■•f"ff
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
LOS ANGELES AREA-PART 7
c
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EIGHTY-THIRD CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SEPTEMBER 4, 1953
Printed for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities
INCLUDING INDEX
UNITED STATES
UOVEKNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
31747 WASHINGTON : 1953
Boston Public Library
Superintendent of Documents
H NOV 4 1S53
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
United States House of Representatives
HAROLD H. VELDE, Illinois, Chairman
BERNARD W. KEARNEY, New York FRANCIS E. WALTER, Pennsylvania
DONALD L. JACKSON, California MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri
KIT CLARDY, Michigan CLYDE DOYLE, California
GORDON H. SCHERER, Ohio JAMES B. FRAZIER, Jr., Tennessee
Robert L. Kunzig, Counsel
Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., Counsel
Louis J. Russell, Chief Investigator
Thomas W. Beale, Sr., Chief Clerk
Raphael I. Nixon, Director of Research
II
CONTENTS
September 4, 1953 :
Statement of— Page
Lucille Desiree Ball Arnaz 2561
Desiree E. Ball 2572
Fred Henry Ball—- 2577
Index 2583
in
Public Law 601, 79th Congress
The legislation under which the House Committee on Un-American
Activities operates is Public Law 601, 79th Congress [1946], chapter
753, 2d session, which provides :
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, * * *
PART 2— RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Rule X
SEC. 121. STANDING COMMITTEES
*******
17. Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members.
Rtjle XI
POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
(q) (1) Commitee on Un-American Activities.
(A) Un-American activities.
(2) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommit-
tee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of (i) the extent,
character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,
(ii) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propa-
ganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks
the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and
(iii) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any neces-
sary remedial legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such
times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting,
has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by any such chairman, and may be served by any person
designated by any such chairman or member.
RULES ADOPTED BY THE 83d CONGRESS
House Resolution 5, January 3, 1953
*******
Rule X
STANDING COMMITTEES
1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each Con-
gress, the following standing committees :
*******
(q) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members.
*******
Rule XI
POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
*******
17. Committee on Un-American Activities.
(a) Un-American Activities.
(b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommittee,
is authorized to make from time to time, investigations of (1) the extent, char-
acter, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States,
(2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American prop-
aganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and
attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitu-
tion, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress
in any necessary remedial legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the
Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investi-
gation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American
Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times
and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has
recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance
of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and
to take such testimony as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under
the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any
member designated by such chairman, and may be served by any person desig-
nated by any such chairman or member.
VI
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
LOS ANGELES AREA— PAET 7
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1953
United States House of Representatives,
Committee on Un-American Activities,
Hollywood, Calif.
executive statements x
Executive statements, given September 4, 1953, at room 512, 7046
Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Calif., commencing at 2 p. m.
Present : William A. Wheeler, investigator.
TESTIMONY OF LUCILLE DESIREE BALL AKNAZ
(The witness, having been previously duly sworn, testified as
follows:)
Mr. Wheeler. State your full name, please.
Miss Ball. Lucille Desiree Ball Arnaz.
Mr. Wheeler. Where were you born ?
Miss Ball. Jamestown, N. Y.
Mr. Wheeler. You are presently a resident of Los Angeles County ?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. And your profession?
Miss Ball. Actress ; television actress now.
Mr. Wheeler. How long have you been engaged as an actress?
Miss Ball. Since 1933, 1 guess; 1932 or 1933.
Mr. Wheeler. What is your educational background?
Miss Ball. Just school, high school.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you here under subpena or are you appearing
voluntarily ?
Miss Ball. I am appearing voluntarily.
Mr. Wheeler. You graduated from high school ?
Miss Ball. No ; I didn't even graduate.
Mr. Wheeler. You have been employed in motion-picture work
since that time, since you left school ?
Miss Ball. No ; I was in New York working.
Mr. Wheeler. How long have you been a resident here ?
Miss Ball. 1933.
Mr. Wheeler. You have pursued acting since that time ?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. For whom have you worked in the studios?
1 By direction of the chairman and members of the Committee on Un-American Activities,
the following executive statements have been printed for release.
2561
2562 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Miss Ball. Goldwyn and Columbia and RKO and Paramount and
M-G-M.
Mr. Wheeler. Where were you employed in 1936 ?
Miss Ball. It was, I think, RKO. It might have been Columbia.
Mr. Wheeler. What was your salary bracket in 1936, approxi-
mately ?
Miss Ball. Well, if it was at Columbia I was getting $75 a week.
If it was RKO I was getting $50.
Mr. Wheeler. Did you have any screen credits about that time?
Miss Ball. I might have been getting more in 1936, maybe $75.
No screen credits. Maybe a bit part here and there. I doubt that,
even, in 1936 ; possibly a bit part.
Mr. Wheeler. Did you ever reside at 1344 North Ogden Drive?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Who owned that residence ?
Miss Ball. We rented it. I don't remember who owned it.
Mr. Wheeler. When did you first register to vote?
Miss Ball. I guess the first time I ever did was in 1936.
Mr. Wheeler. I would like to hand you a photostatic copy of a
voter's registration and ask you if that is your signature.
Miss Ball. That looks like my handwriting.
Mr. Wheeler. You will note that the party that you intended to
affiliate with at that time was the Communist Party.
Miss Ball. In 1936?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes.
Miss Ball. I guess so.
Mr. Wheeler. You did register to vote then as a Communist or
intending to vote the Communist Party ticket?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Would you go into detail and explain the back-
ground, the reason you voted or registered to vote as a Communist
or person who intended to affiliate with the Communist Party ?
Miss Ball. It was our grandfather, Fred Hunt. He just wanted
us to, and we just did something to please him. I didn't intend to
vote that way. As I recall, I didn't.
My grandfather started years ago — he was a Socialist as long as
I can remember. He is the only father we ever knew, my grand-
father. My father died when I was tiny, before my brother was born.
He was my brother's only father.
All through his life he had been a Socialist, as far back as Eugene
V. Debs, and he was in sympathy with the workingman as long as
I have known, and he took the Daily Worker.
It never meant much to us, because he was so radical on the subject
that he pressed his point a little too much, actually, probably, during
our childhood, because he finally got over our heads and we didn't
do anything but consider it a nuisance, but as a dad, and he got into
his seventies, and it became so vital to him that the world must be
right 24 hours a day, all over it, and he was trying his damnedest
to do the best he could for everybody and especially the workingman ;
that is, for the garbageman, the maid in the kitchen, the studio worker,
the factory worker. He never lost a chance to do what he considered
bettering their positions.
That was fine, and we went along with it wherever we could. Some-
times it got a little ridiculous because my position in the so-called
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2563
capitalist world was pretty good and it was a little hard to reconcile
the two. We didn't argue with him very much because he had had
a couple of strokes and if he got overly excited, why, he would have
another one.
So finally there came a point where my brother was 21, and he
was going to see that Freddie registered to help the workingman,
which was, in his idea then, the Communist Party. At that time
it wasn't a thing to hide behind doors, to be a member of that party.
As I recall, because of this he influenced us. We thought we
wanted to do him a favor. We thought we could make him happy.
