Winston Burdett
Encyclopedia
Winston Burdett was an American broadcast journalist and correspondent for the CBS Radio Network
during World War II
and later for CBS television news
. He was born in Buffalo, New York
. From 1937-1942 he was involved with the Communist Party
. He testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1955, detailing his espionage work for the Soviet Union in Europe and naming dozens of other party members.
where his father was an civil engineer
. Burdett attended Harvard University
graduating summa cum laude in three years, leaving at age 19 in 1933. Burdett continued his education with graduate work in Romance languages
at Columbia University
.
in 1937 while working at the Eagle, through a group at there affiliated with the American Newspaper Guild (ANG)., He was approached about spying by Nathan Einhorn
. Einhorn, a reporter and executive secretary of the New York ANG local, wanted Burdett to meet with Joseph North, the editor of New Masses, the Communist Party USA
s journal. At the meeting North suggested a spy mission and introduced him to an unnamed man. At another meeting in New York's Union Square
Burdett learned that his mission was in Finland. Finland
had fought a 1939 Soviet invasion
to a stalemate. His contact at Union Square was later identified by Burdett in a photo as the liaison between CPUSA and the KGB
, Jacob Golos
.
Burdett left the United States in February 1940, funded by CPUSA and using his press credentials to travel as a roving correspondent. Burdett first traveled to Stockholm
and met another contact, "Mr. Miller". Burdett was disillusioned by the party when he met the liaison for his work as a spy in Finland
- a tough, crude and offensive KGB
man. Miller handed him $200 and detailed the mission. Burdett was to report back on the morale of the Finnish population and troops. Three weeks later, Burdett was visiting Finnish troops in the field when Finland signed the Moscow peace treaty. He returned to Stockholm where he told Miller that the Finnish were mostly ready to continue fighting. Miller paid Burdett another $400, thanked him and left.
Burdett detailed his involvement with the Communist Party and his work as a spy at a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee hearing in 1955. Burdett spied intermittently for another two years. He visited the Soviet consulate in Bucharest
twice and made a contact in Belgrade
, neither resulted in a mission. Burdett worked in Ankara
under a Soviet embassy official. Burdett left the party and his spying behind in March 1942.
's original "Murrow's Boys
." He was hired by CBS in 1940 while still a member of the Communist Party, information he did not divulge to CBS until a loyalty questionnaire in 1951. As a Murrow cohort he helped pioneer the field of broadcast journalism through radio reports that he and the other "Boys" filed.
For CBS Burdett covered the invasion of Norway, the Axis retreat in North Africa
, the invasion of Sicily, the fight for Italy
, and the Allied capture of Rome
. During the war, the Nazis kicked Burdett out of two countries, Norway
and Yugoslavia
. After being expelled from Yugoslavia, Burdett began working in Ankara
, Turkey
. It was here that he would do his most extensive spy work, all while on the payroll at CBS. While working in Ankara, his wife was murdered.
While working out of Rome
, Burdett, Joe Masraff, and a CBS
cameraman from Cairo
went into Yemen
to cover a story. They vanished for four weeks, no one in the New York City
office knew their whereabouts other than they went into Yemen. When the trio emerged four weeks later, they emerged with what Marvin Kalb
, the Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University
called "the most beautifully shot, beautifully written significant, substantive story about an Arab
revolution . . ." While reporting on Iraq
in 1959 Burdett, along with UPI's
William McHale, was expelled from the nation by Iraqi authorities.
Burdett retired from CBS in 1978 after 22 years in the Rome bureau. After his retirement, during the May 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, veteran CBS News correspondent Richard C. Hottelet
in New York anchored a news bulletin on CBS Radio, and spoke by telephone with Winston Burdett in Rome.
Burdett's testimony detailed his involvement with the Communist Party and ten other members of the Communist group at the Brooklyn Eagle. He also recalled his spy work
for the Soviet Union in detail. Of the first five journalists called from Burdett's testimony at a 1955 hearing before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, only one admitted affiliation with the Communist Party, Charles Grutzner of the New York Times. Other journalists that Burdett named included David A. Gordon, of the New York Daily News
, who took the Fifth Amendment
29 times, Melvin L. Barnet
, a New York Times copyreader since 1953. Barnet lost his job because of his failure to answer questions at the hearing. Another witness, Charles S. Lewis, who had moved on to become news director of WCAX radio and TV stations in Burlington, Vermont
, was much more cooperative with the Senate panel. He admitted that "he had been living with this dark secret." Ira Henry Freeman, a New York Times reporter and New York Herald Tribune
Military and Aviation Editor Ansel Talbert
also testified.
