Did you endeavor to recruit Mr. Roberts into the Communist Party? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the basis of the st and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Were you engaged in any business in 1938, in Los ngeles, or in Hollywood? (Witness consulted with counsel.) Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the same grounds. Chairman WALTER. I direct you to answer that question. Mrs. D'USSEAU. Well, in the first place, I don't know why you are vestigating me, because this committee is supposed to be investigatthe theater, and Chairman WALTER. No, we are not supposed to be doing anything the sort. We are charged with the responsibility of investigating mmunism and Communist activities no matter where, whether it in the theater, labor unions, or wherever it is. Mrs. D'USSEAU. I also think that what I do and what I think, d what I feel, and what I have done, is a very private affair. Chairman WALTER. Were you in business in Hollywood in 1938? (Witness consulted with counsel.) Mrs. D'USEAU. I refuse to answer that question. Chairman WALTER. I direct you to answer the question. Mr. FRANCE. She said on the grounds of the first and fifth amend ents. Mr. TAVENNER. Not knowing all types of business that you may ve been engaged in, I will make my question more specific. "Did you erate a bookstore in 1938 in Hollywood? Mrs. D'USSEAU. It is the same question and I still refuse to answer. Mr. TAVENNER. You refuse to answer that question? Mrs. D'USSEAU. On the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Were you acquainted in Hollywood with a person the name of Pauline Swanson Townsend? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Mrs. Townsend testified before this committee, as . Roberts did, about the period of time she was in the Communist rty. She discussed the reasons that took her into the Communist rty, and the reasons that took her out of it. Irs. Townsend testified that she was assigned to a group of writ' wives within the Communist Party, that is, the husbands of these sons were writers, and this was a group composed of wives of iters. She described what her activities in the Communist Party re, and she told the committee how she was employed at the time in Fourth Fighter Command as a radar plotter. It was a position ich she enjoyed and in which she felt she was doing something usein the war years. She said after being in the Communist Party a ort time, Elizabeth Leech, the section organizer of the Communist rty, decided that she must take over the job of executive secretary of Los Angeles County Council of the National Council of Americaniet Friendship. n other words, she must get out and take over the duties of that ce. She did not want to do that. Her friends and her husband tested against the new assignment. She said that, "Susan d'Usseau ote from New York protesting," that she be taken out of this Communist Party group and assigned to this secretarial position with the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship. Will you tell the committee whether you did make a protest, and if so, why you made it? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I don't know how I can answer that question. Mr. TAVENNER. Well, first, did you make a protest? Mrs. D'USSEAU. Knowing this woman, and so I refuse. Mr. TAVENNER. You have not acknowledged it but neither have you denied that you knew Mrs. Townsend. Mrs. D'USSEAU. No. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you protest her assignment to this secretarial position? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I am not going to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Then you decline to testify as to any of the reasons which might have been involved in the matter? You stated that you returned to New York in 1941. In what business did you engage in New York after you returned in 1941 ? Mrs. D'USSEAU. None, I studied art. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you engage in work as an instructor or lecturer at any school in New York? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you actively take part in the May Day parade on April 30, 1947? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Have you been active in the National Civil Rights Legislative Conference which was held in Washington in January of 1949 ? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. The reason I am asking you these questions is that the committee has received a great deal of testimony indicating the type of activities that Communist Party members understood they were required to perform, and in some cases, were directed to perform, as Communist Party members, outside of the actual Communist Party group. Mrs. D'USSEAU. No one ever directed me to do anything, and whatever I do, I do because I want to. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you engage in activities in any mass organization because you understood that as a member of the Communist Party you were supposed to do that? (Witness consulted with counsel.) Mrs. D'USSEAU. I am not going to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Were you a signer in 1950 of a resolution against atomic weapons, sponsored by the National Council of Arts, Sciences. and Professions? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I am not going to answer that question, on the same grounds. Mr. TAVENNER. Were you an endorser of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship in December of 1949? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I am not going to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Are you a member of the Communist Party at this time? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. Have you been a member of the Communist Party at any time in New York since your return from Hollywood in 1941? Mrs. D'USSEAU. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. TAVENNER. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman. The committee is adjourned until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. (Whereupon at 4: 10 p. m., the committee recessed to reconvene at 10 a. m., Wednesday, August 17, 1955.) (Testimony of witnesses appearing on August 17-18, 1955, printed in pt. VII of this series.) |