By the time I got out of the hospital the steelworkers were in their famous 1946 strike. So I couldn’t return to work until the strike was over. I did, however, return to work shortly after the strike was over. I think it was in April of 1946. And I have been working continuously there ever since. Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee whether or not you were a member of the Communist Party at the time that your pass was lifted? Mr. DENNETT. I was. Mr. TAVENNER. How long had you been a member? Mr. DENNETT. Well, originally I joined the Communist Party in 1931. Mr. TAVENNER. 1931? Mr. DENNETT. I was in active membership in the Communist Party until the time I went into the Civilian Conservation Corps. During the year I was in the CCC I was not an active member of the Communist Party. As a matter of fact, I was under some cloud. The leadership of the party at that time disapproved of some of my activities and some of my policies, and I certainly disapproved of some of theirs. It was sort of a mutual disagreement. And they were satisfied to leave me alone while I was in the CCC, and I was satisfied that they did. However, upon my return from the CCC, as soon as I went to work on the waterfront, the conditions under which we were working at that time were so repulsive that it was no wonder that the workers there were seriously contemplating strike action. With my prior knowledge about trade unions and some knowledge of political activity, it was only natural that I should assume a position of leadership among those workers. And when the strike was called I was elected to leadership in that strike committee. It was at that moment that the Communist Party found it very convenient to make new approaches to me and to try to enlist my efforts in their behalf. I was willing and I did cooperate and I became a member again in good standing. Mr. TAVENNER. What date was that? Mr. DENNETT. 1935. Mr. TAVENNER. I think it may be well at this point, before I ask you any detail about your knowledge of Communist Party activities, as a matter of general background for the committee, you should state briefly the various positions you have held in the Communist Party, and the opportunity you have had to know of Communist Party activities. Mr. DENNETT. I have held nearly all the organizational positions in the lower ranks of the party. That is, I have been a branch organizer, sometimes called branch, sometimes called unit. I have been an educational director in a branch, I have been a section organizer, I have been a fraction secretary, I have been a district agitprop director. That is a combination of two words--agitation and propaganda. I doubt that the term is used very much any more. It would be comparable to educational work now.