I at no time intended to vote that way. And I remember discussing
it with my mother, how I could register and make him happy. When
I go behind a curtain to vote, nobody knows whom I vote for.
He also considered it a personal victory at the time — that he had
the entire family to register. He didn't influence us enough at any
time to vote ; at least, he didn't influence me.
He influenced us to give a great deal of thought to whether he
was right or wrong, and we always decided he was wrong, because
the things he was shouting about didn't seem to be practical for this
country. He admired the workingman and the peasants all over the
world, the 5-year plan and anything that was great for the working-
man.
Mr. Wheeler. He considered the Communist Party as a working-
man's party?
Miss Bale. That is all I ever heard. I never heard my grand-
father use the word "Communist." He never said that he read the
Daily Worker. He always talked about the workingman.
He got very confused in his latter years, when Russia and — who got
together? — Russia and Germany got together and he got so lie
couldn't answer our questions at all then. And he would get mad and
change the subject. He never quite could find out what had hap-
pened to the workingman after that, I guess.
We were never able to keep a maid, although we paid the highest
prices we could afford or they were getting at the time. My grand-
father would walk out into the kitchen and see a maid and would
say, "Well, what is your name? How much are you getting?"
"Oh, $20 or $25 a week," or whatever they were being paid.
And he would say, "That is not a working wage. What are you
doing here ?
And after a few times of that, you know, they would leave. That is
just one instance.
He was always talking to the garbageman early in the morning,
or anybody doing any kind of a menial task. He would say, "Why
are you doing that? Why aren't you doing something else?"
He was just a fanatic on bettering the world. That is as far as we
knew, and that is why we could endorse it at all.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever been a member of the Communist
Party?
Miss Ball. No ; not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever been asked to become a member of
the Communist Party?
Miss Ball. No.
31747— 53— pt. 7 2
2564 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Mr. Wheeler. Did you ever attend any meetings that you later
discovered were Communist Party meetings?
Miss Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not any meetings were
ever held in your home at 1344 North Ogden Drive?
Miss Ball. No, I know nothing of that. I don't believe it is true.
Mr. Wheeler. How old were you in 1936.
Miss Ball. I am 42 now ; 24.
Mr. Wheeler. I would like to introduce the affidavit of registra-
tion as Lucille Ball Exhibit No. 1, Kegistration No. 847584.
(The document referred to was marked "Lucille Ball Exhibit No.
1" and was received in evidence.)
Mr. Wheeler. This affidavit of registration is signed by Lucille
Ball and dated the 19th day of March 1936.
Have you ever known an individual by the name of Emil Freed?
Miss Ball. I never heard the name before, to my knowledge, as I
recall.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever known an individual by the name of
Jacob or Jack Breger?
Miss Ball. Not until I read it today.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you aware that you were a member of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party for the year 1936?
Miss Ball. Was I aware before you told me, you mean ?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes.
Miss Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Well, I would like to hand you a document entitled
"Appointment of Members of the State Central Committee Meeting
at Sacramento in the Year 1936." It is stamped "Communist Party,"
and this document discloses that Emil Freed was a delegate by nomi-
nation to the State Central Committee of the Communist Party for
that year. And he appointed three individuals as delegates.
Those appointed, according to the document, are Jacob Breger, 822
North Orange Drive ; Fred Hunt, 1344 North Ogden Drive ; and Lu-
cille Ball, 1344 North Ogden Drive.
Now, I would like to hand you this document and have you give
any explanation that you desire.
Miss Ball. I have no explanation. I haven't signed it. I don't
know where it came from, or what. My name is misspelled. The
address is right ; that is all.
I don't know Emil Freed. I never heard of Emil Freed, and if
Emil Freed appointed me as a delegate to the State central committee
it was done without my knowledge or consent.
Mr. Wheeler. I notice your grandfather, Fred Hunt, was also ap-
pointed as a delegate for the year 1936. Were you aware of that ?
Miss Ball. No, I was not aware of it.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know who could be responsible for your
name appearing on this document ?
Miss Ball. Possibly my grandfather, Fred Hunt.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall if anyone contacted you in 1936 in
regard to obtaining your proxy to vote ?
Miss Ball. No, except my grandfather. Is that what you mean?
Mr. Wheeler. You stated that you were appointed without your
knowledge or consent ; is that right ?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2565
Miss Ball. That is right.
Mr. Wheeler. I assume you did not attend the meeting of the
State central committee at Sacramento.
Miss Ball. I didn't even know there was one. I still don't know
what it means.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall whether or not you were contacted by
any individual to obtain from you your voting proxy at the central
committee meeting in Sacramento?
Miss Ball. Never.
Mr. Wheeler. I will introduce this as Lucille Ball Exhibit No. 2.
It is dated the 15th day of September 1936.
Miss Ball. I should say never, to my knowledge.
(The document referred to was marked "Lucille Ball Exhibit No.
2" and was received in evidence.)
Mr. Wheeler. I might say, for the record, that the last document
was obtained from the files of the secretary of state in Sacramento.
Also, there is no record of the proxies filed by different delegates in
the office of the secretary of state.
I would like to refer to the report of the un-American Activities
Committee in California for the year 1943, and refer to page 127 of
that document, which is a portion of an affidavit submitted by Rena
M. Vale. The affidavit begins on page 122 and continues through
page 176, and bears the date of 23d day of November 1942.
I would like to read a portion of page 127. In this affidavit she
has admitted she was at one time a member of the Communist Party
and she is discussing how she became a member.
That within a few days after my third application to join the Communist
Party was made, I received a notice to attend a meeting on North Ogden Drive,
Hollywood ; although it was a typed, unsigned note, merely requesting my pres-
ence at the address at 8 o'clock in the evening on a given day, I knew it was
the long-awaited notice to attend Communist Party new members' classes ;
That on arrival at this address I found several others present ; an elderly
man informed us that we were the guests of the screen actress, Lucille Ball,
and showed us various pictures, books, and other objects to establish that fact,
and stated she was glad to loan her home for a Communist Party new members'
class ;
That the instructor introduced himself as Sidney Martin, but I later knew
him by the name of Sidney Davidson, which he stated was his true name ;
That there were about 7 or S other members of this class, but the only names
I recall are those of Herb Harris, an actor, whom I encountered from time to
time within the Communist Party, and who took part in the play, The Black-
guard, which ran for several years in Los Angeles around 1938 and 1939 ; and
Libby Jacobson, who, in 1939, was active in consumer cooperatives in Los Angeles.
Do you have any knowledge of any meetings held in your home, Miss
Ball?
Miss Ball. None whatsoever.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with Kena Vale?
Miss Ball. I never heard the name before in my life.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with or have you ever been
acquainted with Sidney Martin or Sidney Davidson ?
Miss Ball. No, sir ; I never heard the name.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with or have you ever been
acquainted with Herb Harris?
Miss Ball. I never heard the name.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with Libby Jacobson ?
Miss Ball. I never heard that name.
2566 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not your grandfather, Fred
Hunt, held meetings at the home ?
