Mr. TAVENNER. I think it may be well at this point, before I ask you any detail about your knowledge of Communist Party activities, as a matter of general background for the committee, you should state briefly the various positions you have held in the Communist Party, and the opportunity you have had to know of Communist Party activities.
Mr. DENNETT. I have held nearly all the organizational positions in the lower ranks of the party. That is, I have been a branch organizer, sometimes called branch, sometimes called unit. I have been an educational director in a branch, I have been a section organizer, I have been a fraction secretary, I have been a district agitprop director. That is a combination of two words--agitation and propaganda. I doubt that the term is used very much any more. It would be comparable to educational work now.
I have been a member of the district bureau of the Communist Party. I was a member of the secretariat of the Communist Party in district 12 on 2 different occasions. The secretariat is a group of perhaps 2 or 3 persons who are responsible for the daily activities of the Communist Party and the way in which the various branches and sections are carrying out the Communist Party policy program. I think that covers it.
Mr. TAVENNER. What was the last position you held in the Communist Party?
Mr. DENNETT. I think the last position was that of an educational director in a branch.
Mr. DENNETT. I think that would be in 1946 or 1947.
Mr. TAVENNER. Are you a member of the Communist Party now?
Mr. TAVENNER. Over what period of time were you an active member in the Communist Party?
Mr. DENNETT. With the 2 exceptions of the CCC and the term of service in the Army, from 1931 to 1947.
Mr. TAVENNER. I believe in 1947 you were expelled from the Communist Party?
Mr. TAVENNER. With that general background I would like to go back, Mr. Dennett, to the inception of your membership in the Communist Party.
You have said that that was in 1931. And the committee would be interested to learn what the circumstances were under which you became a member of the Communist Party. By that I mean why you joined the Communist Party as well as the mechanics that were used in your becoming a member.