for others.

In 1989 he founded the Rosenberg Fund for Children, which provides educational and emotional support for the children of "targeted activists," people who have lost their jobs, been harassed , or jailed for their activism. On Tuesday evening (the 54th anniversary of the executions) at the John Hancock Hall, the fund is hosting a benefit called "Celebrate the Children of Resistance," a performance featuring Angela Davis, Eve Ensler, David Strathairn , and Howard Zinn, along with a host of Boston-area poets, musicians , and activists.

The evening is a scripted event, with the first act consisting of Ensler and Strathairn reading a selection of letters Julius and Ethel sent to each other while in prison. The second half will feature readings of letters from the families of children the Rosenberg Fund has helped interspersed with selected poems and songs.

Davis will narrate the event, with readings and performances by Zinn, Martin Espada, Iraq war resister Camilo Mejia, Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo, attorneys Margaret Burnham and Soffiyah Elijah, writers Sarah Hinton and Tony Kahn, spoken word artist Sofia Snow, hip-hop group the Foundation Movement, and the Boston Workmen's Circle Yiddish Chorus. Singer Pamela Means will perform "Strange Fruit," the haunting song about lynchings, which was written by Robert's adoptive father , Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym Lewis Allan).

Several participants, including Elijah, the assistant director of Harvard's Criminal Justice Institute who has defended political prisoners, said they didn't hesitate to participate in the program. Elijah will read the letter of a peace activist sentenced to federal prison for a non violent protest at a military recruiting station. Snow, 18, will read the letter of a teenager who was brutally attacked by police on her way to a World Bank/International Monetary Fund Protest. Arroyo will read the letter of Tito Kayak, a Puerto Rican activist involved with environmental and peace and justice issues.

Kahn said the organization's emphasis on emotional support for children touched a chord with him. "When my father [screenwriter Gordon Kahn] was blacklisted, we lived in exile in Mexico," says the WGBH producer and radio host. "We were quite isolated, and when you're a kid, you don't care about the politics, you care about the fact that this could happen to anyone."

The event, says Meeropol, focuses on families, "on the activists rather than activism," he says. "When I was a small child a community rallied around my brother , Michael , and me and protected us. A small trust fund enabled us to attend special schools, summer camp , and get some therapy. These were all things our adopted parents could not afford to do for us."

Meeropol is a lawyer who has a master ' s degree in anthropology, which he taught for several years. "I was also a product of the '60s, active in the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), and later the anti-nuke movement," he says. "But I grew up with Abel, who was a writer , and Anne [Meeropol, his adoptive mother] , who was an actress, and I watched them put on shows, often with political content. I feel like all the work of my earlier life gave me the skills to launch this public foundation and serve as its executive director."

Since 1989, the Rosenberg Fund for Children has given out grants of more than $3.5 million. "We donate about $400,000 each year," says Meeropol, "which is not a lot in the world of foundations, but can make a difference to a family in crisis."

The grants range from tuition fees for the children of an activist assaulted for civil rights work in Georgia; dance lessons for the children of a woman harassed for her desegregation work; educational enrichment and a travel grant for the children of a Native American journalist fired for his progressive reporting; and many grants for the children of Iraq war resisters.

Although "Celebrate the Children of Resistance" is a fund - raiser for the foundation, Meeropol emphasizes that it's not a political rally.

"It's a dramatic evening that's really all about family concerns. We've done this a few times before and at first we let people sing whatever songs they wanted, but my wife , Ellie, who is a writer, reworked the script to give it a strong, dramatic frame, and now the songs and poems all fit our theme," he says.

"I don't think you gain much by telling people what they already know. What I would like to do is make it easier for people to become involved in issues, because a well-functioning democracy requires average citizens to be engaged."