Miss Ball. Not to our knowledge ever, and he was always with
someone. As we look back now, we can't remember at any time he
was ever alone, because he had had two strokes and we had a nurse
that lived there at the time, and there was — he was never alone that
we remember ; no evidence of any meeting ever held being in our house
when we were out. This is something we knew nothing about.
Mr. Wheeler. I also have a photostatic copy of an affidavit of
registration for the year 1936 for Mrs. Desiree E. Ball, and it discloses
that she also registered to vote as a person who intended to affiliate
with the Communist Party on the 12th day of June 1936. What rela-
tion is Desiree Ball to you ?
Miss Ball. My mother.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not she was ever a member
of the Communist Party ?
Miss Ball. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. I have a second photostat here, a voter's registration,
signed by Fred E. Hunt, who also intended to affiliate with the Com-
munist Party.
Miss Ball. Fred E.Hunt?
Mr. Wheeler. Well, it looks like an "E." What is his middle
initial ?
Miss Ball. Fred C.
Mr. Wheeler. Fred C. Hunt, rather. This document is dated the
12th day of June 1936, and also shows he changed the vote to Demo-
crat on November 18, 1940.
I believe you testified that Fred C. Hunt was your grandfather ?
Miss Ball. That is right.
Mr. Wheeler. Is he living?
Miss Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. I have a third document here, a photostat of an affi-
davit of registration, bearing the signature of Fred H. Ball, who
intended to affiliate with the Communist Party in the ensuing election
of 1936. It is also dated the 12th day of June 1936. What relation
is Fred H. Ball to you ?
Miss Ball. Brother.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not he was ever a member
of the Communist Party?
Miss Ball. Not to my knowledge, nor to his.
Mr. Wheeler. Where is your brother presently residing ?
Miss Ball. Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not he has ever been inves-
tigated by the Government or any agency or employer who does Gov-
ernment contract work in regard to this Communist registration?
Miss Ball. Yes ; he has.
Mr. Wheeler. What was the outcome of this investigation ?
Miss Ball. He has always been cleared.
Mr. Wheeler. You mean he retained his employment ?
Miss Ball. I think so. I don't know. He can tell you more about
that. I don't think he has always retained his employment ; no. If
during the war there was a hint of that suspicion, the investigation
probably went on, but you didn't retain your employment.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2567
Mr. Wheeler. I notice now that your mother and your brother and
grandfather all registered on the 12th day of June to vote, and you
registered on the 19th day of March. Is there any significance to
that?
Miss Ball. See, I didn't go. They were trying to recall to my mind
where we might have registered, and I couldn't remember.
Isn't this what he is talking about? I couldn't remember having
gone down where they said they went. They said they went way
downtown, where grandpa wanted us to go, way downtown near Main
Street. I don't ever remember going down that far.
I really racked my brain over a 17-year period, and all I remember
was something like a garage and a flag, like a voting day. They said
it didn't tie up for registration. I can't explain it. But that bears
me out ; I didn't go on that trip.
I don't know where I registered. I would have said, if I hadn't
talked to you last year, that I voted. You said you had no record
of my voting. I would have said I voted when I went in there.
I remember feeling very foxy about the thing, because I registered..
We had a very bad feeling we had done that. 1 always felt I would!
be all right if I didn't vote it, just to appease grandpa.
Mr. Wheeler. The affidavit of registration discloses you voted in
the primary for the year 1936. That would be, I assume, in June.
However, you did not vote in the general election.
Miss Ball. That could have been what I did there that morning.
Mr. Wheeler. The deputy registrar of voters, who signed this docu-
ment, is a Mrs. Dodd. Does she mean anything to you?
Miss Ball. What did you say she was?
Mr. Wheeler. Deputy registrar of voters.
Miss Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. She is the deputy registrar of voters. She would be
the individual in whose presence you would sign that document.
Well, now, the affidavit of registration on the reverse side discloses
that you signed two petitions for the year 1936, the Freed nominating
petition for the 57th assembly district or, rather, it is a sponsor certifi-
cate. This document, was also obtained from the files of the secretary
of state and I will introduce it in the record as Lucille Ball Exhibit 3.
(The document referred to was marked "Lucille Ball Exhibit No.
3r and was received in evidence.)
Mr. Wheeler. I will read the following from the document :
I, the undersigned, sponsor for Emil Freed for the Communist Party nomina-
tion to the office of member of the assembly 57th district, to be voted for at the
primary election to be held on the 25th day of August 1936, hereby assert as
follows :
My knowledge of the said Emil Freed is sufficient to warrant my urging his
election to tbe office of member of the assembly 57th district and, in my opinion,
he is fully qualified — mentally, morally, and physically — for the said office and
should be elected to fill it. I am a qualified elector of Los Angeles County and
I am registered as affiliated with the Communist Party and am not at this time
a signer of any other certificate nominating any other candidate for the above-
named office, or in case there are several places to be filled in tbe above-nain?d
office, I have not signed more certificates than there are places to be filled in the
above-named office.
I would like to refer to the second page of this document, under
line 23, and there appears the signature of Lucille Ball, 1344 Ogden
Drive, and occupation, artist. It is dated June 16, 1936. Is that your
signature [indicating] ?
2568 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Miss Ball. I would say it was.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall signing the document ?
Miss Ball. No; but I recall at that time doing what I could to
appease grandpa and this is just part of it.
At that time it didn't probably seem very important to appoint this
man.
Mr. Wheeler. You will note what I read to you, that before sign-
ing the document it states that you know the man, and he is morally,
physically, and mentally qualified.
Miss Ball. It is something I signed without looking at it, or if I
looked at it, it didn't seem like a big thing at the time.
Mr. Wheeler. I believe your grandfather's signature appears on
there, as well as the whole family ?
Miss Ball. Yes, Fred, myself, and my mother, and my grand-
father. My name appears on the second page of this document. Our
names appear there. It is possible that this was handed to us just as a
list of names, without the strong-sounding sponsor certificate on the
front of it.
I don't recall that I ever heard anything which right now sounds
very strong, and impossible to sign at this day and age, but I might
have because at that time I was of a mind to try to do something that
would please daddy. It just didn't seem like an important, awful
thing to do, like it does these days. But, to my knowledge, I didn't
ever see the first part of this certificate I signed.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you familiar with the words or the phrase
"criminal syndicalism"?
Miss Ball. No, but it is pretty. What does it mean?
Mr. Wheeler. Criminal syndicalism?
Miss Ball. What does it mean ?
Mr. Wheeler. According to the voter's registration for the year
1936, the reverse part of it, you signed a petition 164-F.
This particular petition was for the repeal of the Criminal Syndi-
calism Act in California.
Miss Ball. What does it mean ?
Mr. Wheeler. The Communists were taken to court and tried for
criminal syndicalism, and
Miss Ball. And I signed something else?
Mr. Wheeler. You signed this petition to take the Criminal Syndi-
calism Act off the statutes of the State of California.
Miss Ball. I did; that is, without my knowedge. May I see the
signature ?
Mr. Wheeler. Unfortunately, they have been destroyed, those
particular petitions.
Miss Ball. By whom?
Mr. Wheeler.' They are retained a few years, under law, and they
can be destroyed.
