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wwe , CH 22 iD This is one of many explana- i tions that Horton ofters for the| many reports linking the inter- ' racial school to commuristn since ' Highlander’s establishment 25 vears au. Horton flatly denies ome ce veuuui bas ever had any- thing to de with communism. The sworn testimony that the ‘schoo! was linked to the Com- ‘munist conspiracy came from (Reolorch fofmer Tennessee , OFgahize “Yor the Communist perty, at ® 1953 hearing of the Senate Internal Security subcom- mittee in New Orleans, La Al- though it is mot the only testi+ m ohander-Commiunist onk, it certainty is some of the most pointed. Dz.¢ ¢.tss ae Hortuli was ousted from. this La % same hearing because he refused / wa A “ww ‘tf answer a question He tried to ‘read a prenared staternent in- q siead, Lut Seu. James Eastland . . Ui-Missi, subcommittee chair. > tS % pan, ordered him remoy ved from The T- ae en. Eastiand told The Atlanta * Censiiiuticn that the Department af Justice found that Crouch's testimony “fitted in’ with the de pattment’s investigations. ““The department's invest.gation has ) o¢ked ut his testimony,” East- jand declared. Crouch has died since the hear- fng. 1 : ‘ ee Gall ing room. A. ae ANTA OOo an CONSTI gemaiiva, Georgla ehoy i: Aa PRD LY TS-C “un + V7. i Liv tani i* 3. OTIANB ot Se ae ce PETES ME ep! ighlander Folk Sehool Red Activity Charge tal ned ona Grud 12-16-57 Sditor: RALPH McGILL Re: HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL Atlanta File 100-804 ‘~. & ‘By JACK ‘ELSON a {Second of a series’ of sever prticles.) MONTEAGLE, Tenn., Dec. 15—Myles., rton, director “a High- Jander Fabk School, claims a ‘ ‘per sonal grudge” prompted a former Com:nunist te lie about alleged ceamypunistic activity at the. 1 ie. Rae eee th vette Morton elaims that Crouch's | téitimeny..about alleged Cem-| munist activities was So “weak and full of holes” that the De- partment of Justice dropped sev- eral cases it bad based on his testimony Thomas K. Hall, criminal sec- tien chief of the internal] security division, Department of Justice, told The Atlanta Constitution: “No criminal cases have been dropped by this division for that Treason.’ cna uinhts tact. On the cornmrary. cr Gut Ss testi- mony was considered important in Communist conspiracy case convictions under the Smith Act ir St. Louis, Honolulu Seattle and Ptiladelphia, according to Hall. The Philadelphia case was re- versed by the Supreme Court in ight of the Yates decision in a conspiracy case in California. Ap- peals in the other three cases are pending. (In the Yates decision, rendered June 17, 1957, the court held that the Smith Act was aimed at the advocacy and teaching of con- crete actions for the forcible over- throw of the government and not AMDEXER “Ze was a epi mai,” . anid, “gad be teld Ses about Highlander because of some- thing that happened back about 1935. “A Daily Worker reporter In-' terviewed me when Crouch first, ame te Tennessee to try to or- | vel ganze TVA (Tennessee Valley , Authority) workers. The reporter / asked me about Crouch, what J thought about him. HORTON’S EXPLANATION *T told him that I didn’t want to be put in the position of ad- : vising the Communist Party about what to do, but I said, ‘You ought to have an organizer who ig at least half as intelligent as the peo- ple he’s trying to organize’.”” Horton claims that this remark instilied in Crouch a hatred that caused him to smear Highlander at, the hearing. at any *rate, », Crouch testified that Highlander was “a school . .. ostensible as an independent labor school, but actually working in close cooperation with the Com- munist Party.” Crouch testified that James .A. ombrowski was an instructor at Fighlander from about 1937 until some time in the '40s. Dombrow- ski, a graduate of Atlanta’s Emory University, is executive di- rector of the Southern Conference Educational Fund, which was the central subject of the subcommit- tee hearing. 7Ew ev oe AGH. TELLS OF MEETING Asked if Dombrowski accent Communist Party dis ciplin Crouch testified: “Yes, sir: to the extent that ” instructions that were given him by the subcommittee by the dis- Be of principles divorced from ac-' trict bureau of Tenessee (of the tion. In failing to point out this difference, the trial judge's charge Communist Party) were carried out by Dr. Dombrowski_regard- fo the fury was defective, the ing the administration of the High-{ © ta we gourt ruled.) Sd TTUTION tote AW LALLY ee ee - eo RECORD D> 126 JAN. G lander Folk School. .»..” --: ee ——— TEE DATE 308 Sy UNG ASSIF Crouch tektifiel i ad fe WB: met at Highlander Horton, Dombrowski and the Nashville organizer the Com- munist Party and later Crouch’s successor as Tennessee organizer. Also present for part of the meet- ing, Crouch testified, was Franz Daniel, trade union organizer and | a Socialist. Crouch testified that he stated at the meeting that the Commu- nist Party “was anxious to get the maximum results from the | Highlander Folk School without endangering Mr. Horton or any- Jone... 2” \ | DANGER TO FUNDS “The results to which I re- ferred,” Crouch explained, “were if it were to become public knowl- edge that the Highlander Folk School was cooperating too close- ly with the Communist Party and carrying on too much open Com- munist propaganda that it would endanger its funds and its support and the Communist Party recog-: nized that this would be harmful! . to the school and the party.” | | Crouch said the purpose of the | meeting was “‘to work out a plan | by which the Daily Worker would | be purchased by the school." | He testified the _Communist ; on Cre newspaper “would be made 1 Be: | cessible to the students, that: everywhere possible thé instruc: | ters should refer to the Daily | Worker, to news that bad come | in it, to encourage the students | to read it, and it was egreed that | the Communist Party should have | WS WUT. 2 es a student, a leader, sent there | as a student whose job it would be to look around for prospective | ' recruits and Mildr ite, new in Washington, D.C.,¥was selected ‘ attend the Highlander Folk’. School for the purpose of recruit- ‘i ing for for the Communist Party and Thé Communist - Paci. ten sone the student body” re oes tae ig MD there. eae gdantas’t ae are ae ee CONTAINED IED BY sp aan lod) FORMATI 7 omer se