Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Mr. TAVENNER. I desire to offer page 29 of the document in evidence and ask that it be marked Exhibit Rosser No. 2."

Mr. VELDE. Without objection it will be admitted.

(Document entitled "Two Decades of Progress," p. 29, was received in evidence as Rosser exhibit No. 2.)

ROSSER EXHIBIT NO. 2

Twenty Years of Growth and Progress

of the

COMMUNIST PARTY,U.S.A.

COMMUNIST PARTY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY

PETTIS PERRY, Chairman

PAUL CLINE, Executive Secretary

MAX SILVER, Organizational Secretary

MATT PELMAN, Educational Director

AL BRYAN, Legislative Director

HELEN GARDNER, Membership Director

124 West Sixth Street

September, 1939 –

Michigan 8052

(Part 1)

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The Communist Party Branches of the 14th Congressional District bring to our Party on its 20th Anniversary greetings of 20 years of struggle for labor's rights and Negro rights; for democracy, peace and socialism.

The 14th C.D. is an important working class district of Los Angeles County. Approximately 70% of the unemployed live in this territory, 90% of the Negro people live here, the ratio of small business people to large decidedly favors the small, most of Los Angeles Union men meet here. 90% of the slum dwellings are standing in our Congressional district.

Here the conditions for the broadest and most healthy political unity are present. There are probably more peoples organizations meeting in the 14 C.D. than in any other district in Southern California. These organizations range from simple social clubs and businessmens associations to trade union and our Party Branches.

The Executive Committee and the Branches of our Party in the 14th Congressional District pledge to continue the rich traditions of struggle for democracy and freedom in this District and to build and strengthen the Party so it can fulfill its historic role.

44 A.D. East Branch, Schrier, Organizer

44 A.D. West Branch, Sam Title, Organizer

44 A.D. North Branch, Frances Wintner, Organizer

55 A.D. Branch, Delda Wennrick, Organizer

62 A.D. Branch, Wm. Nelson, Organizer. Headquarters-2308 Griffith Avenue

Fredrick Douglass Branch

64 East Assembly Branch, Paul Williams, Organizer, Phone MU. 9486

[blocks in formation]

Mr. TAVENNER. Will you examine the document, please, and state whose names appear as the various officers?

Mr. ROSSER. Lou Rosser-that is myself-the organizer; Leona McGenty, the organizational secretary

Mr. TAVENNER. Will you spell that name, please?

Mr. ROSSER. L-e-o-n-a M-c-G-e-n-t-y, the organizational secretary; Margaret Nelson, the membership director. She was the wife of Steve Nelson. Libby Corngold

Mr. TAVENNER. Will you spell that name?

Mr. ROSSER. L-i-b-b-y C-o-r-n-g-o-l-d, the trade-union director. Dave Himelstein, H-i-m-e-l-s-t-e-i-n, he was a member of the executive committee; Carl Brant, C-a-r-1 B-r-a-n-t, he was a member of the executive committee; Pettis Perry, he was a member of the executive committee and the State chairman of the Communist Party of California; Adele Young, a member of the executive committee; and Schrier, a member of the executive committee.

I had at that time under my jurisdiction, beside the Communist Party branches in the 14th assembly district, the 44th, the 55th, the 62d, and the 64th. I had under my jurisdiction at that time the Mexican branch, the Japanese branch, the Hungarian branch, the Finnish branch, warehouse branch, the clerks branch, and the utilities branch. Those last three were trade-union branches.

Mr. TAVENNER. Those were branches of the Communist Party? Mr. ROSSER. Yes.

Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee briefly the importance of any of the members of your group as acquired in the later development of the Communist Party in the United States? You mentíoned, for instance, a person by the name of Pettis Perry. Will you tell the committee what Pettis Perry has done?

Mr. ROSSER. Well, Pettis Perry is a top, well-educated Communist Party functionary. Pettis Perry worked in southern California; he was a member of the county committee, head of the Negro commission. He was on the State committee of the Communist Party of California, the chairman of the Los Angeles County committee and a member of the State committee. He was on the national committee of the Communist Party, and he acted at the time as head of the Communist Party of America.

Leona McGenty was head of the professional section for the unemployed movement which included doctors, teachers, scientists, unemployed scientists, unemployed actors, unemployed writers, and so forth.

Libby Corngold was a trade-union leader, a Communist trade-union leader of the textile industry.

Adele Young was the top State leader of the women and a Negro

woman.

Carl Brant came from the unemployed actors, and he developed into a top Communist organizer in the trade-union movement, the Electrical Workers of America.

Mr. TAVENNER. That is sufficient. I desire to introduce in evidence a photostatic copy of a news sheet entitled "The Lantern," and ask that it be marked "Rosser Exhibit No. 3."

Mr. VELDE. Without objection it will be admitted.