Miss Ball." Was this the same time we were "Being Nice to Daddy
Week"?
Mr. Wheeler. It was in the year 1936. However, I do have a photo-
stat of a sample copy of the petition which was dated July 10. 1936,
and this particular petition was circulated by the California Confer-
ence for Repeal of the Criminal Syndicalism'Act at 68 Haight Street,
San Francisco, Calif. Have you ever heard of that organization?
Miss Ball. No.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2569
Mr. Wheeler. It was also circulated by the Southern California
Councils for Constitutional Rights, 129 West Second Street, room 326,
Los Angeles, Calif. Have you ever heard of this second organization?
Miss Ball. No. I have since then, probably. I imagine that ties
up with the un-American business activities ; constitutional rights they
are all standing up for now. Is that what it means ?
Mr. Wheeler. Well, it means more or less like this :
An act defining criminal syndicalism and sabotage, proscribing certain acts
and methods in connection therewith and in pursuance thereof and providing
penalties and punishments therefor.
Miss Ball. If I had ever seen that, I would have never signed it.
Did I sign it?
Mr. Wheeler. Well, the voter's registration indicates that you did
sign it. In other words, when a petition is signed they check each
signature to ascertain if the individual is a registered voter.
When it is ascertained the individual is a registered voter they mark
on his voter's registration, this particular number, 164-F, which
indicates the person who registered did sign that petition. However,
I have been unable to locate the actual petition.
Miss Ball. Because you register you are in sympathy with all this
[indicating] ?
Mr. Wheeler. It would indicate as such. I mean, if a person signs
a particular document requesting that the Criminal Syndicalism Act
be removed from the statutes, it would seem to indicate to me that
you would be against the Criminal Syndicalism Act.
Miss Ball. Well, anyway, I don't know what it means.
Mr. Wheeler. You were personally contacted by myself, an inves-
tigator for the House Committee on Un-American Activities ?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. You recall the date as April 3, 1952 ?
Miss Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with the Committee for the First
Amendment ?
Miss Ball. Am I acquainted with it?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes.
Miss Ball. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. Or were you a member of the Committee of the
First Amendment ?
Miss Ball. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. Well, your name is mentioned in the Daily People's
World, the issue of October 28, 1947, page 1, columns 5 and 6, as one
of the high personalities who were sponsoring or a member of the
Committee of the First Amendment.
That committee was formed here in Hollywood to oppose the con-
gressional hearings in 1947.
Miss Ball. Refresh my memory on it. I can't imagine ever signing
that. Did I sign that, too ? Was it under an assumed name ?
Mr. Wheeler. That I don't know. There was a reference to it.
Miss Ball. What is the People's World? Is that like the Daily
W'orker ?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes; a Communist publication of the Western
States.
Miss Ball. In 1947? That certainly was for grandpa. Grand-
pa was gone by then. I can't imagine doing anything for these people.
2570 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
If I was hoodwinked into it, with one of those long democratic
souped-up names, that is something else. I would like to see it. Could
I see that ?
Mr. Wheeler. I don't have the copy of the People's World for
that date.
Miss Ball. Am I supposed to have signed something as being in
sympathy ?
Mr. Wheeler. Your name was used as in
Miss Ball. Was it used or did I sign something?
Mr. Wheeler. I have no knowledge of your signing.
Miss Ball. Fine. Then I have no knowledge of signing it. How-
ever, I do recall I was at a studio, and I was working on a picture,
and I got a call in the afternoon. I don't know who called me. I
assume now — I did then — it was the Screen Actors1 Guild, but I can
be wrong. I don't know who called me now. It was something that
was through a union or the studio wouldn't have felt compelled to
send me oif a set and hold up production until I got back. It had
nothing to do with me.
I got the call to go to a radio station. As I remember, it was
M-G-M — it may not have been. I remember an executive excused me
and sent me to this broadcast.
I got down there and said, "What am I supposed to do?"
She said, "Dorothy Petersen" — whoever she is — "she is ill. We have
to go on the air."
I haven't seen her in years ; I don't know her.
She said, "Will you read this?"
It was a long petition, or whatever you call them, as I recall. As
I recall — I am not sure of this — it was about the Okies upstate Cali-
fornia, Fresno or some place, about admitting the Okies. I read it.
They thanked me, and they sent me back to work.
I don't know how long after that that it was that I was called down-
town in an FBI office and asked why I did it. Apparently, it was
wrong. It was my first knowledge it was wrong.
I had no answer at all, because I hadn't done it of my own volition.
1 had been sent there. It didn't seem wrong to go some place the studio
had sent you.
I tried to explain why I had done it. I had no reason except I had
been called.
Mr. Wheeler. How long ago did you go to the FBI ?
Miss Ball. I have no idea. I have no idea when I did this broad-
cast. I have no idea how long after that they called me. But that is
the first time I ever
Mr. Wheeler. It was 3 or 4 years ago ?
Miss Ball. It is more than that.
Mr. Wheeler. Did they discuss with you at that time
Miss Ball. Must have been 6, 8, 9 years ago ; maybe 10. There were
two broadcasts. I don't know who sent me on the first one, and I
don't know what the second one was about. It was something that
everybody was doing. You just get asked to do these things. I again
was called in at the last minute.
I had nothing to do with whatever it was. I didn't know what
I was doing, but you assumed at the time, when you are called by a
union or one of your — I don't know who called me. I know both times
1 was called to replace someone.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2571
Mr. Wheeler. Did you discuss this material today with the FBI or
did they question you regarding- your voter's registration ?
Miss Ball. No. That was apparently just something I had read
on the radio I shouldn't have. I clon't know.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you have anything in addition you would like
to add for the record?
Miss Ball. I am very happy to have this opportunity to discuss
all the things that have cropped up, that apparently 1 have done
wrong.
I am aware of only one thing I did that was wrong, and that at
the time wasn't wrong, but apparently now it is, and that was regis-
tering because my grandfather wanted us to. I at no time thought
it was the thing to do, nor did I ever intend to vote in the Presidential
election. I guess it was at that time. I don't know. To my knowledge
I didn't vote, but I did register. Since then I have never done anything
knowingly against the United States.
I have never done anything for Communists, to my knowledge, at
any time. I have never contributed money or attended a meeting or
ever had anything to do with people connected with it, if to my
knowledge they were.
I am not a Communist now. I never have been. I never wanted
to be. Nothing in the world could ever change my mind. At no time
in my life have I ever been in sympathy with anything that even
faintly resembled it.
I was always opposed [indicating] to how my grandfather felt
about any other way this country should be run. I thought things
were just fine the way they were.
It sounds a little weak and silly and corny now, but at the time
it was very important because we knew we weren't going to have daddy
with us very long. If it made him happy, it was important at the
time. But I was always conscious of the fact I could go just so far
to make him happy. I tried not to go any farther.
In those days that was not a big, terrible thing to do. It was
almost as terrible to be a Republican in those days. I have never
been too civic-minded and certainly never political-minded in my
life.
