I was very much impressed by his presentation. Later on, years later, I was still more impressed when I learned that he actually had met with success, because after the persons who were charged then had been convicted he appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision in the case of Dirk De Jonge which held that the criminal syndicalism statute in the State of Oregon was invalid. And the decision was reversed. Those convictions were reversed that way. So you see that my interest and introduction was of a twofold character: One, I was impressed with the economic problems that were not being solved. I was also impressed with what appeared to me to be an invasion of the civil rights of individuals to think and act as they pleased in political matters. Mr. TAVENNER. Did you state the first person you knew as a Communist was a man by the name of Walker? Mr. DENNETT. Yes, Fred Walker. Mr. TAVENNER. Do you know whether Mr. Fred Walker held any position in the Communist Party at that time? Mr. DENNETT. At that time he was the section organizer of the Communist Party in Portland, Oreg. Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee whether or not, as a result of your attendance at that conference and your discussions with Mr. Fred Walker, you became a member of the Communist Party? Mr. DENNETT. It was not immediate, but it was soon after that that I became a member of the Communist Party. Actually I wanted to become a member of the Communist Party, and they were a little bit fearful that since I was a teacher that maybe there was some kind of bourgeois corruption there that they were afraid of. And they insisted that if I wanted to join the ranks of the Communist Party it would be necessary for me to take a little schooling. So they offered me an opportunity to attend some classes which they had organized, classes in labor history, classes in analyzing the role and functions of the Communist Party? And they had other classes. I do not recall exactly what they were. But these 2 were the 2 main groups. Mr. TAVENNER. Was this a recognized school of the Communist Party or what was it? Mr. DENNETT. Well, it was a school that was organized by the section in Portland under Fred Walker’s leadership. It had the approval of the district leadership. Mr. TAVENNER. Of the Communist Party? Mr. DENNETT. And they were following the outlines which were sent out by the Workers School of New York, which was the center of the Communist Party. Mr. TAVENNER. Was it unquestionably a Communist Party function that was being performed? Mr. DENNETT. Very distinctly so. We used 2 important textbooks, 1 by Bimba, and 1 by Forner, in those schools. Both of them on labor history. Mr. TAVENNER. Who were the teachers in that school? Mr. DENNETT. Fred Walker taught some of them. Munter taught some of them. Mr. TAVENNER. Do you know his first name? Mr. DENNETT. Paul Munter, I believe.