I. E. Sandvigen of the machinists union was not a Communist, I am sure. Many others identified with the school particularly in the labor movement that promoted the school and I think what may have happened to it as it went along, I don’t know, but the idea of the school was a good one and I think they were trying to do a good job.
Daschbach became director of the school somewhat later in its history, as I remember it.
Mr. Tavenner. Let me read into the record at this point, Mr. Chairman, the testimony of Barbara Hartle regarding the labor school. She was asked the question as to what connection there was between the school and the Communist Party. That is between the Pacific Northwest Labor School and the Communist Party. Her answer was as follows:
The Pacific Northwest Labor School was a Communist front project in the field of education and its basic purpose was to spread Marxist-Leninist education, but to do it in such a way as to attract non-Communists in addition to its use for being a school for Communist Party members.
It had a double purpose, to educate the party membership and to draw as many non-Communists into classes as possible at the same time. It was not considered a party leadership training school, it was more for the membership. And in order to attract a broader segment of persons into the school a number of courses were included that were not in Marxism-Leninism, but they were included in order to appeal to people from labor unions, professional fields, and others.
For example, parliamentary law would be a subject intended for the purpose of drawing people into the school and drawing them closer to it with no idea on their part that they were getting into a Communist school. An air of respectability was also created in this way so that people would feel if they enrolled in this school they had a perfect right to do so and there was nothing wrong with being in it.
The hope, of course, was that if non-Communists enrolled this way, after a while they would learn more about it and would become convinced to enroll in courses on Marxist-Leninism. The objective of the school was to gain Communist influence over non-Communists, recruit as many people as possible out of this school into the Communist Party, and special attention was paid to members of organized labor through this school.
Mr. Doyle. The committee will stand in recess until 9:30 tomorrow morning.
(Whereupon, at 4:20 p. m. the committee was recessed, to reconvene at 9:30 a. m., Thursday, June 2, 1955.)