Since I got any feelings on the subject at all, we went maybe a
little strongly Democratic one year and we got into trouble doing
that. That was when Roosevelt was still alive. We were always
very much for Roosevelt and did everything that Mr. and Mrs. Roose-
velt asked us to do, as all of Hollywood, or as most of Hollywood,
was doing.
He was the only President I had ever known. It was a wonderful
thing to get out and help him with his March of Dimes or bond tours
during the war, and we were very busy. Never in my life have I had
any other feeling than the Communists were wrong ; that anybody in
this town would dare to think of changing any of it or complaining
about what they had is just the most ridiculous thing I have ever
heard of.
I certainly was never in sympathy with the Dmytryks — I can't
remember any of the other names.
How we got to signing a few things, or going among some people
that thought differently, that has happened to all of us out here in the
31747— 53— pt. 7 3
2572 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
last 10 or 12 years, and it is unfortunate, but I certainly will do any-
thing in the world to prove that we made a bad mistake by, for one
week or a couple of weeks, trying to appease an old man. But
there has never been any thought of belonging or wanting to belong
to the Communist Party.
Mr. Wheeler. I have no further questions. Thank you for your
cooperation.
TESTIMONY OF DESIKEE E. BALL
(The witness, having been previously duly sworn, testified as
follows:)
Mr. Wheeler. Will you state your full name, please ?
Mrs. Ball. Desiree E. Ball.
Mr. Wheeler. Where do you presently reside?
Mrs. Ball. At 22143 Cantlay Street in Canoga Park.
Mr. Wheeler. Your occupation?
Mrs. Ball. Housewife and mother.
Mr. Wheeler. And grandmother.
Mrs. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. What is your relation to Lucille Ball Arnaz?
Mrs. Ball. Mother.
Mr. Wheeler. Your relation to Fred H. Ball ?
Mrs. Ball. Mother.
Mr. Wheeler. What was the relationship of Fred Hunt to you?
Mrs. Ball. He was my father. I was his daughter.
Mr. Wheeler. Did you ever reside at 1344 North Ogden Drive?
Mrs. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall registering to vote as an individual
who intended to affiliate with the Communist Party?
Mrs. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. I hand you a document and ask you if you can
identify this. This is a photostat of voter's registration bearing your
signature.
Mrs. Ball. You want me to identify my signature here, you mean?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes.
Mrs. Ball. Yes. This here I didn't write though, did I?
Mr. Wheeler. No.
Mrs. Ball. It says, "My full name is," but I didn't write that. I
wrote that [indicating].
Mr. Wheeler. The bottom signature?
Mrs. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Would you state the reason you registered to vote
as a Communist?
Mrs. Ball. On account of my daddy wanting us to. My father
was an old man, and that was the one thing that he thought was all
right and wanted us to do it. We did it to please him.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you here under subpena or are you appearing
voluntarily?
Mrs. Ball. I am appearing voluntarily.
Mr. Wheeler. Were you ever a member of the Communist Party ?
Mrs. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever been asked to join the Communist
Party?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2573
Mrs. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Did you ever attend any Communist Party meetings,
that you have knowledge of ?
Mrs. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not any Communist Party
meetings were held in your residence at 1344 North Ogden Drive in
Hollywood ?
Mrs. Ball. Never was, to my recollection.
Mr. Wheeler. I would like to refer to the booklet on un-American
activities in California for the year 1943, and to page 127 of this
document. What I am referring to is a reprint of an affidavit sub-
mitted by Rena M. Vale, who was at one time a member of the Com-
munist Party in Los Angeles. Her affidavit begins on page 122, and
carries through page 175.
Now, Miss Vale, in writing this affidavit, this particular part I am
referring to, is writing about how she became a member of the Com-
munist Party. I would like to read this to you :
That within a few days after my third application to join the Communist
Party was made, I received a notice to attend a meeting on North Ogden Drive,
Hollywood ; although it was a typed, unsigned note, merely requesting my pres-
ence at the address at 8 o'clock in the evening on a given day, I knew it was
the long-awaited notice to attend Communist Party new members' classes ;
That on arrival at this address I found several others present : an elderly
man informed us that we were the guests of the screen actress, Lucille Ball,
and showed us various pictures, books, and other objects to establish the fact,
and stated she was glad to loan her home for a Communist Party new members'
class ;
That the instructor introduced himself as Sidney Martin, but I later knew
him by the name of Sidney Davidson, which he stated was his true name ;
That there were about 7 or 8 other members of this class, but the only names
I recall are those of Herb Harris, an actor, whom I encountered from time to
time within the Communist Party, and who took part in the play The Black-
guard, which ran for several years in Los Angeles around 1938 and 1939 ; and
Libby Jacobson, who, in 1939, was active in consumer cooperatives in Los
Angeles.
Did you have any knowledge of this ?
Mrs. Ball. Never, never. Did they tell you that I had a nurse —
what date was this, now ?
Mr. Wheeler. This would be the first part of the year 1937.
Mrs. Ball. This girl came to my house in 1936. She is a registered
nurse, a friend of mine, and she was there for 6 years.
We never left the house because daddy had these heart attacks, and
things. In fact, he was bedridden a good share of the time and she
was supposed to be there, you know, and give him a shot if it was
necessary, and everything like that.
I asked her if there was ever a meeting, or anything, when I wasn't
there ; that I might have been out. I was going to Hollywood High
at the time, evening classes.
I asked her yesterday if she ever knew of anybody being there to
a meeting. She said to her knowledge she had never known of it,
because daddy always went to bed early and she said, "I am sure if
there had been anybody in the front room I would have known about
it."
I said, "Were there two people?"
I think they can constitute a meeting — two people.
2574 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
She said not to her personal knowledge; she had never known of
anybody coming there.
Mr. Wheeler. What is her name?
Mrs. Ball. Elaine L. Stewart.
Mr. Wheeler. Where does she reside ?
Mrs. Ball. She is with me now. It happens she is back with me
again. I don't recollect any of those names.
Did you, Lucille?
Miss Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Were you aware that your daughter, Lucille Ballr
and your son, Fred Ball, and your father, Fred Hunt, all registered
during the year 1938 as with the intention to affiliate with the Com-
munist Party?
Mrs. Ball. You mean registered to vote ?
Mr .Wheeler. Yes.
Mrs. Ball. Yes, we all did at the same time.
Mr. Wheeler. Who did you say was responsible for this?
Mrs. Ball. My daddy.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with Emil Freed?
Mrs. Ball. I never heard of the man before, to my recollection.
1 mean I might have heard of it out in 1936, or whenever this was,,
but I mean the name doesn't ring a bell at all.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know Jack Breger or Jacob Breger?
Mrs. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall anyone coming to your residence and
requesting the family to sign certain petitions ?
Mrs. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you aware you signed a nominating petition to
place Emil Freed on the ballot in the year 1936 ?
Mrs. Ball. I am aware of it because I was told. I have no recol-
lection of it. I do know I must have signed, probably, papers that
daddy put in front of me. I wouldn't know whether it was that
or not.
Mr. Wheeler. Eeferring back to the exhibit introduced in the testi-
mony of Lucille Ball, I would like to read this to you :
* * * in my opinion, he is fully qualified, mentally, morally, and physically,
for the said office and should be elected to fill it.
