Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall the name Sam Gelfand? Mr. WHEELER. Was he a member of the Communist Party! Mr. WHEELER. Do you know what his occupation was at that time! Miss KINNEY. I think he was working for the State relief administration as a social worker. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have occasion to meet Nell Higman as a member of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Was she a member of some professional group? Miss KINNEY. No; she wasn't. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall her occupation? Miss KINNEY. She is a retired teacher. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have occasion to meet Rose Bush! Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall her occupation? Miss KINNEY. She, as I recall-it was my impression she was, or may have been working full time for the party, but I don't know in what capacity. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have occasion to meet Abraham Maymadus? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. You knew him as a member of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Yes; he was working for IWO. Mr. WHEELER. That is known as the International Workers Order? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have occasion to meet Libby Nathan Mekus as a member of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Yes; she was in a street branch, I believe. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall her occupation? Miss KINNEY. She was a housewife. Mr. WHEELER. Do you know Jane Wilson? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Was she also known as Jane Wallace? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Do you know which was her correct name? Miss KINNEY. Wilson. Mr. WHEELER. Was she a member of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Yes; she was. Mr. WHEELER. Did you ever meet Jack Wetherwax? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. What was his occupation? Miss KINNEY. I don't know. Mr. WHEELER. You knew him as a Communist? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. The next one, the first name is Barta, and the last is Humouna. Did you meet her as a member of the Communist Party! Miss KINNEY. Yes. She was a teacher, but I don't know her real name. She also was active in Contemporary Theater, and that was the name she used and preferred. Mr. WHEELER. Were you ever a member of the United Office and Professional Workers of America? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. When were you a member? Miss KINNEY. Here in Los Angeles, in the fall of 1940, until the fall of 1941; I never attended a meeting. Mr. WHEELER. Do you have any knowledge of the Communist infiltration of United Office and Professional Workers of America? Miss KINNEY.I know that some were Communist members. I have no direct knowledge; I never attended a meeting. Mr. WHEELER. We previously discussed this, and at that time I read to you a list of individuals whom we have evidence of Communist Party membership. These are the individuals that you have previously identified in our interview. Bea Baron? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Do you want to read the whole list? Mr. WHEELER. All right. Carter Brown, Oscar Fuss, Harry Tarnoff, John Lockett, whom you have previously identified Miss KINNEY. As Albert Lockett, in Burbank. Mr. WHEELER. Yes. Wilhelmina Maise, Helen Mallof, Violet Orr, Clara Stevens, Bert Stone. Do you recall having met all these individuals as members of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. Is Bert Stone male or female? Miss KINNEY. Female. Mr. WHEELER. You previously testified that you were employed by the United Office and Professional Workers of America in Chicago. Were you active at all as a Communist in that organization? Miss KINNEY. Well, I was still a Communist at the time I started working for them. I had dropped out of the party before I stopped working for them. Mr. WHEELER. Did you know anyone in Chicago connected with the United Oflice and Professional Workers of America to be a Communist? Miss KINNEY. Yes, there were some members of the union whom I knew to be Communists. Mr. WHEELER. Was this knowledge based upon party meetings? Miss KINNEY. In the case of one, yes. Mr. WHEELER. Who was that one? Miss KINNEY. Joan Place. Mr. WHEELER. What do you base your knowledge on, the other individuals whom you know to be members of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Evelyn Keller said she was. Mr. WHEELER. Was she employed by the UOWPA? Miss KINNEY. Evelyn Keller was clerical worker in the union office in Chicago. Mr. WHEELER. Was there anyone connected with the UOWPA in Chicago a Communist? Miss KINNEY. There were, I think, several members whom I assumed were Communists, although I didn't necessarily see them at meetings. Mr. WHEELER. Well, we will not go into that. How did you obtain your job with United Office and Professional Workers of America? Miss KINNEY. I heard that they were looking for someone to work in the office who knew something about editing a paper, and I had been editing-I had been editor of the union paper at Studebaker and I wanted to change jobs because the job at Studebaker was very hard on me physically. So I applied for this job with United Office and Professional Workers. They were at that time, that is, the regional office at that time was publishing a monthly paper for the insurance division Mr. WHEELER. Would you say being a member of the Communist Party was a good recommendation for employment with the United Office and Professional Workers of America? Miss KINNEY. So far as I know it had nothing to do with it. So far as I know, Morris Yanoff, who was the regional director, didn't know I was a Communist when he hired me. Mr. WHEELER. You testified from the fall of 1940 until May 1942 you were working on the county membership committee, organizer for the 65th assembly district and also for a short period of time county membership director. What were your duties while working on the county membership committee? Miss KINNEY. I think principally it was a matter of working out methods for keeping closer check on dues payments and transfers from one branch to another. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have anything to do with individuals being transferred out of the Los Angeles district and individuals being transferred in from other areas? Miss KINNEY. As county membership director, I sent transfers out to San Francisco, the district office, if they were transferring somewhere out of the county. