Evening star., 1952-01-27

The late Prof. F. o. Mat
thieSsen of Harvard who lent
himself to many Red activi-
ties in the Boston area. He
plunged to his death from a
Boston hotel window"
objectives Of the AYD, and invit.
ing youth leaders FROM the Bostol
area to take part in an organiza.
tional meeting November 2 to SCI
up the AYD in the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts,.
Youth Needs Cited.
every intelligent young Ameri.
can," the letter said, "haS fel
the urgent need for an organiza.
ton uniting youth of all races
creeds and political beliefs.
This war, which now engulfs tn.
whole world. was not Of our max
ing, but it is our war. Only BY
smashing fascisn can we assure
Americas future In o world o1
peace and progress" s-a,.v~
We discussed at length whether
to include among the letter.
signers the name of Alice Gordon
who was running the show thu.
far, but who was known publicly
as the former head Of the
Massachusetts, Young CoEamllnist
League. Some argued aga 1el
inclusion, but It was f1nA De
cided. to list .her-not as 6 former
Lacquer but as a membeE u fhe
National Council of American
Youth for Democracy.
The other signers were: Anne
Thompson of the Young Woman's
Christian Association, Ben Parker
Of >Hecht House, Donald Bollen
United Electrical and Radio
Union; Jean Adams, Tufts Theo-
logical School; Barbara Bennett
National Council, AYD: Herbert
Philbrick. Baptist Church: Francis
Bailin, International Union OF
Marine and ShipbuilderS.
Many Letters Sent Out.
The letter was mailed to a large
composite list of youth organiza-
tion leaders. Nat Mills furnished
us the list of the Massachusetts
Youth Council. Beverly Franklin
secured the entire mailing list OF
the Youth for Victory Council
Frances Damon provided q list
from the Boston Council of Social
Agencies.
The Communist Party head
quarters provided additional
names from foreign groups. We
put in hectic hours addressing the
envelopes and getting them into
the mail by October 20.
I told about my trip to New
York to the founding convention
of the AYD and what I saw
and learned, and those whom
met there. Then I said that pro-
Fascist elements in the country
would do everything they could to
break up organizations of this
kind-up to and including use OF
the brand "Communist"-because
AYD was interested only ir
the successful prosecution of the
war, and the FascistS and reac-
tionaries were not. Finally
swung into my discussion of anti
Semitism in the Boston com
munity.
Response Is Remarkable.
The response in behalf of ths
Massachusetts, section of AYI
was remarkable. Youngsters OF
the 'home 'front.'" between The
ages of IA and IS, energetic
and enthusiastic to tackle any
project for victory, were rounded
up. 1t was easy to join. Any grour
Of 10 or more young people coulc
establish an AYD club in thei
community for a 81 charter fee
Dues were 81 a year, with a specia
fee of SO cents for high schoo
students.
A national magazine, Spot.
light, was published for the or
ganization, the first issue to ap.
pear in December. The magazine
never mentioned the class struggle
in so many words. but its pages
made it plain to a discerning
youngster that the class struggle
was vital factor in his life.
One of our most important task.
was to line up adult sponsors fol
the Massachusetts, AYD, anc
according to form it was impor.
tant that most of them be non.
Communists. We recognized thai
any alert, mature person coule
easily trace the link between
American Youth for Democracy
and the Young Communist League
and we foresaw more serious prob.
lens of control.
Adult Backing Assured.
Some Of the adults, I was told
could be depended upon to bacl
the organization and our views
Stephen Friedman, James J
Green, William Harrison. Eliza
beth Jones, Grace Lonergan, Pro
fessor F. O. Matthiessen. Professo
Kirtley Mather. Robert Mills
John Mitchell and Franci
lO'Connor.
During the next three months