This would indicate that you had certain knowledge of the indi-
vidual.
Mrs. Ball. In those things, Mr. Wheeler, a petition, whatever it is,
isn't there always the petition and then the slip where you sign your
name on top of it, as a rule ? I imagine that is what happened, and
I didn't read it. I am sure.
Mr. Wheeler. Your signature appears on the second page, signa-
ture 21.
Mrs. Ball. That is my handwriting. I was looking to see if any
of these other names were anv of my neighbors. He must have brought
it home, if we signed it. We just signed it thinking he was a smart
man. I don't see any of my neighbors there.
Mr. Wheeler. The petition was circulated by Jacob Breger.
Mrs. Ball. Jacob Breger? You mean daddy couldn't have brought
it home ?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN" THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2575
Mr. Wheeler. I am not saying he couldn't have brought it home ;
no. However, the person, the individual circulating the petition, was
Jack Breger.
Mrs. Ball. Oh.
Mr. Wheeler. You testified you didn't know him.
Mrs. Ball. I never heard of the man, that I can recall. There is
no doubt but that I signed it. I don't ever remember signing anything
daddy hadn't approved of. We didn't question him, because, I mean,
he was so firm in his beliefs and everything that if he thought it was
all right we did it. You see, I did it, anyway. I can't say "we." I
don't know what my children did.
If he said it was all right, I just naturally fell in with him to pacify
him. Otherwise, I went through a lot of ifs and buts and things.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you have any knowledge whether or not he was
a member of the Communist Party ?
Mrs. Ball. I know he registered. So far as being a member, I
don't know how anyone could tell you were a member. That is what
I mean — I have never been able to — you know, when you have read
and heard people say, "Remember, they carry a card," and that.
When he passed away, as I told Mr. Hickox, when we were talking
about it, I always thought they gave you a card if you were a mem-
ber. I went through his wallet where he had the only personal things,
you know, when he passed away ; there was no card.
Mr. Wheeler. What year did he pass away ?
Mrs. Ball. 1942.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not he was a delegate, your
father, Fred Hunt, was a delegate to the central committee of the
Communist Party in the year 1936 ?
Mrs. Ball. No ; I have no knowledge of that.
Mr. Wheeler. Would you have knowledge whether or not he at-
tended such a meeting in Sacramento ? Was his health such he could
go to Sacramento?
Mrs. Ball. No ; he was never away from Hollywood after we came
out here. He never was anywhere.
Miss Ball. He couldn't even go downtown to the Paramount Thea-
ter, unless there was someone with him.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall whether or not your daughter, Lucille
Ball, was a delegate to the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of the State of California in 1936 ?
Mrs. Ball. No. I wouldn't have any reason to think she was, be-
cause I never heard about it.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you recall whether or not she may have gone to
Sacramento in the year 1936?
Mrs. Ball. I know she didn't. Those things I would positively re-
member, if she had done that.
Mr. Wheeler. Well, I have no further questions, and if you have
anything you would like to add for the record, you can certainly say
whatever you desire.
Mrs. Ball. I don't know. Daddy being old and being ill and
everything, this, as I told Desi, I have always felt we figured — I felt
in some ways fortunate, that he was only interested in helping the
working people. That is all we ever heard from him, was helping
the working people. You know, that is, he felt sorry for the guy
2576 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
that didn't have as much, like the garbage man, and things like that..
It was his sole purpose in helping the guy that didn't have anything.
I think we had a lot of out-of-work people at that time, and we just
figured there was no harm to it, although I wasn't in favor of it, and
we did it to pacify him. I had always voted for Roosevelt, and I just
figured — I told him at the time, I said, "Well, we could register Demo-
crat or Republican and vote the way we want to."
But he wanted us to do it that way, so we did it, never dreaming
we were doing anything that was wrong.
As far as my children are concerned, he had some influence over
them. In fact, he was their father. Their father had passed on and
he had been so good to them we figured to pacify him if it would make
him happier — things like that.
I am certain in my own mind that neither Lucille Ball, my daughter,
or my son, Fred, were connected in any way with the Communist
movement. We were very close. We lived in the same house. They
didn't have people come in or hold meetings.
In the first place, I would never have allowed a meeting. I don't
care how much he would argue with me, if he had ever said to hold
a meeting in my house, I would have argued to a point we would have
a severe argument. We never did that with him. He never asked
us to have a meeting there.
If I hadn't had this nurse in my home to look after him — I just
yesterday asked her, "Between you and me, do you ever remember a
meeting?"
She said, "Never." She was sure she would have heard people
talking about it had it been in the front room. The house was small
and it wasn't that big that you could hide yourself in one place. I
never as much as even saw a man stop by and talk to him.
He talked to the garbageman and the groceryman and the mailman.
That was his little clique.
Of course, it was a standing joke around the house. Lucille would
say, "Now, So-and-So is coming to pick me up. Please keep daddy
occupied so he won't start on one of those editorials in the Daily
Worker."
I couldn't keep any help in the house. I have heard him say this to
my help — I would hear from the other room or something — he would
say, "Sit clown. Sit down."
"Well," he said, "I have to finish my ironing," or something.
He would say, "Sit down. Sit down." And then he would start
on this editorial or something he wanted her to listen to, and he would
say, "What are you working so hard for ? Why aren't you getting the
same money she is getting [indicating] ?"
Naturally, they only had to hear that about three times and they
would walk out on me. They would either say, "This man is nuts.
I don't want to be around him," or "Maybe he is right; he is trying to
organize us."
That was his one theme — if they organized, if they joined a union —
he said, "She has to belong to a union. She works at the studio. She
has to belong to a union [indicating]. You are scrubbing floors.
Why don't you belong to a union?"
They would either think he was nuts or they would walk out and get
a job somewhere else.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2577
Mr. "Wheeler. I think that covers everything I wanted to ask you.
Mrs. Ball. I mean he was such a harmless soul in his way because,
as Desi said, many times we just laughed; we thought it was a joke.
I have said many times, "Thank goodness, he is interested in the
Daily Worker instead of getting drunk with the men on the corner or
being interested in women," and things like that. I always knew he
was home. I always knew where he was, so if he sat in the corner
and read the Daily Worker I was happy. At that time it seemed like
it was a lucky thing.
Mr. Wheeler. Well, I have nothing further to ask you. Thank you
a lot.
Mrs. Ball. I would like to ask you a question :
If you register just as a Communist, does that make you a member
of the Communist Party? That is what I have never been able to
find out ; if they say we are a member and we have done this, does that
make you a member because you registered ?
Mr. Wheeler. No. There has been evidence
Mi's. Ball. I mean from the evidence.
Mr. Wheeler. Of other people registering to vote as Communists
who are not members of the Communist Party.
(Whereupon the statement of Desiree E. Ball was concluded.)
TESTIMONY OF FRED HENRY BALL
(The witness, having been previously duly sworn, testified as
follows:)
Mr. Wheeler. State your full name, please.
Mr. Ball. Fred Henry Ball.
Mr. Wheeler. Where do you presently reside?
Mr. Ball. Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mr. Wheeler. And your occupation ?