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall the names of any individuals that you transferred out of Los Angeles? Miss KINNEY. No; I don't. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall the names of any of the individuals who may have been transferred into Los Angeles? Miss KINNEY. No. Mr. WHEELER. How many individuals comprised the membership, the county membership commission? Miss KINNEY. I can only remember three of us, but it seems to me there was a fourth person. I don't remember who it was. The three I remember was myself, Helen Gardner, and Max Silver. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall how long you were organizer for the 65th assembly district? Miss KINNEY. I think only about 2 months. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall anyone in the 65th assembly district as members of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. Only the ones I mentioned previously, Anya Lieberson and Eddie Fisher were the two I mentioned before. Mr. WHEELER. How long were you a membership director of the Los Angeles County? Miss KINNEY. I would say 4, possibly 5 months; not any longer. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall the total membership of Los Angeles County during the time you were membership director in 1942? Miss KINNEY. The figure, I think, was 3,000. It isn't necessarily correct, though. Mr. WHEELER. What were your duties? Miss KINNEY. To collect dues from the section membership directors, to handle transfers from one section to another within the county, assign people being transferred into Los Angles County from outside, to send to the district office in San Francisco those transfers of people who were leaving the county. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall the names of the individuals that you received dues from on the sectional level? Miss KINNEY. Well, as often as not it might be the section organizer who turned it over to me, rather than the section membership director. I remember some of the section organizers better than I do the membership directors. Mr. WHEELER. Will you name the individuals? Miss KINNEY. George Sandy. Mr. WHEELER. If you recall the district for which he was an organizer, will you please mention that? Miss KINNEY. I think he was from the 12th Congressional District. Jean Mayer was section organizer in the 13th Congressional District. Mr. WHEELER. How do you spell her last name? Miss KINNEY. M-a-y-e-r, I guess. Frank Beye, from San Fernando Valley. Betty Martin, from the harbor. Miriam Brooks. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall who the organizer or the treasurer was of the northwest section, which comprised Hollywood? Miss KINNEY. Elizabeth. I don't remember her last name. Mr. WHEELER. Leech? Miss KINNEY. Yes. Mr. WHEELER. How much money would you estimate that you received from these individuals a month? Miss KINNEY. In the Hollywood section? Mr. WHEELER. No, the whole Los Angeles County. Miss KINNEY. I have no recollection. Mr. WHEELER. Well, would you say $1,000? Miss KINNEY. Honestly, I don't know. Mr. WHEELER. Do you recall how much money you received from the Hollywood section or the northwest section? Miss KINNEY. Yes, because all that I received was the equivalent of unemployed dues, which were 10 cents a month. The rest of the dues which they paid were turned in direct to, I presume, the county organizer. The records only showed unemployed dues for Hollywood. Mr. WHEELER. Did they turn them in to the county organizer or would these dues they collected from Hollywood go direct to the national? Miss KINNEY. I don't know. I knew that I got only the unemployed amount, and that there was a larger amount which I never got. Mr. WHEELER. Wouldn't this be considered unusual procedure? Mr. WHEELER. Did you ever hear discussed how much money came out of Hollywood a month? Miss KINNEY. Not that I recall. Mr. WHEELER. Would you list all the Communist Party officials in Los Angeles County that you have met? Miss KINNEY. Paul Cline. You want their titles? Mr. WHEELER. Yes. Miss KINNEY. County organizer. Mr. WHEELER. And approximate time he was county organizer, which went back to '38 or $39? 31747-53-pt. 5-4 Miss KINNEY. I think from '37 to sometime around-I don't know whether it was '40 or '41; I am not sure. Max Silver took his place. Pettis Perry, county chairman. Matt Pellman, as educational director for a while. Part of the time Al Ryan was educational director. Lou Baron, I think, was trade-union director at one time. Helen Gardner was membership director. I don't recall anybody else. I think in 1937, just before Paul Cline came, Betty Gannett was county organizer for a brief time. Carl Winter was county organizer in 1942. He came just a few months before I left Los Angeles. I can't think of anybody else. Mr. WHEELER. Who of the Communist Party have you met that was on the national level of the party structure? Miss KINNEY. At one time or another there were national committee members who spoke here at public meetings. I didn't meet them personally. Mr. WHEELER. Are you familiar with the political commission of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. I have a vague recollection there was some sort of committee set up at one time. Mr. WHEELER. I have here a photostat of a card which I will hand you and ask you if it is your handwriting. Miss KINNEY. The writing on one side is; the writing on the other side isn't. Mr. WHEELER. Will you read into the record the portion of the handwriting that is yours? Miss KINNEY. The portion that is mine is the side listing the names of three people. It states they are transferring into the political unit. Mr. WHEELER. Will you read the names? Miss KINNEY. And signed Jane Howe. Mr. WHEELER. Read the names and also party names. Miss KINNEY. Dennis Dane. That is Leo Bigelman. Alice Starr, who was Rose Segure. And Margaret-it looks like P-e-t-o-s, who was Elinore Bogigian. Mr. WHEELER. Was that Mrs. Murray Abowitz? Miss KINNEY. Was it? Mr. WHEELER. For the record, it is Mrs. Murray Abowitz. Miss KINNEY. I don't know whose writing this is on the other side. Mr. WHEELER. I will introduce that as Kinney Exhibit No. 1. You have previously testified that in 1942 you became a member of the Studebaker branch of the Communist Party in Chicago, Ill. Will you give us the approximate date you moved to Chicago? Miss KINNEY. I moved to Chicago in July of 1942. I didn't be come a member of the Studebaker branch until, I think, December; transfers sometimes take a long time. Mr. WHEELER. Were you transferred by the direction of the Communist Party? Miss KINNEY. No. Mr. WHEELER. Did you have any discussion with any member of the Communist Party concerning your transfer? |