Evening star., 1952-02-05
By Herbert A. PhiIbriek
Chapter Xv-Who's Who i'm .
Prot Cell.

ITOs& Ce1As
Shock was added to shock al
II uncovered gradually the conapo
Isition Of the pro-group. the sur
|prising personalities who wen
twice q month to h ON IS anC
apartments in Boston and Cam
bridge for cell meetings.
AT first the young people I me
appeared to be rather agreeable
members of the white collar class
la notch above the secretarial o.
|clerkShip level.
Norma, our hostess at that In
|itial meeting, although on q highe
level than an office girl. was les
skilled than the others; she wa!
the honey type and obviously
frightened by some of the things
she heard in cell meetings, Sht
seemed to be a young woman
who was infatuated with the scien.
tific aspects of socialism, and sht
thought it was smart to know
about them. Norma'S husband
Mike. was a certified public ac-
countant, and I understood thai
he was a member Of another pro-
cell.
Afraid Of Blackmail.
Then there was Susan, a Bo.
hemian type. who thought she
wanted to be a writer. It wa.
fairly obvious to me that she was
unhappy in the party and was
staying in because she was afraic
of blackmail and knew no easy
way out.
Another m e m Der of Prof
Butch. was a young artist, also
with rather Bohemian ways, who
lived on Beacon Hill. He was not
very bright politically but the
party put his artistic talents tc
good use.
Peg Gilbert = Mrs. Margaret
Gilbert-Served as q wonderful
shield for our pro-group activities;
she was held in such high esteem
by her neighbors that we could
meet at her house with relatively
little fear Of rousing suspicion
She was q plain young woman
with straw colored hair, the
mother Of two children, and the
wife of a labor union organizer.
A stylish, attractive young wom-
an in the group Helen, by name
was our courier. She was ex-
tremely quiet and wore her ex-
pensive clothes like a professional
model. Never did she indicate by
so much as a word exactly what
her job with the group was, but
her frequent trips to New York
and to Europe-with no visible
means of Support-led, the rest OF
us to the correct conclusion that
she was not only a courier but an
international courier.
Quick Witted Executive
Harry Winner. the quick-witted
and affable Maiden rubber com.
pany executive, and Samuel Adam.
School instructor, was one OF
them. Although I'd met Winner
before at various functions and
on one occasion we had spoken
from the same platforms. I did
not know him well until he began
attending our meetings.
Curiously enough, one Of these
closest to Winner was Dirk j.
Struik: and they made an inter-
esting study in contrasts. Dirk
was cold and calculating-perhaps
the prototype of the pure scientist
He was not only a great mathema-
tician but an expert in Marxist
theory as well; and he combined
these two fields in his fiat as
sumption that the foundation OF
Stalinism was to be found In
science.
Culture simply oozed out Of ou1
pro-group; graduate and honorary
degrees were a dime q dozen. One
Of the most popular members O1
the group was a woman Of great
talent who could boast a family
listed in who's Who," a European
education, and a degree from a
fashionable Eastern college. She
had written a dozen successful
books and was a leader in all sorts
of women's club and professional
groups.
Large Funds Contributed.
At one of the early meetings,
saw sums of SIS to $25 passed
along casually to our treasurer
and it was not long before ! re-
allied that Prof. had ample re-
sources on which to draw. The
were nicked for dues
Sustaining fees" and for innum-
cradle drives. funds and causes.
In one such drive alone, our sc
members produced more than $3,-
500 in cash. One Of our older anC
wealthier members, Mrs. Sars
Gordon, the wife of an afiluen
jeweler. used to hold receptions in
honor Of such party stalwarts al
Paul Robson and Elizabeth Cur.
ley Flynn in her Swank hote
apartment.
I learned that there were other
cells also in the group including
a teachers cell in the public
schools; two cells composed oi
writers, authors, newspapermer
and radio workers: two of bust.
nessmen; q cell for lawyers; an.
other for doctors: cells for college
professors, including one at Harv.
ard and one at NIT; o cell TO
social workers, and q cell o
phony ministers, q few Of whom
were ordained. In all, it was eS.
timated. that Pro-group member.
ship in the Boston area numbered
about 80 persons, in addition II
which there were a few Pro-grouI
floaters. There were some Is Pro.
group cells.
Operated Independently.
The pro-group operated will
almost complete independence,
from the district leadership
Major party directives were passet
Ito the group directly from tht