Dorothy Ray Healey
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Ray Healey was a long-time activist in the Communist Party USA
, from the late 1920s to the 1970s. During the decades of the 1950s and 1960s, Healey was one of the leading public figures of the Communist Party in the state of California
. An opponent of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and at odds with the orthodox pro-Soviet leadership of Gus Hall
, Healey subsequently left the Communist Party to join the New American Movement
, which merged to become part of the Democratic Socialists of America
in 1982. In the 1930s, she was one of the first union leaders to advocate for the rights of Chicanos and blacks as factory and field workers.
, with her maternal grandfather serving as a shokhet
—a supervisor of the ritual slaughter of animals to ensure they were kosher.
Healey was a so-called "red diaper baby
" — her mother was won over to socialism
as a teenager after hearing a lecture on the subject delivered by J. Stitt Wilson in 1900 and later took part in helping to establish the Communist Party of America. Her father was an apolitical traveling salesman, peddling foodstuffs to grocery stores. Her mother bore six children, one dying at birth and another dying in early childhood. She also performed multiple abortions upon herself, nearly dying of blood poisoning on one occasion as a result of the procedure when Dorothy was a young girl.
When Dorothy was six, the family relocated to Los Angeles
, where she would eventually become known as the "Red Queen of Los Angeles". As her father moved about the West, his family moved with him, and she attended 19 schools before dropping out of high school. At 14, she joined the youth section of the Workers (Communist) Party, the Young Workers League
, and the adult Communist Party itself in 1932, at the age of 18. At the behest of the YCL she took a job in a peach processing factory, making 12 cents an hour and hiding when government labor inspectors came looking for underage workers. It was here where she gained her first experience as an organizer.
In the 1950s, she and 14 other Californians were convicted under the Smith Act
of conspiring to advocate the forceful overthrow of the government. She faced five years in prison and a $10,000 fine before the Supreme Court overturned the conviction. In the 1960s, she again faced imprisonment and a hefty fine under a piece of McCarthy-era
legislation known as the McCarran Act, when she and others refused to register as agents of a foreign government (the logic being that the CPUSA was under the control of the Soviet Union). In 1965, the Supreme Court
reconsidered an earlier decision and found the registration provision to be in violation of the Fifth Amendment
guarantee against self-incrimination.
's speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences
, which revealed the crimes that Joseph Stalin
committed under the USSR's one-party system. "The speech went on for four hours, and I was reduced to tears after about 30 minutes," she said. "Fact after fact of monstrous things had happened. It was a relentless account. But I believed it. There was no questioning its authenticity." From that point, she was outspoken in her insistence that the American Communist Party support democracy and reduce its ties with the USSR.
Although many like novelist Howard Fast
left the CPUSA after the revelations of Stalin's crimes, Healey tried to reform it from within and called for its democratization and greater independence from the USSR. Her story is told in a book she wrote with historian Maurice Isserman, Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party (1990). In the book, Healey revealed "the aspirations, commitment, illusions -- and, ultimately, disillusionment -- of a generation of young Communists" who joined the movement before and during the Great Depression. She, as they, had to deal with and "the Party [being] reduced to a remnant of its former strength through the battering it received in the McCarthy era and through its own sectarian mistakes."
She resigned from her leadership post in 1968, after Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev
ordered Soviet and Warsaw Pact
troops to crush the democratic socialist movement in Czechoslovakia. She stayed in the party until 1973, when she resigned in a dispute with CPUSA General Secretary Gus Hall
over issues of orthodoxy, to which she could no longer conform. The end came when she could no longer hold her tongue and publicly criticized the Party.
and in 1975 became a member of its national interim committee. Later, she supported the merger of NAM with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
in 1982 to form the Democratic Socialists of America
. Through her involvement with NAM and the Democratic Socialists, she provided an important link between the activists of the 1930s, and the younger generation inspired by the popular movement against the Vietnam War. She mentored hundreds of young activists who later made contributions to the labor movement and community organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Healey moved to Washington, D.C.
in 1983 to live with her son, Richard Healey, to help raise her grandchildren. She had been broadcasting on Pacifica Radio
in Los Angeles since 1959, and in Washington, she and Richard co-hosted "Dialogue," an hour-long public affairs show on WPFW on Wednesday mornings.
