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English-language press of the Communist Party USA

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Soviet Russia, magazine of the Friends of Soviet Russia.

During the ten decades since its establishment in 1919, the Communist Party USA produced or inspired a vast array of newspapers and magazines in the English language.

This list was launched in 2009, based upon material said to have been "principally taken from the California Senate's report" of 1949[1] and the testimony of Walter S. Steele before House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1947.[2]

Various alterations were made over time, including the deletion of ephemeral personnel names as well as additions and subtractions where merited. Further changes took place in 2011 based upon the book Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications published in 1962 by HUAC.[3]

This list does not include the vast array of Communist Party newspapers, periodicals, and magazines published in languages other than English. This material appears at Non-English press of the Communist Party USA.

Party press

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Official newspapers

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During the 1930s the CPUSA issued a west coast newspaper called Western Worker.
  • The Communist (CCF) (1922): Official organ of the dissident Central Caucus faction of the Communist Party of America, which established a parallel organization in January 1922.
  • Workers' Challenge (1922) (March–September 1922): Weekly newspaper of the United Toilers of America, the "legal political party" established by the "Communist Party of America" launched by the Central Caucus faction in January 1922. Tamiment Library of New York University has a run of this publication on microfilm, although they are not the source of the original master negative.
  • The Cleveland Socialist (1917–1919)
  • The Toiler (1919–1921)
  • The Worker (1922–1924)
  • The Daily Worker, (1924– )
  • The Worker, published only on Sunday, had the same management and publisher as the Daily Worker. Contributor Frank Marshall Davis.
  • The Voice of Labor (July 1921 – August 1924): Following the departure of The Toiler from Cleveland to New York City, the Communist Party was left without a significant English-language weekly in the midwest. In July 1921, the decision was made to convert the party's faltering Scandinavian weekly, Social-Demokraten into a Chicago-based English newspaper. Effective with the July 8, 1921 issue this change was made.[5] With the emergence of The Daily Worker in 1924 and its move to Chicago, The Voice of Labor became superfluous and the publication was transformed into Farmer-Labor Voice in the summer of 1924.
  • Western Worker (1932–1937): West coast weekly organ of the CPUSA, published in broadsheet format.
  • People's Daily World was published by the Pacific Publishing Foundation of San Francisco, California and served as the official West Coast Daily of CPUSA.[6] Offices were located in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Editors included Al Richmond and Adam Lapin.
  • People's Voice of Harlem was published by the Powell-Buchanan Publishing Co., Inc, New York, NY; it was a daily publication. Board of directors, Adam Clayton Powell; chairman, Charles P. Buchanan; secretary. Max Yergan ; treasurer, Hope Stevens ; and Ferdinand Smith. The editor in chief was Adam Clayton Powell Jr.; general manager and editor, Doxey Wilkerson; contributing editor was Paul Robeson.

Party magazines

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  • The Liberator (1918–1924): Radical literary-artistic magazine established in New York City by Max Eastman and his sister Crystal Eastman in response to the legal difficulties suffered by The Masses with the U.S. Department of Justice during World War I. Made into a Communist Party publication in the fall of 1922 and merged with the organ of the Trade Union Educational League, The Labor Herald, and that of the Friends of Soviet Russia, Soviet Russia Pictorial, in 1924 to form The Workers' Monthly.
  • The Workers' Monthly (1924–1927): Successor to The Liberator, merging three CP-supported publications into one for financial reasons — The Workers Monthly, The Labor Herald, and Soviet Russia Pictorial. Published monthly in Chicago in the printing plant of The Daily Worker.
  • The New Masses (1926–1940s) was an artistic-literary monthly launched in 1926, revisiting the style of The Masses and The Liberator. The publication maintained a semi-independent financial position during its first years by virtue of being recipient of substantial aid from the Garland Fund.[7] By the 1930s the publication was transformed into a plain-paper communist news magazine akin to The Nation or The New Republic.
    • Masses & Mainstream (1948–1960s) was a small-format magazine printed in New York, NY, by Mainstream Associates, Inc. The editor-in-chief was Samuel Sillen. The editors were Gwendolyn Bennett, Alvah Bessie, Milton Blau, Arnaud D 'Usseau, Howard Fast, Mike Gold, V. J. Jerome, Howard Lawson, Meridel LeSeuer, W. L. River, Dalton Trumbo, and Theodore Ward.
  • The Party Organizer (1927–1939): Monthly for members devoted to internal party affairs.
    • Party Affairs was an irregular internal publication targeted to party members.[8]
  • National Issues (1939): Short-lived monthly magazine published by the National Committee of the CPUSA which resembled the liberal magazines The New Republic and The Nation in form and content.[9] The publication has been reckoned by one scholar as "the epitome, if not the high-water mark, of the Popular Front line in the United States."[9] The magazine was not issued as a so-called "front" publication issued by a blandly-named organization established and controlled by the Communist Party for the purpose, but was rather an official organ of the CPUSA itself with attempted to influence the views of party members and non-party supporters on vital issues of the day.[10] The publication was abruptly terminated in the aftermath of the signing of the Soviet-Nazi Pact of August 1939, with the party choosing to eliminate the publication rather than face the prospect of an embarrassing public reversal of the party line.[11] Only nine issues were produced, reprinted in full in 1970 as a hardcover book by Greenwood Press.[12]

Young Communist League

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New Pioneer was a glossy monthly magazine for Communist children, issued from 1931 through 1938.

