Mee Mr. Coyne. ° _ Mr». Powers ‘NW 45838 DocId:32338882 Page 2
eae “CON in 1919, this marriage terminating in divorce in 1925 and resulting in one cot sone. Iawson is presently married to Susan Edmund ‘La@son from which. marriage ’" a gon and @ daughter have resulted. Lawson, according to the book, claims. he is a tiember of the Council of the Authors League. of America, a former _ . _ President of the Screen Weiters Gui.ls and | a member of the League of Anerdoan. Writerde - ; a purther, clippings ingruaia in the alunn4 files of the Willdane College revealed the following igeme’ ; October: 155 1936, Tawdon eo. on the “pavipiry Board. of the Dramatist Play Service, Inco, 938 Bast 38th Street, New York City; . established by the Dramatist Guild. of the Authority League of Americas... . Mareh, 1936,. Lawson testified before +he. House: Patents Conmittes Hearing: ‘for the. Dramatist’ ‘Guild of America in -opposition. to the: Duffey Bill designed’ ‘ to modernize.the 1909 copyright lawao«In Mays. 19375. he: produced a play — entitled "Mar ch Song" dealing with @ sit-down: strike in an auto. factory. fhe home address of Lawson was given as 2270 Laurel Canyon Boulevard >. Hollywood. > California; business. address 7210 Santa Monica Boulevard, Log - ‘Angeles; permanent - address Moriches y ». Long Island 5 occupation, Playwrighte * (100=24499=229 ) “hots Whos 1946-1947 reflects ‘that: Lawson. also wrote Success story, - 19325 fhe Pure afi Heart, 19343 Gentlewoman, 19343: Marching Song, 19373 . .” Pheory and ‘Technique of Playwriting, 1936. It was also gaid that recent ‘ motion pictures of Lawson were Action. in; the : Worth Atlantic, 19435 Sahara 1943s and Counterattack, ‘19450 4 Te de. te be noted. that Lasroon de. prosently a . free lance writer and his most recent motion pioture . is, feaaigh: Upe® 3 1. usu REGARDING. Lansou's cara PARTY MEAGRRSHTP : oS “‘Pesbifying before the Joint Fact~Finding. Committee, cuisvornia” . Législature,. dn the fall of 1944, Lawson, ‘under oath, denied that he was a " member of ‘the Communist Party. -However, a reliable informant: Adentified - Jawson ag a member of the Communist. Party in71941 and has stated that. i laweon is 4 "Communist Party member, a playwright, and a’ leader of ‘the ‘Comminist Party fraction among. the: artists ‘of all ‘varietics ' “in. ieliywood..” i ” (Discontinued paid confidential. informant of LA office,: - William, Hynes. LA3) , Ina sworn. statement: which: Réna. Vale: gave: to. the Joint. Facts: _s Pinding Committee, ‘California. ‘Legislature, >. John Howard. Lawgon ‘was ‘identifica Al ae & member: of. the: comminiss Rartye:: She, stated that. he was active ain: NW 45838 DociId:32338882 Page 3
Kathryn Burke being Chief Director of Courier Operations. She TEIN IAYC Mri huh Communist circles in Hollywood when she was in the Communist Party and that in Communist meetings, Lawson had stated that Communist propaganda sust be integrated inte all screen plays. iCE_OF LAWSON'S COMMUNIST AFFILIATIONS Meetings of the Plenary Sessions of the National Committee of the Communist Party were held on June 28 and 29, 1941. William Z. Foster, -James @ Ford, Alexander Bittelman and "numerous other high ranking: Communist leaders"were alleged to be in attendance and John Howard Lawson was alleged to have attended those meetings as a delegate from California.(Meno furnished to Chicago Office by Col. Walter L. Fubershaw, rep of the Carnegia Ill, Steel Co. 100~24499-3) ST In 1941, the Commnist Party was in the process of realigning its Districts throughout the country as well aa reorganizing Lts structural setup. District No. 13 was toe include all of the States — of California and Nevada, and'was to have centralised offices at 121 Haight Street, San Francisco, as well as in Les Angeles. the. San Francisco Office of District Ko. 13 was te be headed by Steve Nelson and Betty Gannett was to be the Organizational Secretary. _ dohn Howard Lawson and Herbert Biberman were to control the sruaniaats ona’ work in the Rollywood Area. (Confidential informant [ OTHER 4 of Chicago Office. 100-16227-20 p 5). In 1941, data and information from Mexico City to New York and return was allegedly handled by a courler system with a person named reportedly acted as a contact for Gale Sondergaard, wife of Herbert Biberman, Director and Producer, and close associate of John Howard Lawson, who handled the material at Los Angeles. All mterial from Los Angeles and the Pacific Coast being sent to Kew York City was carried by John Howard Lawson who reportedly made frequent trips to New York. Allegedly when Larson arrived in Wew York, New York, he immediately went to the office of the League of American . -3- pty , NW 45838 DocId:32338882 Page 4
—NwW- 45838 guidance of the Committee, to exploit names of important individuals in the ~ furtherance of the Comminist Party line. It has been stated “that the program of the Hollywood Democratic Committee was not only parallel with that of the Communist Party line, but that the organization was dominated and inspired by persons of a Communist character, including John Howard Lawson. (Confidential Informant Harvey Gilbert Wolf of the Los Angeles Office.) (100-197270-2) According to articles appearing in the Los Angeles newapapers, the Hollywood Arta, Sciences and Professions Council of the Progressive Citizens of America, formerly known as the Hollywood Democratic Committee, "held a five day conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel, commencing Wednesday evening, July 9, 1947. ‘they announced that the purpose of the conference was to examine current restrictions on media of expression in the United States, and that the theme of the conference was "Thought Control in the United States." Mr. Roward Koch, writer and former chairman of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization and author of the screen version of: "Uigsion to Moscow," reportedly introduced John Howard Lawson as one of the main speakera on the program. Koeh identified Lawson as one of the country's foremost scholars and one who had just completed a four volume "History of the United States." (100-24499-401) Be D WRI! ILTZA ‘the Hollywood Writers Hobilisation was: formed very soon after the attack on Pear] Harbor, on December 7, 1941, and was - established by persons who were most active in the League of American Writers. According to information contained in reports of the Joint Faot-Pinding Comnittee, California Legislature, based on information developed in connection with interviews conducted of Hollywood writers in October, 1944, the Hollywood Writers Hobiligation was under the control of the Communists and had numerous contacts to supply the pictures which were being. released in the liberated countries. (100-102217-14) i . , -~10- coNASERTIAL DocId: 32338882 Page 5