Dorothy Ray Healey was married to, in her own words, "three good men": Lon Sherman, Don Healey and Phillip Connelly. All three marriages ended in divorce. She once wrote: "My hatred of capitalism, which degrades and debases humans, is as intense now as it was when I joined the Young Communist League in 1928. I remain a communist, as I have been all my life, albeit without a party." (Source: Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times at http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=06/08/08/1716202&mode=nested&tid=1)
.
Healey's extensive collection of papers and other material on the CPUSA is archived at the California State University, Long Beach
library. http://www.csulb.edu/library/guide/serv/speccol.html
Dorothy Healey: An American Red is a 52-minute documentary about her life.
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
, from the late 1920s to the 1970s. During the decades of the 1950s and 1960s, Healey was one of the leading public figures of the Communist Party in the state of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. An opponent of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and at odds with the orthodox pro-Soviet leadership of Gus Hall
Gus Hall
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Hallberg , was a leader and Chairman of the Communist Party USA and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. As a labor leader, Hall was closely associated with the so-called "Little Steel" Strike of 1937, an effort to unionize the nation's smaller, regional steel...
, Healey subsequently left the Communist Party to join the New American Movement
New American Movement
The New American Movement was founded in 1971 by a group of leaders of opposition to the Vietnam War to serve as a forum for discussing where and how to redirect their activities. The call to convene was issued by Michael Lerner...
, which merged to become part of the Democratic Socialists of America
Democratic Socialists of America
Democratic Socialists of America is a social-democratic organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, an international federation of social-democratic,democratic socialist and labor political parties and organizations.DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of...
in 1982. In the 1930s, she was one of the first union leaders to advocate for the rights of Chicanos and blacks as factory and field workers.
Early life
She was born Dorothy Harriet Rosenblum in Denver on September 22, 1914, to Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her father's family, the Rosenblums, were proud of their Hungarian background and considered themselves Austro-Hungarians rather than Jews. Her mother's family, on the other hand, were orthodox JewsOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, with her maternal grandfather serving as a shokhet
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
—a supervisor of the ritual slaughter of animals to ensure they were kosher.
Healey was a so-called "red diaper baby
Red diaper baby
Red diaper baby describes a child of parents who were members of the United States Communist Party or were close to the party or sympathetic to its aims.-History:...
" — her mother was won over to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
as a teenager after hearing a lecture on the subject delivered by J. Stitt Wilson in 1900 and later took part in helping to establish the Communist Party of America. Her father was an apolitical traveling salesman, peddling foodstuffs to grocery stores. Her mother bore six children, one dying at birth and another dying in early childhood. She also performed multiple abortions upon herself, nearly dying of blood poisoning on one occasion as a result of the procedure when Dorothy was a young girl.
When Dorothy was six, the family relocated to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where she would eventually become known as the "Red Queen of Los Angeles". As her father moved about the West, his family moved with him, and she attended 19 schools before dropping out of high school. At 14, she joined the youth section of the Workers (Communist) Party, the Young Workers League
Young Communist League
The Young Communist League was or is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX was generally taken by all sections of the Communist Youth International.Examples of YCLs:...
, and the adult Communist Party itself in 1932, at the age of 18. At the behest of the YCL she took a job in a peach processing factory, making 12 cents an hour and hiding when government labor inspectors came looking for underage workers. It was here where she gained her first experience as an organizer.
Leader in the CPUSA
Her convictions about social justice and issues of race, class, unions and labor fueled her activism. From the moment she joined the CPUSA, she was a true believer. "We knew with absolute conviction that we were part of a vanguard that was destined to lead an American working class to a socialist revolution", she once said. Healey became a successful labor organizer and rose to become the chair of the CPUSA in Southern California. Eventually, she joined the national Party leadership. She mentored many young communists and labor activists.In the 1950s, she and 14 other Californians were convicted under the Smith Act
Smith Act
The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...
of conspiring to advocate the forceful overthrow of the government. She faced five years in prison and a $10,000 fine before the Supreme Court overturned the conviction. In the 1960s, she again faced imprisonment and a hefty fine under a piece of McCarthy-era
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
legislation known as the McCarran Act, when she and others refused to register as agents of a foreign government (the logic being that the CPUSA was under the control of the Soviet Union). In 1965, the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
reconsidered an earlier decision and found the registration provision to be in violation of the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
guarantee against self-incrimination.
Break with the CPUSA
A critical moment for her came in 1956, after the reading of Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences
On the Personality Cult and its Consequences
On the Personality Cult and its Consequences was a report, critical of Joseph Stalin, made to the Twentieth Party Congress on February 25, 1956 by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. It is more commonly known as the Secret Speech or the Khrushchev Report...
