Post-Cold War Revelations and the American Communist Party: Citizens, Revolutionaries, and Spies

283 Pages·2021·27.093 MB·English

by  Vernon L. Pedersen, James G Ryan, Katherine A S Sibley

Post–Cold War Revelations and the

American Communist Party
ii
Post–Cold War Revelations and the

American Communist Party
Citizens, Revolutionaries, and Spies
Edited by
Vernon L. Pedersen, James G. Ryan,
and Katherine A. S. Sibley
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Copyright © Vernon L. Pedersen, James G. Ryan, and Katherine A. S. Sibley, 2021
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pedersen, Vernon L., 1955– editor. | Ryan, James G., editor. |
Sibley, Katherine A. S. (Katherine Amelia Siobhan), 1961– editor.
Title: Post-Cold War revelations and the American Communist Party :
citizens, revolutionaries, and spies / edited by Vernon L. Pedersen,
James G. Ryan, and Katherine A.S. Sibley.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020035984 (print) | LCCN 2020035985 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350135758 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350202504 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781350135765 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350135772 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Communist Party of the United States of America. |
Communism–United States–History–20th century.
Classification: LCC JK2391.C5 P67 2021 (print) | LCC JK2391.C5 (ebook) |
DDC 324.273/7509–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035984
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035985
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3501-3575-8
epub: 978-1-3501-3577-2
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In Memory of
Daniel J. Leab
1936–2016
vi
Contents

List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments x
Introduction: Citizens, Revolutionaries, and Spies Vernon L. Pedersen 1
1 The “Mental Comintern” and the Self-Destructive Tactics of the
CPUSA, 1944–8 John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr 17
2 Earl Browder’s Changing Conception of the Marxian
Revolution James G. Ryan 41
3 From Haymarket to Mao? The Radicalism of William
Z. Foster Edward P. Johanningsmeier 65
4 Communists and Farmers in American History William C. Pratt 89
5 Soviet Spies, Russian Trolls, and the US Security State: The
Consequences of Russia’s Hold on American Imagination, Politics,
and Culture since 1919 Katherine A. S. Sibley 111
6 Friendship Reforged in Anticommunism: Herbert
Solow, Whittaker Chambers, and the Juliet Stuart Poyntz
Disappearance Denise Lynn 141
7 Myth, Memory, and the Spanish Civil War: The World the Veterans
Made Vernon L. Pedersen 161
8 “For a New Antifascist, Anti-imperialist People’s
Coalition”: Claudia Jones, Black Left Feminism, and the Politics of
Possibility in the Era of Trump Erik S. McDuffie 185
9 American Communism in a Time of Détente Beth Slutsky 205
viii Contents
10 The Party’s Over: Former Communist Party Members in the San
Francisco Bay Area Robert W. Cherny 229
Conclusion Vernon L. Pedersen and Katherine A. S. Sibley 255
Notes on Contributors 257
Index 261
Figures
0.1 Russia State Archive of Social and Political History where
FOND 515 is housed 10
2.1 Communist Party Standard Bearers 50
3.1 William Z. Foster and Mary G. Harris “Mother” Jones at the
Great Steel Strike of 1919 72
5.1 J. Edgar Hoover 118
5.2 Representative Jerry Voorhis 120
5.3 Senator Millard Tydings and Senator Joseph McCarthy 124
5.4 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, separated by heavy wire screen as
they leave US Court House 126
5.5 Joseph McCarthy and Joseph Welch at the Army-McCarthy
hearings, 1954 127
6.1 Photograph, allegedly of Juliet Stuart Poyntz with German and
Soviet spies 153
7.1 Keeping the legend alive, Victoria DogTakingGun 168
7.2 William McCuistion with his mother Dollie Crawford 173
8.1 Claudia Jones, circa 1930s 187
9.1 Angela Davis urges “Declare your independence: Vote for Hall
and Tyner” 217
10.1 Phyllis “Pele” De Lappe, a staff member for the People's World 232