B-Side: Black List New York The original vision for this project was simply a map entitled Black List: New York. From the outset, the map would act as a vehicle by which I (and others) could trace and re-trace the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) surveillance of black radicals during the Cold War (primarily between the 1940s through the late 1950s). By creating the map on Google Maps, I hoped to expose the FBI’s relentless tracking of black radicals while simultaneously, though not explicitly, placing the past (FBI surveillance) in dialog with the present (current-day addresses and landmarks on Google Maps). The idea was to bring to the fore what Simone Browne describes in her book, Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, as "the absented presence of blackness” and specifically, the absented presence of the black radical woman during this period in time (Browne 13). Limited by how much I information I could include in Black List: New York, I began to write this B-side essay as a complement and companion to the map. The map itself examines the FBI Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) files of three black radical women: Claudia Jones, Gwendolyn Bennett, and Alice Childress. Black List: New York includes their known and/or suspected residences as well as any public events in which the women are shown by their file to be present. Furthermore, interactions with between the women are included (when possible) as well as with any of the arms of the U.S. government. What follows is thus a companion of sorts to my unfinished map. Similar to how Mary Helen Washington employs a “portrait” methodology to illustrate and “piece together the traces of the Left in the lives of each of [her] subjects” in her book The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950s¸ I employ a similar tactic in this text, only instead utilizing a truncated portrait in the style of a vignette (Washington 24). I describe this map as unfinished because it is not comprehensive within a national context. I have mapped out New York City-specific locations with respect to the activities of all five women and yet their FBI files demonstrate that the government agency’s was, without a doubt, actively monitoring their activities outside of New York City. A (re-)tracing of the FBI’s national surveillance with respect to these women would be a tremendous feat and unfortunately one which I did not have the opportunity to fully delve into. 1947 Before delving into the vignettes that follow, it should be noted that in my examination of the FBI FOIA files for these five women but also for many other black figures of the time, the year 1947 has proven to be a pivotal year. I have attempted to map and associate these events to Jones, Bennett, and Childress when they occur in the FBI files and when there is an address available; however, for some of the events, the links to these people are not as evident. On a national level, McCarthyism was on the rise and in 1945, the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) became a standing (i.e. permanent) committee in Congress.1 In my investigation, the following events have been noted: • 1947: After the success of her 1946 novel, The Street, Ann Petry moves out of New York City to Old Saybrook, Connecticut “as the specter of a second Red Scare began to rise” (Griffin 2014). • September 17, 1947: The George Washington Carver School closes and around this period in time, Gwendolyn Bennett suffers a nervous breakdown and shuts herself off from society. 1 http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-permanent-standing-House-Committee-on-Un- American-Activities/ • September 25, 1947 through November 4, 1947: The FBI increases its assault on Claudia Jones by referring her case to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). On October 27, 1947, the INS issued a warrant for Claudia Jones’s arrest. • October 1947: The FBI opens a file on Ebony Magazine after it publishes its October 1947 “Negro FBI Agents in Action” piece.2 • December 1947: Barney Josephson’s Café Society Uptown, located at 128 E. 58th Street in New York City, closes amidst HUAC investigations against Josephson’s brother Leon Josephson. Josephson’s Café Society Downtown, opened in December 1938 and located at 2 Sheridan Square in New York City, was the New York City’s first integrated club, closes in 1948 after negative press from the Leon Josephson HUAC investigations.3 Black performers such as Pearl Primus, Hazel Scott (both investigated by HUAC) and Lena Horne were among those who performed at Café Society. Alice Childress Alice Childress has a shorter FBI file than her contemporaries. That said though, her 28- page file4 is just as illuminating as those of her peers given the sheer amount of information that the FBI was able to amass in the six years it surveilled her. Her file reveals the FBI’s acute knowledge of her residences as well as her non-theatrical activities, particularly those in relation to Paul Robeson. The file also reveals that it had extensive knowledge of the groups, 2 From FBI file no. 94-36997. File retrieved by William J. Maxwell http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/files/original/3c07cf22aed4db1e8c7ee742155a89ac.pdf 3 From Barney Josephson and Terry Trilling-Josephson’s Cafe Society: The wrong place for the Right people 4 http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/fbeyes/childress organizations, and committees associated with her. For instance, the infamous Jefferson School of Social Services is mentioned twice in her file as she taught classes at this school. The Daily Worker’s address is included as well as that of the Civil Rights Congress and the Frederick Douglass School in Harlem. Furthermore, Childress is frequently tied back to both Paul Robeson and Claudia Jones. In the latter case, Jones’s articles are associated with Childress and in turn, Childress debuts a new play in honor of Claudia Jones, one of four women defendants in the New York Smith Act Trial. In the former case, her time at Robeson’s Freedom newspaper is cited and she is also depicted as a vocal organizer in the “left’s” attempt to reinstate his passport. Although mundane to laymen, connections mean the world to the FBI and frequent are the mentions of their friendship. Indeed, after 6 years of investigating, the short file ends with an April 9, 1957 entry stating that she was “present at a birthday party for Paul Robeson, Sr.” Gwendolyn Bennett Gwendolyn Bennett is perhaps best known by the FBI as the director of the George Washington Carver School. Part 15 of the FBI file (100-56529) begins with a report made on March 23rd, 1944. The report states that Bennett is the “Director of George Washington Carver School, colored Communist front organization… and is very active in Communist Party matters in NYC. The report continues to state that she is “considered a key figure in the New York Field Division.” It is remarkable how much information the FBI has managed to accumulate for they already have not only her residence history, but also her work, education, and marital history down to a T. This first part of her FBI summarizes in detail and continues to amass information on Bennett’s activities throughout the 1940s. 5 http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/files/original/5f6a0b1ff2122e325d842e5cd6109fc8.pdf Part 26 continues on a similar vein until she suffers a nervous breakdown in 1947. After this breakdown, it is noted that “it is unknown whether or not the Carver School would ever reopen.” The report continues to say that Bennett’s “name is being removed from the Key Figure List in the New York Office” and the case itself closed “should the subject again become active in the Communist Party.” Despite this however, reports continued to be filed and a little more information was recovered. It was noted by the FBI that on September 17, 1947, the George Washington Carver School had “discontinued operation,” that it had been “deeply in debt,” and that between December 1947 and October 1949, routine checks were conducted on the school’s operations, the results of which being confirmation that the school was “definitely out of existence and [would] not be reopened.” The file remains active past Bennett’s 1947 breakdown and the school’s closure. On October 27, 1943, Bennett is “interviewed” by the FBI on "the corner of Second Avenue and First Street" in New York City, under seemingly "safe and secure conditions." This encounter does not last long, based on how the FBI agents’ file entry describes Bennett as “evasive to questions asked,” stating that she “was sure she had no information that is not already in the possession of the FBI,” and that she “terminated the interview by leaving interviewing agents.” Subsequent entries between the years of 1955 and 1959 note that Bennett continues to teach at the Jefferson School of Social Sciences (by 1959, the Jefferson School is considerable “admissible” by the FBI and no longer considered a Communist front). The second-to-last page in Bennett’s file (see below) is a physical description of Bennett (dated November 21, 1958). 6 http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/files/original/28fabcf291bd7891f34c9b743c8276fc.pdf 7 Claudia Jones I began with Claudia Jones and was captivated by her lengthy – 300-plus pages – FBI file.8 The FBI was just as intrigued as I was, it seems. What hooked me was the length of the file rather how Claudia Jones managed to evade direct surveillance to herself for so long.