Local and shop publications

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  • Boston Chronicle was published weekly in Boston, MA. The editor was William Harrison.
  • Chicago Star was published weekly by the Chicago Star Publishing Co., Inc., Chicago, Illinois Members of the board of directors were Ernest De Maio, Frank Marshall Davis, William L. Patterson, Grant Oakes, and William Sennett. The executive editor was Frank M. Davis; managing editor, Carl Hirsch; and general manager, William Sennett. Howard Fast was a communist, and Rockwell Kent a contributing editor.
  • Crisis was the organ of the East Pittsburgh section of the Communist Party.
  • District Champion was published by the city committee of the Communist Party of the District of Columbia, with offices located in Washington' D. C. It was published monthly. The editor was William C. Taylor; secretary, Elizabeth Searle.
  • Midwest Daily Record was a short-lived Chicago daily covering the meatpacking and other industries.[15]
  • Michigan Herald was published weekly by the People's Educational Publishing Association, of Detroit, Michigan. The editor was Hugo Bewaswenger.
  • Party Voice was an irregular publication on internal affairs targeted to members of the CPUSA in New York state.[8]
  • Roxbury Voice was published in Roxbury, Mass.
  • Waterfront Worker (Dec 1932 – 1936) was a mimeographed publication produced in San Francisco under the auspices of the Communist-controlled Maritime Workers' Industrial Union.[16]

Publications of Communist-supported "Mass Organizations"

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Abraham Lincoln Brigade

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American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born

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FIGHT against War and Fascism was the first of three titles used by the CPUSA's anti-militarism mass organization of the 1930s.

American League Against War and Fascism/American League for Peace and Democracy

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  • FIGHT against War and Fascism was the monthly newsmagazine of the American League Against War and Fascism, chaired by J.B. Matthews. The large format 10 x 14 publication was printed on newsprint and saddle-stitched, with a cover price of just 5 cents per copy. The editorial office of FIGHT was located at 104 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Contributors to the first issue included Henri Barbusse, John Strachey, Fenner Brockway of the British Independent Labour Party, Roger Baldwin of the American Civil Liberties Union. and artist William Gropper. The publication was launched in November 1933 and ran until December 1937, at which time the publication's name was changed in accordance with the CPUSA's Popular Front line. FIGHT is available on microfilm with the master negative held by the New York Public Library.[19]
    • The Fight for Peace and Democracy: At the end of 1937, with the name of the issuing organization changed to the "American League for Peace and Democracy," the name of FIGHT against War and Fascism was changed to The Fight for Peace and Democracy. The first issue of Fight under the new name appeared in January 1938 and publication continued up to the signing of the Nazi–Soviet Pact in May 1939, at which time the name was changed again. The publication is available on microfilm with the master negative held by the New York Public Library.[20]
    • World for Peace and Democracy was the short-lived final incarnation of the publication of the American League for Peace and Democracy. Only two issues were produced, dated June and July 1939, also available on microfilm held by New York Public Library.[21]

American–Russian Institute

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American Slav Congress

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American Youth for Democracy

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  • AYD in Action was published monthly by the national staff of American Youth for Democracy, New York, NY.
  • Spotlight was the official organ for American Youth for Democracy.[22]
  • Student Outlook was published by the intercollegiate division of American Youth for Democracy, New York, NY. It was a monthly publication. The editor was Fred Jaffe.
  • Teeners' Topics, published irregularly, was an American Youth for Democracy publication, with offices located in' New York, NY. Teen Life was published by New Age Publishers, Inc., in Meriden, Conn., for American Youth for Democracy.
  • Youth (CPUSA), a bimonthly publication, was published by American Youth for Democracy, New York.

Association for Jewish Colonization in the Soviet Union (ICOR)

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  • Nailebn-New Life (1935–1950), bilingual Yiddish-English monthly published in New York. Continued IKOR magazine, which was established in 1925.

Emergency Civil Liberties Committee

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Friends of Soviet Russia / Friends of the Soviet Union / National Council of American–Soviet Friendship

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The first issue of the magazine of the Friends of the Chinese People, China Today, was published in 1934.

