The Chicago star., July 24, 1948, Star Edition, Page 2, Image 2

About The Chicago star. (Chicago, Ill.) 1946-1948

Image provided by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

                
2
Legion takes over in
Noack witch hunt
By ISABEL CARR
"What more can they do to me,
say about me? Where will it all
end?’’
These were questions which
Miss Emilie Noack, 58, Senn High
School civics teacher, couldn't
answer as the Hearst-inspired
Red-smear of the teacher
stretched into its second month.
On the pretext of presenting
new evidence that Miss Noack
taught "Communist doctrine" to
her pupils at Senn, the American
Legion claimed the Board of Ed
ucation’s hearing room at 228 N.
LaSalle for a day-long inquisition
last Friday.
On Monday. The Star learned
that another hearing had been
scheduled for ‘the latter part of
this week.
* « *
THE FRIDAY hearing was
closed to the public; only the
press was admitted. Miss Noack
was not even informed of the
hearing.
At the head of the long table
in the hearing chamber, next to
the “witness chair” which a
steady stream of Senn students
occupied, testifying for and
against their teacher—sat Supt.
of Schools Herold C. Hunt.
Hunt, who had already pub
licly exonerated Emilie Noack of
the Herald-American's banner
headlined charges through inten
sive questioning of each of Miss
Noack’s students, wore an in
•crutible expression throughout
the hearing. He said nothing. He
didn't have to. The Legion was
'toing his talking for him.
* * *
NEXT to Hunt sat Elliodor
Libonati, chief officer of the Le
gion’s notorious Americanism
Committee, and John Russell,
County Legion judge advocate.
As Libonati and Russell alter
nately registered smug I-told
you-so expressions or showed by
their faces that they drew “sin
ister” implications from students’
testimony, Aids. John C. Bur
meister Jr. (44th), and Otto Jan
ousek (22nd) both hard-bitten
councilmanic red-baiters—listen
ed and nodded approvingly.
The Herald-American gave a
nightmarish quality to the hear
ings as its four reporters and
three photographers assigned to
the story took endless notes and
countless pictures. (Other news
papers were content with one re
porter and one photog each.)
The hearing got off to a typical
Legion start (remember—the Le
gion is the outfit that's been
raiding Progressive Party meet
ings throughout the country),
when Legion lawyer Russell
picked a fist fight with an irate
THE CHICAGO STAR. JULY 24, 1948
The Chicago
fc -.‘..icu anu puonsned WEEKLY
by The Chicago Star Publishing
Co., Inc.. 166 West Washington
Street. Chicago 2. 111. Phone
RANdolph 0580.
Cable address: Chistar
Frank M. Daria Executive Editor
Carl Htrack Managing Editor
William Sennett General Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
<Except Canada
and foreign) 1 Year $2.00.
Entered as second class matter
June 25, 1946 at the post office at
Chicago, 111., under the Art of
March 3. 1879.
Postal regulations require that
all new subscriptions for military
personnel stationed overseas must
be accompanied by a written
request from the person to whom
the subscription is directed.
Mist Noack
citizen, who was accidentally ad
mitted to the session.
* * *
LEWIS Anderson, 1516 N.
Damen, spoke up for Miss Noack,
attacking the Legion and Hearst’s
“yellow press” for “picking on an
innocent woman.” They were
“character assassins,” he de
clared.
"Don’t you say anything about
the Legion." Russell roared—pro
viding an adequate commentary
on the Legion's view of free
speech.
Anderson told Russell that the
Legion could "go back to its
rum-pots and gambling games
for children.”
Russell leaped at Anderson, the
two exchanged several blows,
then Anderson, who had done
nothing but defend himself, was
ejected from the hearing room.
* * *
LIBONATI and Russell asked
Link CP arrests
to 'cold war'
Seizure of the 12 members
of the National Board of the
Communist Party by FBI
men under a blue ribbon jury
indictment this week was
seen as “the most overt fas
cist Act by the U. S. govern
ment since the beginning of
cold war.”
The indictments came out of
special jury operating under
Atty. Gen. Tom Cark’s direction
which after 13 months of sifting
evidence was unable to make
specific charges of political vio
lence or espionage against the
Communist leaders.
Finally, the indictments were
issued under the Smith Act
which was used during the war
to imprison a group of Trotsky
ists in Minneapolis who sought to
disrupt the war effort.
• * •
CLARK admitted no charges
could be found against the Com
munist leaders other than the
time-worn charges that they are
trying to “overthrow the govern
ment.”
A previous Supreme Court de
cision freeing Communist leader
William Schneiderman declared
that there was no evidence of
"force and violence" by the Com
munists.
The wholesale arrest of a doz
en leaders was called a “desper
ate provocation.” in a statement
by William Z. Foster and Eugene
Dennis, top party leaders.
* * *
"THIS American version of the
Reichstag fire is the domestic
counterpart of the criminal bi
partisan attempts to turn the war
in Berlin from cold to hot,” the
statement said.
The Communist leaders
all students who testified more
or-less identical questions: Is it
true Miss Noack said you couldn’t
believe what you read in the
Tribune? Did Miss Noack talk
about Henry Wallace in her
classes? Is it true that Wallace
won a mock election in one of
the classes? Did Miss Noack show
any preference for any form of
government other than our own?
All students who spoke against
Miss Noack had either flunked or
received poor grades from her:
those who spoke for their teach
er were all students who had re
ceived exceptionally high grades
in all classes, including Miss
Noack’s.
Except for Herald - American
