Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-01-28
/ Led Three Lives
The Spy Is Spied Upon, but He Sidesteps Trop
Set for Him in Headquarters Office
BY Herbert A. PhiIbriek
CHAPTER VIII

j
My Party Gard Goes to FBI.
The Communist Party swathed
itself in patriotism and gave it
self Fundamentally to the winning
|of the war-while at the same
time in secret classes in CAM
bridge it was teaching me the
necessity of violent revolution to
hammer out Communist victory.
It was the most peaceful re-
alignment of party policy / ever
observed. The only outward sign I
saw was the sudden termination
Of Dave Benefits classes on Marx
list revolution. William z. Foster
protested privately but went along.
Sam Darcy, a central committee
man, protested publicly, and was
expelled.
At one of our cell meetings with
Alice Gordon soon after / Joined
the party. the subject for dis
cussion was the national COM
mittee's proposal for abolition of
the party and creation of the
milder and more cooperative
Communist Political Association. /
decided to rock the boat:
Look" ! said. borrowing a page
from the, uncompromising boil
shevism of Gus johnson, 'for gen.
erations the suppressed working
peoples all over the world have
been dreaming Of the overthrow
of their oppressors and the es-
Enlistment Of the dictatorship Of
the proletariat. For years we have
been their champions in the
struggle. Now are we, going to
throw all that out the window
admit that we were wrong, or
acknowledge that we are weak?"
Revolution Only Postponed.
The question spurred some one
to answer with the suggestion that
the revolution was not being can
celed - merely postponed. That
was what I was waiting for.
The meeting broke up in con-
fusion. Our cards were handed
around and we were instructed to
make a mental note of the num-
Der and tear them up. Most mem
bers of the CPA would keep
their cards. but those of us who
were under cover would not run
any risk of detection. We ex-
amined the new cards. A waste
basket was furnished for us to
drop them in.
In the confusion of disbanding,
with many of the cell members
keeping me busy by informal con-
tinuation of the dispute ] had
started. I took a risk, surrepti-
5iously avoided tearing up my card,
and slipped it in my pocket for
transmission to the FBI. I took
the chance that the wastebaSket
scraps might be examined but
fortunately they were not.
The district Office in the Little
Building was the focal point of
Communist operations throughout
all of New England. and so I was
in an extremely advantageous po-
sition as an intelligence agent for
the FBI.
Movements Kept Secret.
Headquarters officers unwit-
tingly helped me by screening my
from the public and
the police. The party itself
wanted me to remain under
if possible.
The Office suite consisted Of
four rooms at the end of a corri-
dor on the fremont street wing
of the building, next door to the
Majestic Theater and directly
across the street from the Hotel
Touraine. Fanny Hartman. the
district organizer, and the real
district leader, was a vest-pocket
edition of party stalwart Elizabeth
Gurley Flynn, but what she lacked
in size and power she more than
made up in skill and precision.
AS the strategic brain Of the New
England Communist Party she
demanded and received unwaver-
ing loyalty from every one under
her Jurisdiction.
She was in time double crossed
and crushed by the yery4machine
to which she had ensiaved herself.
In 1915 she was elbowed aside by
the national hierarchy in favor
of Emanuel Blum, who was more
powerful political strategist but a
laundering fool by comparison.
Otis Hood was the front man
for the party in New England,
nominally the Massachusetts,
chairman, a public Communist
who perpetually ran on the party
ticket for offices ranging from
Governor of Massachusetts, to Bos-
ton school committeeman.
Known as "Red Flame"
Another in the public eye was
Anne Burlak, known throughout
New England as "the Red
Flame" a title she acquired, not
from the color Of her hair-which
was blond-but because of her
leadership in violent strike &C
tivity in Lawrence. Lowell, Provi-
dence and other cities in the area.
William Harrison was another
occupant of the district ofi1ce.
The perennial vice president OF
the district, Bill held title which
had neither meaning nor power.
He was the editor Of the Boston
Chronicle, a Negro newspaper.
It was from Fanny Hartman
that I got my first inkling OF the
Iinnermost secret organization OF
Ia political conspiracy that is based
on concentric circles Of secrecy.
The cell to which / belonged was
too sour over my deviation. even
though it was anti-capitalist de-
Walton, to elect me q delegate to
the District convention in the
spring of 1914.
At the last moment. however
I received call from Fanny