Friends of the Chinese People

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  • China Today, sub-titled "A Monthly Magazine of Information and Opinion on the Far East," was the official organ of the Friends of the Chinese People.[14] The magazine was launched in January 1934 and featured a large format of approximately 10 by 14 inches and originally bore a cover price of 15 cents a copy. First editors were "Hansu Chan," (pen-name of Ji Chaoding) J.W. Phillips (pen-name of Philip Jaffe), and Frederick Spencer. The publication continued through at least March 1942. Hardcopy issues in the collection of the New York Public Library.[25]

Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences, and Professions

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  • The Independent, a bimonthly, was published by the Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences, and Professions, New York. The executive director was Hannah Dorner.
  • Report From Washington was published monthly by the Independent Citizens Committee of Arts, Sciences, and Professions, New York, NY

International Labor Defense / Civil Rights Congress

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International Workers Order

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Labor Youth League

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  • Challenge, newspaper that served as the official organ of the Labor Youth League.[24]
  • Youth Review was another publication of the Labor Youth League.[27]

League of American Writers

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Trade Union Educational League/Trade Union Unity League

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World Peace Congress

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Communist-sponsored publications dealing with specific topics

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Agriculture

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Black liberation movement

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Civil rights movement

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Current affairs

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  • The Letter was published by The Letter, Inc., Denver, Colo. The editor was Phil Rino; editorial advisory board, David J. Miller, Reid Robinson, Joseph C. Cohen, and Isabelle Gonzalles.
  • In Fact, was a weekly newsletter published in New York City by George Seldes from 1940 to 1950. The publication was cited as a "Communist front" by American federal authorities.[28]

Drama

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New Theatre was a glossy magazine produced from 1934 until 1937, succeeding Workers Theatre.
  • Workers Theatre was a Communist magazine dedicated to the dramatic arts. The magazine was launched under the auspices of the International Union of the Revolutionary Theatre and the League of Workers' Theatres of the U.S.A.[33] The first number of the irregularly issued magazine was dated April 1931.[34]
    • The publication was published by the New Theatre League in New York, and renamed as New Theatre in January 1934, with publication numbering rolled back to volume 1 in association with the change. This name amended to New Theatre and Film to reflect a broadened focus effective with the start of volume 4 in March 1937.[35]
    • Another new numbering series began in November 1938 with the launch of a successor publication, New Theatre News. The publication began as a small format glossy illustrated magazine but was quickly moved to the use of mimeograph using standard-sized letter paper. Production continued at least through 1942, with few copies surviving.[citation needed] New York Public Library holds some copies between 1934 and 1941.[36]

Education

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  • Bulletin on Education, irregular, was published by the educational departments of the Communist Party in California.
  • The Chart with offices in New York, NY, was issued by the National Organization and Education Commissions of the Communist Party of the United States. Jack Stachel was chairman of the education commission, and Henry Winston was chairman of the organization commission.

Health and medicine

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Health and Hygiene was a CPUSA magazine dedicated to medicine and fitness issued from 1935 to 1938, the height of the Popular Front period.

All (except for one) issues of Health and Hygiene can be downloaded from Marcists.org at this link: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/health/index.htm

International affairs

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Jewish

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  • Jewish Life (1946–1956) was launched in November 1946 as an English-language monthly by the CP-affiliated Yiddish-language Morning Freiheit.[28] Editors included Louis Harap and Morris Schappes. The publication split from the Communist Party during the 1956 factional struggle and continues in 2011 as an independent progressive publication.

Labor movement

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Law

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Peace

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  • Hollywood Independent was published monthly by the Hollywood Independent Citizens' Committee of Arts, Sciences, and Professions, Hollywood, California. The editor was Hollister Noble.
  • Readers' Scope was published monthly by Picture Scope, Inc., New York, NY.

Religion

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  • Protestant was published monthly by Protestant Digest of New York City. The editor was Kenneth Leslie.

Social work

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Sports

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  • Sport Call was launched in 1936 as the magazine of the "Workers' Sports League of America."[41] In addition to subscriber mailings the monthly publication appeared as an insert in the Neue Volks-Zeitung.[41] No issues are extant after the June/July 1938 issue of the publication.[41]

Veterans affairs

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  • Salute was published monthly by the Veterans Publishing Co., New York, NY. The publisher was Jeremiah Ingersoll. The executive director was Max Baird and the managing editor was DeWitt Gilpin.