reporters, most of the reporters
for Chicago’s dailies, took notes
lackadaisically, cracking cyn
ically, “What a witch-hunt!” at
regular intervals.
* * *
WHEN Mrs. J. M. Vennell, 5339
Ravenswood, whose daughter,
Jacqueline, testified at the earlier
hearings, testified that she had
been “shocked when my daughter
came home one dev and said the
American press Tidily isn’t free,
it’s controlled by advertisers and
bankers,” and th at she didn’t be
lieve Miss Noack should be “al
lowed in a school room” for
spreading such ideas one re
porter turned to the Star reporter
and winked. He said:
“Now where do you suppose
any, one would get such an idea.
Tsk. tsk! Who’s she trying to
kid!”
charged that the "frame-up" was
part of the plan by the Truman
administration "to win the elec
tion by hook or crook."
It was pointed out that the
Communist Party “defends and
has always defended the eco
nomic welfare and the demo
cratic rights of the American
people.”
* * *
AMONG those indicted was a
Chicagoan, Gilbert Green, Com
munist chairman in this district.
Green is a native Chicagoan who
went to grammar and high
schools here and worked as a
mail carrier and at International
Harvester.
The indictment charges the
twelve men with conspiracy dat
ing back to July 1945. That was
the time when the party was re
constituted following the expul
sion of Earl Browder who had
sought to liquidate the Com
munist Party. A penalty of 10
Mundt to ask passage of
police state measure
As Congressmen flocked back
to Washington this week in re
sponse to President Truman’s
call for a special session, Rep.
Karl Mundt (R., S. D.) announced
that he would press for quick
passage of a new version of his
Mundt-Nixon police state bill.
At the same time Gerald L. K.
Smith, head of the fascist-like
Christian Nationalist Crusade,
which damns with equal vigor
Jews, Negroes, Communists, and
organized labor, told his follow
ers in a letter from his St. Louis
headquarters:
"Jusl before Congress adjourn-
P'S ♦ - ‘*« - - '» 7
• -.r. *..
i WgsSLmJW -:
.Jfjß K jar jp
t • %, •iunfir-rT
jjjfc/* - 'ijJSSP
BMH^^^wimMr^Hli)■• «x' "" * •*» .WT ■*:. vii; '****?r J
WHEN Ihe mercury begins looming, iry to get a little comfort out
of this picture of Barbara Dennison and Martha Mitchell keeping
cool by burning up the Florida waterways.
Housing stall
no problem—PPl
The housing stall continued in
Chicago this week, from Mayor
Kennelly on down, but the Pro
gressive Party wasn’t buying any
of it.
The Cook County Committee of
the Prog. Party offered to find
riles within 24 hours for the 2,000
public housing units whose loca-
years in prison and SIO,OOO fine
is specified in the Smith Act.
The mass arrests were seen as
a change in official policy from
the previous "one-at-a-lime"
strategy under which Communist
leaders were previously arrested,
mainly on deportation charges.
* * *
THE New York Sun which had
previously “leaked” stories about
the secret grand jury sessions,
stated that the indictments were
reported at this time to embarass
the New Party now holding its
founding convention in Philadel
phia.
Not since the Hitler persecu
tion of the Communists and its
emulation in other fascists and
semi-fascist countries has such
a move of suppression taken
place against the Communists.
It is expected that mass pro
tests will be launched exceeding
that which halted the Mundt Bill
in the last session of Congress.
ed I was invited to present to
the U. S. Senate Judiciary Com
mittee a statement relating to
the bill presented by Congress
man Mundt and Congressman
Nixon asking that the Communist
Party be outlawed ..."
Smith, who recently published
a defense of Adolph Hitler,
strongly supports the bill, he an
nounced.
The bill not only would out
law the Communist Party, but
also would strike at every union
and progressive organization.
lion has been under long discus
sion among city officials.
The offer, which was contained
in a letter sent to Mayor Ken
nelly and Aid. William J. Lan
caster (37th), chairman of the
City Council Housing Committee,
pointed out:
“There are within the city
limits of Chicago about 19 square
miles of entirely vacant resi
dential building sites that are
one acre or larger in size. Two
thirds of these have already been
subdivided and utilities have al
ready been installed for many
sites.
« * *
"IT WOULD REQUIRE only
one quarter of a mile —a little
more than one per cent of the 19
miles available—to construct the
2,000 units now under consider
ation.”
Supporting The Star’s story
last week, which pinned blame
for the housing stall on city offi- ’
cials’ timidity in the face of race
baiters’ objections that Negro
families might move into “white”
areas if the original housing plan *
went through. The Chicago Sun-
Times stated editorially, July 19: '
"It is time for the City Coun
cil. the mavor, and the public to
face frankly and courageously
the reasons underlying opposition
to the construction of relocation
hourmct on vacant land outside
the blighted areas. The principal
reason, we are sorry io say, is
that some of the families to be
di">’aced by slum clearance will
be Negro families.
* * *
"CERTAIN ALDERMEN and
certain neighborhood interests
evidently object to the construc
tion of homes which MIGHT be
occupied by Negroes anywhere
except in areas already so occu
pied. In other words, they are
demanding that all the Negroes
in Chicago be kept right where
most of them are—in a segre
gated ghetto which is already
bursting at the seams with too
many people.”
Meanwhile, more talk-talk, and
no housing. Mayor Kennelly was
to hold another meeting this
week with members of the City
Council Housing Committee and
Milton Mumford, city housing co
ordinator, to discuss the reloca
tion housing sites.