Today at 5:00 PM, in the Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery, Joyner Library is pleased to host our first CWIS guest speaker: Dr. Gregory S. Taylor. Dr. Taylor is Associate Professor of History at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He is the author of The Life and Lies of Paul Crouch: Communist, Opportunist, Cold War Snitch (University Press of Florida, 2014) and of The History of the North Carolina Communist Party (University of South Carolina Press, 2009). Dr. Taylor’s talk is titled “Cold War Pawn: One Man’s Ideological Journey through a Divided World.”
In his remarks, Dr. Taylor will examine the life of Paul Crouch, a North Carolina native and longtime member of the Communist Party (CPUSA), who turned anti-communist informant in the late 1940s. Between 1949-1954, Crouch would testify before a number of congressional committees investigating the CPUSA and its activities, including the House Un-American Activities Committee, the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, and Joseph McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Much of Crouch’s testimony concerned individuals alleged to be involved in Soviet espionage efforts against the Manhattan Project (atomic bomb) in the Bay Area of northern California. Some of Crouch’s testimony was eventually discredited, and he died in 1955.
The following is a brief bibliography of CWIS documents containing much of Paul Crouch’s testimony, as well as additional documents referencing him. It is not comprehensive, but highlights some of the major sources featuring Crouch and that informed Dr. Taylor’s research.
1. CWIS Documents Containing Testimony by Paul Crouch
Communist Activities among Aliens and National Groups: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-first Congress, First Session, on S. 1832, a bill to amend the Immigration act of October 16, 1918, as amended. 1950. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. J 89/2: C 73/2/PT. 1)
Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, Volume 3, Eighty-Third Congress, First Session, 1953. 2003. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4.G 74/9: S.PRT. 107-84/V. 3)
Hearings Regarding Clarence Hiskey Including Testimony of Paul Crouch. Hearing Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, First Session. 1949. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: H 62)
Security – United Nations. Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, First Session, pursuant to S. Res. 40. 1953. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4.G 74/6: Se 2/2)
Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc. Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, Second Session. 1954. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. J 89/2: So 8)
Subversive Control of Distributive, Processing, and Office Workers of America. Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-Second Congress, First [-Second] Session. 1952. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. J 89/2: Su 1/6)
Testimony of Paul Crouch. Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, First Session. 1949. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: C 88; additional copy in Joyner Hoover: HX89 .A4 1949F)
2. CWIS Documents Referencing Paul Crouch
Annual Report of the Committee on Un-American Activities for the Year 1949. 1950. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: R 29/949)
-Crouch is referenced on p. 4-5, 7, 10, and 15.
Hearings Regarding Communist Infiltration of Radiation Laboratory and Atomic Bomb Project at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif – Vol. II (Identification of Scientist X). Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, First Session. 1949. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: C 73/9/V. 2)
-Crouch is referenced on p. 831.
Hearings Regarding Communist Infiltration of Radiation Laboratory and Atomic Bomb Project at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif – Volume Three. Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, Second Session. 1950. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: C 73/9/V. 3)
-Crouch is discussed on p. 3451, 3464-65, 3474, 3477-78, 3480-81, 3483-84, and 3505.
Hearings Regarding Steve Nelson (Including Foreword). Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, First Session. 1949. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: N 33)
-Crouch is discussed on p. 150-51.
Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States. Hearings Before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Seventy-Sixth Congress, Third Session. Volume 3: Executive Hearings. 1941. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: Un 1/3/V. 3; currently in processing)
-References to Crouch appear on p. 994, 1023, 1032, 1039, 1056, 1276, and 1310.
Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, Volume 1. Hearings Before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Seventy-Fifth Congress, Third Session. 1938. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: Un 1/V. 1)
-Contains references to Crouch (then still a loyal communist) on pages 218, 268, 315, 535, and 595.
Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, Volume 7. Hearings Before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Seventy-Sixth Congress, First Session. 1939. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: Un 1/V. 7-8)
-CPUSA head Earl Browder is asked about Crouch on p. 4396-97. Additional references to Crouch appear on p. 4627, 4769-70, and 4798.
Investigation of Un-American Propaganda Activities in the United States, Volume 13. Hearings Before a Special Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Seventy-Sixth Congress, Third Session. 1940. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: Un 1/V. 13-14)
-References to Crouch appear on p. 7843, 7845, 7858 , and 7869.
Testimony of James Sterling Murray and Edward Tiers Manning (Regarding Clarence Hiskey and Arthur Adams). Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, First Session. 1950. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: M 96)
-Crouch is referenced on p. 883.
Testimony of Philip A. Bart, General Manager of Freedom of the Press, Publishers of the Daily Worker, Official Organ of the Communist Party, and Marcel Scherer, Coordinator, New York Labor Conference for Peace, and Formerly District Representative of District 4, United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, CIO. Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, Second Session. 1950. (Joyner Docs CWIS: Y 4. Un 1/2: B 28)
-Scherer is asked if he knows Crouch on p. 2651.