, which revealed the crimes that Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
committed under the USSR's one-party system. "The speech went on for four hours, and I was reduced to tears after about 30 minutes," she said. "Fact after fact of monstrous things had happened. It was a relentless account. But I believed it. There was no questioning its authenticity." From that point, she was outspoken in her insistence that the American Communist Party support democracy and reduce its ties with the USSR.
Although many like novelist Howard Fast
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
left the CPUSA after the revelations of Stalin's crimes, Healey tried to reform it from within and called for its democratization and greater independence from the USSR. Her story is told in a book she wrote with historian Maurice Isserman, Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party (1990). In the book, Healey revealed "the aspirations, commitment, illusions -- and, ultimately, disillusionment -- of a generation of young Communists" who joined the movement before and during the Great Depression. She, as they, had to deal with and "the Party [being] reduced to a remnant of its former strength through the battering it received in the McCarthy era and through its own sectarian mistakes."
She resigned from her leadership post in 1968, after Soviet Party Boss Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
ordered Soviet and Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
troops to crush the democratic socialist movement in Czechoslovakia. She stayed in the party until 1973, when she resigned in a dispute with CPUSA General Secretary Gus Hall
Gus Hall
Gus Hall, born Arvo Kustaa Hallberg , was a leader and Chairman of the Communist Party USA and its four-time U.S. presidential candidate. As a labor leader, Hall was closely associated with the so-called "Little Steel" Strike of 1937, an effort to unionize the nation's smaller, regional steel...
over issues of orthodoxy, to which she could no longer conform. The end came when she could no longer hold her tongue and publicly criticized the Party.
Later life
In 1974 Healey joined the New American MovementNew American Movement
The New American Movement was founded in 1971 by a group of leaders of opposition to the Vietnam War to serve as a forum for discussing where and how to redirect their activities. The call to convene was issued by Michael Lerner...
and in 1975 became a member of its national interim committee. Later, she supported the merger of NAM with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
The Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee was founded in 1973 by Michael Harrington, who led a minority caucus in the Socialist Party. Harrington's caucus supported George McGovern's his call for a cease-fire and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam...
in 1982 to form the Democratic Socialists of America
Democratic Socialists of America
Democratic Socialists of America is a social-democratic organization in the United States and the U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International, an international federation of social-democratic,democratic socialist and labor political parties and organizations.DSA was formed in 1982 by a merger of...
. Through her involvement with NAM and the Democratic Socialists, she provided an important link between the activists of the 1930s, and the younger generation inspired by the popular movement against the Vietnam War. She mentored hundreds of young activists who later made contributions to the labor movement and community organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Healey moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1983 to live with her son, Richard Healey, to help raise her grandchildren. She had been broadcasting on Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio
Pacifica Radio is the oldest public radio network in the United States. It is a group of five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations that is known for its progressive/liberal political orientation. It is also a program service supplying over 100 affiliated...
in Los Angeles since 1959, and in Washington, she and Richard co-hosted "Dialogue," an hour-long public affairs show on WPFW on Wednesday mornings.
Dorothy Ray Healey was married to, in her own words, "three good men": Lon Sherman, Don Healey and Phillip Connelly. All three marriages ended in divorce. She once wrote: "My hatred of capitalism, which degrades and debases humans, is as intense now as it was when I joined the Young Communist League in 1928. I remain a communist, as I have been all my life, albeit without a party." (Source: Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times at http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=06/08/08/1716202&mode=nested&tid=1)
Death and legacy
Dorothy Healy died of respiratory failure and pneumonia at age 91 on August 6, 2006 at the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Rockville, MarylandRockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
.
Healey's extensive collection of papers and other material on the CPUSA is archived at the California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Long Beach is the second largest campus of the California State University system and the third largest university in the state of California by enrollment...
library. http://www.csulb.edu/library/guide/serv/speccol.html
Dorothy Healey: An American Red is a 52-minute documentary about her life.
Further reading
- Dorothy Healey and Maurice IssermanMaurice IssermanMaurice Isserman is James L. Ferguson Professor of History at Hamilton College and an important contributor to the “new history of American communism” which reinterpreted the role of the Communist Party USA during the Popular Front period of the 1930s and 1940s. His books have also traced the...
, Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Reprinted in paperback as California Red: A Life in the American Communist Party. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993.