Mr. Ball. Salesman.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you here under subpena or are you appearing
voluntarily ?
Mr. Ball. I am appearing voluntarily and cooperating with you.
Mr. Wheeler. What is your relationship to Lucille Ball ?
Mr. Ball. Brother.
Mr. Wheeler. I have here a photostatic copy of an affidavit of reg-
istration, obtained from the registrar of voters here in Los Angeles,
and it bears the signature of Fred K. Ball and it is dated the 12th
day of June, 1936.
On this petition, after item 9, "I intend to affiliate at the ensuing
primary election with the Communist Party," the word "Communist"
is struck out and this document discloses that you changed your affilia-
tion to the Democratic Party on November 18, 1940.
I would like to have you look at this and state whether or not that
is your signature appealing on the document.
Mr. Ball. That is my signature.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever been a member of the Communist
Party?
Mr. Ball. No, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever been asked to join the Communist
Party ?
2578 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Mr. Ball. No, sir ; not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever attended any meetings you later
thought may have been Communist Party meetings ?
Mr. Ball. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know whether or not any meetings were ever
held in the residence at 1344 Ogden Drive?
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Would you state how or why you registered as you
did?
Mr. Ball. My grandfather was actually thought of, so far as I am
concerned, as my father, inasmuch as my father died before I was
born, and it was grandpa that was my father all the years of my
childhood.
For all of the years, I guess, up to the time that I passed the teens,
whatever grandpa said was good enough for me. The reason that this
thing came about was that I realized, along with the rest of my
family, that grandpa didn't have too many years to go, and what he
wanted us to do, as long as it was more or less something that would
make him feel that we were with him, we were inclined to do it.
He used to talk to all of us and all of our friends by the hour about
the workingman, and his Daily Worker. We used to listen, not be-
cause of the interest we had, but, rather, because of the courtesy we
felt we owed him. And this is the direct result of our attitude toward
grandpa.
Mr. Wheeler. Has this matter been brought to your attention pre-
viously ?
Mr. Ball. Oh, very definitely.
Mr. Wheeler. In what way ?
Mr. Ball. By "this matter," you mean this particular document
right here [indicating] ?
Mr. Wheeler. Yes, the registration.
Mr. Ball. The first, time this particular thing was ever brought to
my mind, after this signing took place, was when I worked for what
was then Vega Aircraft. I was working on the night shift and I was
removed from duty and discharged from the employ of Vega.
The next day, I think it was, or very shortly after that particular
night, I was asked why I was being discharged, and I remember one
thing that was said to me — naturally, I don't know the man's name,
but he was across the desk in the employment office there, and making
some remark about not being a good citizen.
Also I remember that there was, at least I think that he made some
reference to how did I vote or how did I register. Beyond that I
don't — no one has ever made any reference to me in respect to this.
But I deducted from that situation that this registration was the
cause of my dismissal, but yet nobody ever told me that.
At that time I attempted to get — I did get documents, shall we say,
or affidavits or letters of character from people that I knew, attempt-
ing to get that job back. I was particularly upset because, not having
done anything wrong, I was deprived of making a living, and then I
was, you might say, directly accused of not being a good American.
I was particularly determined at the time I was going to get my
job back. In spite of anything I could present, nobody would listen
at Vega.
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2579
So I went from Los Angeles to Wichita, Kans. It was the result of
having been dismissed at Vega. However, I had made arrangements
through a friend of mine in Wichita to go to work at a particular tool
shop.
There was to be a few months' wait before that job materialized.
However, I went to Wichita a couple of months before, and in the
interim I decided to go to work at Beechcraft, the reason being that
the tool shop I was to go to work for was subcontracting from Beech,
and I thought inasmuch as I was going to be their superintendent of
production I could go to work at Beech and learn the particular prod-
uct we were going to produce ; which I did.
I went to work at Beech and I worked there, it seems like it was
2 or 3 months, and I worked on the aircraft assemblies that this
G. & H. Tool Co. was going to produce.
At that time I left Beech voluntarily and went in to G. & H. and
I worked in Wichita for G. & H. Tool Co. and also Swallow Airplane
Co. I voluntarily left G. & H. and went to Swallow.
The total of the 2 places probably was 3y2 years — somewhere in
that neighborhood.
When I was working at Swallow's, they were trying to induct me
in the Army in California. At one time we tried to get a deferment
for me at Swallow's — Swallow Aircraft Co. Swallow Aircraft went
to the State director of Selective Service in Kansas, who went to the
California State Selective Service, and came back a refusal; no
deferment.
So I said, "I am not going to be inducted in Kansas. If I am going
to be inducted, I am going to be inducted in California; that is my
borne State."
I quit my job and came back here to California, and they took me
in the thing down here, downtown, the induction station. I was
practically inducted, ready to be sworn in, and they got me a defer-
ment from Wichita. So I packed up and went back to Wichita and
back to Swallow to work.
The same thing came up again — that 6 months' deal they went
through. Rather than have that happen again, I said, "I am going
to go this time and go in the Army, regardless."
I quit my job and came back here and went down to the draft
board, and they said, "You are critically needed in aircraft, your par-
ticular occupation. We would rather you would not go in the Army.
You go see if you can get yourself a job."
Inasmuch as I was set to go in this time, rather than riding that
fence of 6 months, and not knowing where you are, I didn't look
very hard for a job and went back and said, "I am ready. Let's
go."
And they said, "We will give you an extension. Go find yourself
a job."
So then I figured if they wanted me to work that bad, rather than
go in the Army I at least would find a job that would pay me the
best. In looking around and applying at all the plants, I finally
went in to Vultee.
They hired me and put me through the physical, and halfway
through the physical they came out and told me to get dressed and
told me to go home. I don't know why they told me to go home, but
that is the only reason I can deduct — was this thing.
2580 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
Those are the only two times I have ever had any occasion to have
anything like this brought up in this manner.
I went right out to Pacific Airmotive and went to work on a Navy
contract. I left Pacific Airmotive and went in the Army, because
they canceled the critical Navy contract they were working on, and
they immediately inducted me.
Mr. Wheeler. How long were you in the Army ?
Mr. Ball. Fifteen months.
Mr. Wheeler. Honorably discharged?
Mr. Ball. Honorably discharged.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you acquainted with Emil Freed?
Mr. Ball. No, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. I wonder if you would pick up that second docu-
ment and read the top part of it. Read it into the record.
Mr. Ball (reading) :
Sponsor's certificate : I, the undersigned sponsor for Emil Freed for the
Communist Party nomination to the office of member of the Assembly 57th
District, to be voted for at the primary election to be held on the 25th day of
August 1936, hereby assert as follows :
My knowledge of the said Emil Freed is sufficient to warrant my urging his
election to the office of member of the assembly, 57th district, and in my opinion
he is fully qualified, mentally, morally, and physically for the said office and
should be elected to fill it. I am a qualified elector of Los Angeles County and I
am registered as affiliated with the Communist Parly * * *.
Mr. Wheeler. Now turn over on the second page and see if your
signature appears.
Mr. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. Is that your signature? What number is it?
Mr. Ball. Twenty -two.