Women's liberation movement

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  • Working Woman was issued in New York by the National Women's Department of the Communist Party starting in 1927.[42] The publication began as a tabloid newspaper, switching to magazine format in 1933 and continuing under that title through 1935.
    • The Woman Today continued for Working Woman in 1936, with the more inclusive name clearly chosen as a nod to the party's Popular Front tactics of the period. Publication was terminated in 1937. The magazine was retroactively declared by the US Government in 1944 to be a so-called "Communist front."[43]
  • Facts for Women was published monthly by Facts for Women, Los Angeles, California. The editor was Mary Inman.
  • Woman Power was published monthly by the Congress of American Women in New York, NY. Members of the editor board are Edna Moss, Bert Sigred, and Eleanor Vaughn. The president was Gene Weltfish; executive vice president, Muriel Draper; treasurer, Helen Phillips; and secretary, Josephine Timms.
  • Bulletin of Congress of American Women was published monthly by the Congress of American Women, New York, NY. The editorial board was composed of those on the Board of Woman Power.

Soviet publications for America

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Fifth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee On Un-American Activities, California Legislature, 1949, pp. 545-546.
  2. ^ Testimony of Walter S. Steele regarding Communist activities in the United States. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session, on H. R. 1884 and H. R. 2122, bills to curb or outlaw the Communist Party in the United States. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (2) July 21, 1947.
  3. ^ Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications (And Appendixes). Revised and Published December 1, 1961 to Supersede Guide Published on January 2, 1957. 87th Congress, 2nd Session, House Document No. 398. Washington, DC: Committee on Un-American Activities, US House of Representatives, 1962; pp. 183-205.
  4. ^ PDF's of The Bulletin are available at Archive.org for both Issue No. 1 and Issue No. 2.
  5. ^ Dirk Hoerder with Christiane Harzig (eds.), The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s-1970s: An Annotated Bibliography: Volume 1: Migrants from Northern Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987; pg. 109.
  6. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 186.
  7. ^ a b HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 194.
  8. ^ a b c HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 196.
  9. ^ a b Harvey A. Levenstein, "National Issues: New York, 1939," in Joseph R. Conlin (ed.), The American Radical Press, 1880-1960: Volume 1. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1974; pg. 289.
  10. ^ Levenstein, "National Issues," pp. 290-291.
  11. ^ Levenstein, "National Issues," pg. 291.
  12. ^ Harvey A. Levenstein (ed.), National Issues: A Survey of Politics and Legislation. Westport, CT: Greenwood Reprint Corporation, 1970.
  13. ^ New Pioneer, OCLC WorldCat, OCLC 8279914.
  14. ^ a b c HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 184.
  15. ^ "About Midwest Daily Record, 1938-1938," Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
  16. ^ a b c d HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 203.
  17. ^ a b c HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 191.
  18. ^ a b c HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 195.
  19. ^ "FIGHT against War and Fascism," New York Public Library, New York City.
  20. ^ "The Fight for Peace and Democracy," New York Public Library, New York City.
  21. ^ "World for Peace and Democracy," New York Public Library, New York City.
  22. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 201.
  23. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 185.
  24. ^ a b c HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 183.
  25. ^ China Today, New York Public Library, New York City.
  26. ^ OCLC WorldCat listing: Labor Defender.
  27. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 205.
  28. ^ a b c d HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 190.
  29. ^ a b c d HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 187.
  30. ^ Sam Tanenhaus, Whittaker Chambers: A Biography. New York: Modern Library, 1998.
  31. ^ John Earl Haynes annotations to "Adolf Berle's Notes on his Meeting with Whittaker Chambers.
  32. ^ The paper is contained on Microfilm R-7472, "Communist Party Miscellaneous Newspapers," Reel 2, title 8.
  33. ^ Workers Theatre, OCLC WorldCat, OCLC No. 5012730.
  34. ^ "Workers theatre" (catalogue entry). UCLA Library. Retrieved November 20, 2022. New York : League of Workers Theatres. V. 1-5, no. 7/8; April 1931-July/Aug. 1933.
  35. ^ New Theatre, Princeton University Library.
  36. ^ "New Theatre League records: Detailed Description: Series IX. Publications of the New Theatre League 1934-1941". New York Public Library: Archives and Manuscripts. Retrieved November 21, 2022. Series contains runs of New Theatre (incomplete), Theatre and Film, and New Theatre News (incomplete)... New Theatre, June, 1934 - Nov. 1936; Theatre and Film, April, 1937; New Theatre News Nov. 1939 - April, 1941
  37. ^ Health and Hygiene, MadCat, University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. OCLC 02261823.
  38. ^ "Amerasia," OCLC WorldCat. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
  39. ^ a b c d HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 189.
  40. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 200.
  41. ^ a b c "The Sport Call," Fitchburg, MA: Workers' Sports League of America, 1936. OCLC 26666818.
  42. ^ OCLC 12014412, called "New York Working Woman" in the Daily Worker of December 11, 1928, pg. 4.
  43. ^ HUAC, Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications... Revised and Published December 1, 1961..., pg. 204.
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