Burdett's testimony prompted at least 35 subpoenas by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, headed by Senator James O. Eastland, in November 1955. Of those subpoenas 26 went to present or past New York Times employees. Though many at CBS considered him a traitor after that testimony, Murrow and the network protected him and had him reassigned to Rome. He became an expert in Vatican
affairs and lectured students visiting Rome from the rooftop of the CBS building. Burdett also worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) as an informant. The FBI still has 900 pages of classified documents regarding Winston Burdett.
. She was murdered in 1942 and Burdett attributed her murder to his decision to leave the Communist Party and stop spying for them. In 1945 he married Giorgina Nathan. He also had two children, Cristina and Richard. Winston Burdett died on May 19, 1993 after a long illness.
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and later for CBS television news
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
. He was born in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. From 1937-1942 he was involved with the Communist Party
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....
. He testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1955, detailing his espionage work for the Soviet Union in Europe and naming dozens of other party members.
Early life
Winston Burdett was born December 12, 1913 in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
where his father was an civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
. Burdett attended Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
graduating summa cum laude in three years, leaving at age 19 in 1933. Burdett continued his education with graduate work in Romance languages
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Early career and spying
Burdett stayed at his first job, at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, for five years. During his time at the Eagle Burdett worked as a film, theater and book critic. Burdett first joined the Communist PartyCommunist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in 1937 while working at the Eagle, through a group at there affiliated with the American Newspaper Guild (ANG)., He was approached about spying by Nathan Einhorn
Nathan Einhorn
Nathan Einhorn was a journalist and Executive Secretary of the American Newspaper Guild in New York from 1938 to 1946. He was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and allegedly served as a major link between Soviet intelligence and the CPUSA.- Source :* John Earl Haynes...
. Einhorn, a reporter and executive secretary of the New York ANG local, wanted Burdett to meet with Joseph North, the editor of New Masses, the Communist Party USA
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....
s journal. At the meeting North suggested a spy mission and introduced him to an unnamed man. At another meeting in New York's Union Square
Union Square (New York City)
Union Square is a public square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York.It is an important and historic intersection, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century; its name celebrates neither the...
Burdett learned that his mission was in Finland. Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
had fought a 1939 Soviet invasion
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
to a stalemate. His contact at Union Square was later identified by Burdett in a photo as the liaison between CPUSA and the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, Jacob Golos
Jacob Golos
Jacob Golos, , was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary of ethnic Jewish heritage who became a secret police operative on behalf of the USSR in the United States...
.
Burdett left the United States in February 1940, funded by CPUSA and using his press credentials to travel as a roving correspondent. Burdett first traveled to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and met another contact, "Mr. Miller". Burdett was disillusioned by the party when he met the liaison for his work as a spy in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
- a tough, crude and offensive KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
man. Miller handed him $200 and detailed the mission. Burdett was to report back on the morale of the Finnish population and troops. Three weeks later, Burdett was visiting Finnish troops in the field when Finland signed the Moscow peace treaty. He returned to Stockholm where he told Miller that the Finnish were mostly ready to continue fighting. Miller paid Burdett another $400, thanked him and left.
Burdett detailed his involvement with the Communist Party and his work as a spy at a Senate Internal Security Subcommittee hearing in 1955. Burdett spied intermittently for another two years. He visited the Soviet consulate in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
twice and made a contact in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, neither resulted in a mission. Burdett worked in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
under a Soviet embassy official. Burdett left the party and his spying behind in March 1942.
Work at CBS
Burdett was one of Edward R. MurrowEdward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
's original "Murrow's Boys
Murrow's Boys
Murrow’s Boys, or “The Murrow Boys,” were the CBS broadcast journalists most closely associated with Edward R. Murrow during his years at the network, most notably the years before and during World War II....
." He was hired by CBS in 1940 while still a member of the Communist Party, information he did not divulge to CBS until a loyalty questionnaire in 1951. As a Murrow cohort he helped pioneer the field of broadcast journalism through radio reports that he and the other "Boys" filed.
For CBS Burdett covered the invasion of Norway, the Axis retreat in North Africa
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
, the invasion of Sicily, the fight for Italy
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
, and the Allied capture of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. During the war, the Nazis kicked Burdett out of two countries, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. After being expelled from Yugoslavia, Burdett began working in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It was here that he would do his most extensive spy work, all while on the payroll at CBS. While working in Ankara, his wife was murdered.
While working out of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Burdett, Joe Masraff, and a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
cameraman from Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
went into Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
to cover a story. They vanished for four weeks, no one in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
office knew their whereabouts other than they went into Yemen. When the trio emerged four weeks later, they emerged with what Marvin Kalb
Marvin Kalb
Marvin L. Kalb is an American journalist. Kalb was the Shorenstein Center's Founding Director and Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy . The Shorenstein Center and the Kennedy School are part of Harvard University...
, the Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
called "the most beautifully shot, beautifully written significant, substantive story about an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
revolution . . ." While reporting on Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1959 Burdett, along with UPI's
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
William McHale, was expelled from the nation by Iraqi authorities.