Mr. Wheeler. You said you don't know Emil Freed. Do you recall
reading the preface to that when you signed the document?
Mr. Ball. Yes: I do.
Mr. Wheeler. You do?
Mr. Ball. This strikes something, and I can't tell you what. The
only thing I recall here is these particular lines on these sheets, and
so forth here; that strikes something. I can't remember signing it.
I don't know who this guy Freed is. I can't remember signing it and
I can't associate anything with it.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know Jack Breger or Jacob Breger ?
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. According to the document, he is the individual
who circulated the petition. Do you recall whether or not the petition
was brought to you to sign by your grandfather or another individual ?
Mr. Ball. I wouldn't have any idea. I don't think I have ever
had any contact with anyone that I ever believed, ever thought of as
being a Communist. I can never recall any such, any conversation
or any picture in my mind of any particular man.
I do, however, recall this — not completely — and I can only say I
signed this because that is my signature. I can't remember the time
or the place.
Mr. Wheeler. You are familiar with the criminal syndicalism law
previously on the statutes of the State of California?
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. Do you know what criminal syndicalism is?
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA 2581
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. According to the affidavit of registration, which
yon previously identified as signing, on the back of it is a list of peti-
tions signed by each voter or signed by you as a voter.
You will note the second petition there is 164-F. That indicates
that you signed a petition to remove criminal syndicalism laws off the
statutes of the State of California.
Can you recall signing such a document?
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. The document itself I have been unable to locate.
However, here is a sample that may in some way refresh your memory.
Mr. Ball. Grandpa died with the phrase on his lips, "Working-
man," and that is all. That is all there was ever to it, in any sense
of the word. All he cared about was the poor guy next door that
wasn't making enough to live on.
That is why we went along with him. There wasn't anything
vicious about anything that man ever did in that respect. He was a
workingman all his life and he only died because he stopped working.
Mr. Wheeler. Going back to the year 1936, did you ever entertain
any thoughts that perhaps any member of your family was a member
of the Communist Party ?
Mr. Ball. No.
Mr. Wheeler. What was the general attitude of the members of
the family regarding communism, other than your grandfather?
Mr. Ball. Well, we never had any thoughts or any conversations
with respect to communism, so far as we were concerned — I am sure
I speak for all of us — so far as we were concerned. Lucille was busy
making a living and I was doing the same thing. That is all we
were concerned about. She had a career and — we were concerned
about getting grandpa and mother from New York to California
and getting back together and having our home together. We
weren't concerned with communism or Democrats or anything like
that, so far as that goes.
Mr. Wheeler. How were you employed in 1936 ?
Mr. Ball. I was employed by the Trocadero or the Coco Club. I
would have to do some checking to find out just exactly which job I
was on.
I was working at the Trocadero as a page boy.
Mr. Wheeler. I have no further questions, Mr. Ball. However,
I would like for you to add whatever you desire to the record.
Mr. Ball. I can't add anything to anything I have already said.
It is merely a matter of our living grandpa, and anything we could
have done to help him bide his time — that was all he was doing, was
biding his time — and he had no interest in life other than the
workingman.
He sat around and read the Daily Worker day in and day out,
and chewed about it to everybody that came in.
It was a little embarrassing at times, but there was nothing we
could do about it, and the easiest thing to do and the thins; that made
him the happiest was to listen, which we all did. Anybodv that ever
came to our house listened to him, and I will tell for sure they didn't
get out the door without listening. If we could get them in the back
door, that was so much the better.
2582 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA
I know for sure, and I also know the reason grandpa never asked
us to participate directly in anything was because he knew better than
to ask us. We would listen to him, and it is evident we signed some
documents because he asked us to sign them. That is the truth. Are
you interested in when I went in Phoenix to the FBI ?
Mr. Wheeler. Have you reported this matter that we have been
discussing to any other Federal agency ?
Mr. Ball. Yes. I went into the FBI in Phoenix, Ariz., about 2
years ago.
Mr. Wheeler. About 2 years ago ?
Mr. Ball. Yes.
Mr. Wheeler. And you gave them practically the same outline you
have given me today; is that correct?
Mr. Ball. That is correct.
Mr. Wheeler. I mean there is no additional information vou can
add regarding it?
Mr. Ball. No. If it would be of any interest, I can tell you why
I went in.
Mr. Wheeler. Yes.
Mr. Ball. I went to Phoenix without any prior arrangement for
employment, and there was a place called Motorola that I heard
about and decided it might be a place to apply.
However, in association with some of the people in the trailer court
where I lived, I understood that there was quite an extensive security
check. It was one of those secret projects — working on some sort of
secret stuff.
Remembering my experience in California, and in deciding I wanted
to go to Motorola, I decided the best thing to do, instead of worrying
about this thing the rest of my life, was to go down to the FBI and
find out if there was anything to prohibit me from going to work;
check me first and then go out, and I knew if they wanted to hire me,
I would have a job and not have a recurrence like at Vultee.
I told them exactly what I wanted to know and why I wanted to
know it. The answer was that Motorola did have a security check
that got back to that local FBI office in Phoenix. The rest of them
had their own security checks and the FBI wasn't involved. In other
words, I could go to any other plant or any plant I wanted, except
Motorola, and be pretty sure of employment.
If they wanted to hire me, if there was anything in the record that
would stop me from working, the chances are it would come out if I
went to Motorola. Therefore I didn't go to Motorola.
Mr. Wheeler. I have nothing further.
(Whereupon, at 4 p. m., Friday, September 4, 1953, the statements
were adjourned.)
X
INDEX
Individuals
Page
Arnaz, Desi 2575, 2577
Arnaz, Lucille Desiree Ball (see also Lucille Ball) 2561-2572 (testimony)
Ball, Mrs. Desiree E 2566,2572-2577 (testimony)
Ball, Fred Henry (Freddie) 2563,
2566, 2568, 2572, 2574,2576, 2577-25S2 (testimony)
Ball, Lucille {see also Lucille Desiree Ball Arnaz) 2561-2572
(testimony) , 2573-2577, 25S1
Breger, Jacob (Jack) 2564, 2574, 2575, 25S0
Davidson, Sidney (Sidney Martin) 2565,2573
Debs, Eugene V 2562
Dmytryk, Mr 2571
Dmvtryk, Mrs 2571
Freed, Emil 2564, 2567, 2574, 2580
Harris. Herb 2565, 2573
Hunt, Fred C 2562, 2564, 2566, 2572, 2574, 2575
Jacobson, Libbv 2565, 2573
Martin, Sidney (Sidney Davidson) 2565,2573
Peterson, Dorothy 2570
Roosevelt, Mrs 2571
Roosevelt. President 2571, 2576
Stewart, Elaine L 2574
Vale. Rena M 2565,2573
Organizations and Publications
California Conference for Repeal of the Criminal Syndicalism Act 2568
Committee for the First Amendment 2569
Daily People's World 2569, 2570
Daily Worker 2562, 2563, 2569, 2576-2578, 2581
Federal Bureau of Investigation 2570, 2571, 2582
Screen Actors' Guild 2570
Southern California Councils for Constitutional Rights 2569
2583
O
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11