Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-12-01
Erred Says Party Operated
Openly at North c carolina ].
By Ne Asscrioied Press

~ Ne A.sosiafsd Press
MIAMI, Fla, Dec. Ralph
Long. confessed former Red. told
the House Un-American Activi-
ties Committee yesterday the
Communist Party operated open
" at the University of North
Carolina when he was q member
in 1946-48 and that the school
never did anything about it.
In two hours Of testimony this
morning. Long named five fac
ulty members and a number OF
students who he said attended
Communist cell meetings with
him and was apparently just get
ting started on his list when the
hearing was recessed.
Long said the purpose Of the
student Communist clubs at
Chapel Fill, home OF the univer-
sity, was to ssbuild up the party
among the young intelligentsia
Of North Caroline" print and
circulate literature and raise
money to advance the Red cause.
Says Scales was Leader.
Junius Scales, recently arrested
by the FBI on charges of con-
spiracy against the Government,
admitted openly in 1947 that he
was head of the Chapel Hill
party. Long said, and Commu-
mist activities there were pub
licly known.
In answer to questions by COM
mittee members. he said that to
his knowledge the school never
made any investigation.
The faculty members Long
named as Communists were John
Meyers. Robert Lewis. Anatole
Volkov Elias Friedland and Hans
Freistat.
Longs testimony was con-
fined to the years when he was
a Communist himself. He said
he understood Volkov has since
left the party. but he had no
knowledge of the more recent
activities of the others.
Tells Of Indoctrination.
Long told the committee his
indoctrination as a Communist
began in 1915 while he was in
the Air Force. The first con-
tact, he said, was made by a
Mrs. Dorothy Dow of Riverdale.
Calf, when Long was stationed
at the Ontario (Calif.) Air Base.
Mrs. Dow gave him his first
lesson in Marxist theory, he said,
and persuaded him to subscribe
to the Peoples World. which he
called ."the West Coast equiva-
lent of the Daily Worker"
Long was transferred to Hickam
Field in Hawaii and said he was
contacted there by George Davis,
a truck driver from Van Mugs.
Calf, and Nat Petashnik from
Brooklyn. Davis continued his
Communist education, he said,
and Petashnik loaded him up
with Red literature kept in his
foot locker in the Army barracks.
II was young and had an
emotional chip on my shoulder. !"
Long recalled, land the Red line
sounded pretty good.
II asAed Davis how 7 could
join the party and he, said to
wait until I got out Of the serv-
ice. He explained that the party
was indulging in a limited CO.
operation with the United States
Government because of the mill
tary alliance with Russia.
Six months after leaving the
service, Long entered the uni
versity and became a dues-pay-
ing Communist. When he went
in, he said he was already q
more determined Red than some
of the members.
Among those he named as
members of the Chapel Hill
group, before the recess inter-
rupted his testimony, were Jo-
seph Franklin Blake and his
wife, Dorothy: Dan jackson and
! his wife, Betty; Maria Diaz, an
exchange student from Cuba,
and Minna Abernethy, wife of
La Chapel Fill bookstore owner,
Milton Abernethy.
/ Long said Minna attended the
cell meetings. Her husband didn't
come, he added, but contributed
\ to the party.
/ Mr.. and Mrs. jackson were ex-
PEELED from the party in 1947,
Long testified, because Betty OBJ
jected to the way Scales kept
party secrets from the rank-and-
file members.
/ Among those attending the
expulsion meeting. he said, were
Net Ross. Southern regional
party organizer, and the late
Sam Hall, district organizer from
| Winston Salem