(Photostat of document entitled "The League Lantern" was received in evidence as Rosser exhibit No. 3.)

L.A. County Y.C.L.

ROSSER EXHIBIT NO. 3

The League

MDECEMBER 9; 1932

LANTERN

A Light on the Path to Better Understanding.

Our Line for '39"

100 Percent Registration
IMPORTANT CHANGES
IN CONSTITUTION
PROPOSED

The advent of the month of December, besides heralding the arrival of winter and the merry yearend holiday season, reminds us it is time for the YCL to take inventory; inventory of its most precious stock its members.

It is the time, as the walrus said, when the YCL gets back the members who haven't been coming around for some time; it is the time when dues are paid up all around and every VCLer gets his new YCL membership book.

These next few weeks are designated as our registration weeks, during which time we f must register every YCLer who either reg- | to

istered in 1938 or was recruited during the

year.

There is a tremendous amount of very hard work that our league has to do to better the conditions of the young people. Each additional person in our league means that much more that we will be able to accomolish.

Every branch member is urged to cooperate to the fullest extent with the registration committee in his particular branch as his part in helping the YCL start the new year with a grand flourishA 100% REGISTRATION WILL BE FINE IN '39!!

Read the "Review" Our salute to Karl Marx branch, newest in L.A. County. When considering a choice of names for the branch, they said, "If we take the name of Karl Marx, it will HAVE TO BE THE BEST BRANCH IN THE CONTY. So, they took it, and will bear watching. LeRoy Parra is Pres., Alice SalGade, Secretary.

N keeping with the unceasing, forward surge of time and progress it has been found necessary to make certain important changes in the constitution of the LA County YCL. Consequently the County Board is submitting the proposed changes to members of the various branches to be voted unon.

the

Beginning December 5 and contin

Lou Rosser boed uing until the 19th,

BIG CITY

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

to

discussion will bo carried on in the branches. On December 19, the County Board will meet consider proposed amendments from the branches. December 19 to January 1 will be given over to balloting on the Constitution as amended. From January 1-14, branches will hold nominations for County officers and members at large.

A large county conference will be held on January 15 to consider the nominations. January 16-22 will be given over to discussion of candidates. On the 22nd there will be a membership meeting and ballotting.

The YCL has as its main job at present to do all in its nowor to help the unity of our generation so that it may better fight for its needs. Along with this we have the task of helping the young people and their organizations take the steps towards progressive political action and organization. We can (continued on page 2)

[ocr errors]

Mr. TAVENNER. What is the publication or news sheet The Lantern? Mr. ROSSER. It was put out by one of the Young Communist League groups.

Mr. TAVENNER. I will read only this portion of the document. The document describes Lou Rosser's going to the big city and states as follows:

Well, he has received one of the most wonderful opportunities that can be given to any YCLer-6 months at the national party training school under the best instructors the party has.

I will not ask you at this time to explain the importance of the Young Communist League in the Communist Party plan. I will ask you questions relating to that later on in your testimony. But I think the committee should understand at this time what your training has been in both the Young Communist League and the Communist Party, preparatory to the work that you were to perform in the Communist Party.

Mr. ROSSER. Well, in the Young Communist League my training was, first I went to discussion groups, and the Young Communist League takes up the same pamphlets and books that the Communist Party takes up. In my discussion groups I took up What Is To Be Done, which was by Lenin, which is a book that deals with the value of theory, understanding the Communist teachings, and I studied Imperialism by Lenin in discussion groups.

I studied State and Revolution, The Negro Question, and then after these discussion groups I was sent to the county school of the Communist Party of Los Angeles.

Mr. TAVENNER. Let me interrupt you a moment. I am asking you this question about your training not only to show what training you have received, but to inform the committee of the type of training that is usually given to those who are selected for leadership in the Communist Party, so I would like for your testimony to embrace not only your own personal training, but the Communist Party plan for training its leaders.

Mr. ROSSER. Well, the plan, as I said, I was selected among 25 or more Communist and Young Communist League organizers and functionaries to attend a county school set up by the county committee of the Communist Party to train Communist leaders in the teachings of Marx, Lenin, Stalin.

At this county school I was taught the principles of communism, trade-union problems, the Negro question, agitation, and propaganda, how to write leaflets, how to speak on street corners, how to make speeches, Communist speeches, and party organization, how the party functions, and then I went back to work, and after working Î was selected by the State committee and the county committee of the Communist Party to attend the State school of the Communist Party.

At the State school of the Communist Party, where they had tradeunionists, people from the unemployed movement, housewives, people who worked in YWCA's, people from front groups, Communist Party group leaders, we took up the problem of the State revolution, dialectical materialism, Peters' Manual, which is a manual put out by the national committee of the Communist Party on the program of the Communist Party on party organizations, on the aim of the Communist Party, on how to organize the Communist Party, or how to

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »