Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 2 — John Shaqi
Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 2United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
History
Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 2
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
Communism -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
Mr. TAVENNER. Do I understand you to mean that it was that group of
individuals who took the leadership in the work within the Washington
Commonwealth Federation?
Mr. DENNETT. Yes; they did.
Mr. Rappaport could not directly participate in the work of the
Washington Commonwealth Federation because he was what was generally
called the face of the party. He was the official representative of the
party. And the Washington Commonwealth Federation, even though there
were Communist leaders in it, it at no time accepted an affiliation
from the Communist Party, and it at no time would acknowledge a
Communist as a Communist in the organization unless it be someone like
Rappaport who had the authority to represent the party as such.
By that I mean that if I presented myself to the Washington
Commonwealth Federation to speak on any matter or to urge anything
before its body, I could not speak in the name of the Communist Party
even though other members of that executive board may know that I was
a member of the Communist Party. I could not speak as a Communist. I
could only speak as a member of that executive board, and it was the
presumption that I was representing the affiliate from which I had been
sent as a delegate.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee, please, which of these
Communist Party bureau members became officials in the Washington
Commonwealth Federation.
Mr. DENNETT. Mr. Costigan already was an official. He was the executive
secretary.
Mr. DeLacy became the president of the Washington Commonwealth
Federation.
I became the vice president of the Washington Commonwealth Federation.
Mr. Harold Ebey served in some advisory capacity. I think that he came
from a teachers’ union affiliate at that time.
Mr. Dobbins was a member there, but I do not recall the exact relation
that he held to obtain his position.
Mr. Karley Larsen was a leader there by virtue of the fact that he
was a leader in the Northern Washington District Council of the
International Woodworkers of America.
Mr. TAVENNER. It would seem that the Communist Party had complete
control of the organization.
Mr. DENNETT. We had another person there who is now deceased, but
I don’t think that it gives a complete picture without mentioning
him, and that is Mr. William Pennock, because Bill Pennock was the
workhorse. Bill Pennock carried the load. He was a very efficient man,
one of the fastest shorthand artists that I ever knew, and was capable
of keeping up with the fast pace that Mr. Costigan set.
Mr. Pennock deserves honorable mention for the work that he did in that
setup.
Mr. TAVENNER. What position did Pennock hold in the Communist Party?
Mr. DENNETT. He attended the bureau meetings, but I do not remember
exactly whether he was a member of the bureau. But he attended most of
the bureau meetings by virtue of the fact that he became the head of
the pension union which was one of the big affiliates of the Washington
Commonwealth Federation.
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