Burdett retired from CBS in 1978 after 22 years in the Rome bureau. After his retirement, during the May 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, veteran CBS News correspondent Richard C. Hottelet
Richard C. Hottelet
Richard C. Hottelet was a Brooklyn-born American broadcast journalist for the latter half of the twentieth century. He continues to write and lecture....
in New York anchored a news bulletin on CBS Radio, and spoke by telephone with Winston Burdett in Rome.
Testimony
In the early 1950s he told the story of his wife's death, which he speculated was due to his refusal to spy for the Soviet Union any longer, to New York Municipal Judge Robert Morris. Morris subsequently encouraged him to speak up about the incident to the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, where Morris had counseled a few years earlier. The June 28, 1955 testimony was damning; he provided a list of names to the committee of others who were Communists in 1930s, dozens of people were affected by Burdett's testimony.Burdett's testimony detailed his involvement with the Communist Party and ten other members of the Communist group at the Brooklyn Eagle. He also recalled his spy work
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
for the Soviet Union in detail. Of the first five journalists called from Burdett's testimony at a 1955 hearing before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, only one admitted affiliation with the Communist Party, Charles Grutzner of the New York Times. Other journalists that Burdett named included David A. Gordon, of the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, who took 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...
29 times, Melvin L. Barnet
Melvin L. Barnet
Melvin L. Barnet was a copy editor for The New York Times from 1953-1955. He was known for being immediately fired when he invoked the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution at a Senate subcommittee hearing in 1955.- The hearing :Barnet, a Harvard educated journalist, had worked his way...
, a New York Times copyreader since 1953. Barnet lost his job because of his failure to answer questions at the hearing. Another witness, Charles S. Lewis, who had moved on to become news director of WCAX radio and TV stations in Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
, was much more cooperative with the Senate panel. He admitted that "he had been living with this dark secret." Ira Henry Freeman, a New York Times reporter and New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
Military and Aviation Editor Ansel Talbert
Ansel Talbert
Ansel Edward McLaurine Talbert was an American aviation journalist. After being named as a Communist by journalist Winston Burdett, Talbert became well known for his testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in 1955. He died at his home in Bridgeport, Conn.- Talbert's work...
also testified.
Burdett's testimony prompted at least 35 subpoenas by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, headed by Senator James O. Eastland, in November 1955. Of those subpoenas 26 went to present or past New York Times employees. Though many at CBS considered him a traitor after that testimony, Murrow and the network protected him and had him reassigned to Rome. He became an expert in Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
affairs and lectured students visiting Rome from the rooftop of the CBS building. Burdett also worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) as an informant. The FBI still has 900 pages of classified documents regarding Winston Burdett.
July 1955 witnesses
This is a list of people named in Burdett's June 1955 testimony and subsequently testified in July before the subcommittee.- Melvin L. BarnetMelvin L. BarnetMelvin L. Barnet was a copy editor for The New York Times from 1953-1955. He was known for being immediately fired when he invoked the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution at a Senate subcommittee hearing in 1955.- The hearing :Barnet, a Harvard educated journalist, had worked his way...
: New York Times copyreader. Was promptly fired based on his testimony, he took the 5th Amendment and refused to confirm membership in the Communist Party. - Ira Henry Freeman: New York Times reporter. Admitted to a one year affiliation with the Communist Party and was allowed to keep his job.
- David A. Gordon: New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
reporter. Took the 5th amendment 29 times. The News fired him within 24 hours. - Charles S. LewisCharles S. LewisCharles Swearinger Lewis was a U.S. Representative from Virginia.Born in Clarksburg, Virginia , Lewis attended local schools and Ohio University at Athens....
: news director WCAX, Burlington, Vermont. Admitted to Communist ties.
November subpoenas
This is a list of other newspaper employees who were subpoenaed and testified in November 1955 due to Burdett's June testimony.- James GlaserJames GlaserJames Glaser was a copy editor at the New York Post and also spent time working at the New York Times. During his tenure at the Times he was an active member of the Communist Party. Glaser was called before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in Jan...
: a New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
copy editor. - Clayton KnowlesClayton KnowlesClayton Knowles worked as the Washington correspondent for The New York Times from 1943-1971. He became an established and well respected journalist during that time.- Testimony in the Senate :...
: a New York Times Washington correspondent from 1947 to 1954. - Benjamin FineBenjamin FineBenjamin Fine was an American journalist and author. He worked at The New York Times from 1938 to 1958. Fine was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts and died while on vacation in Puson, South Korea.- Early years :...
: New York Times education editor. - Alden WhitmanAlden WhitmanAlden Whitman was an American journalist. He worked at The New York Times where he pioneered writing personalized obituaries. He is also known for his testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee...
: New York Times copy editor. - Seymour PeckSeymour PeckSeymour Peck was an American journalist. He is well known for his testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. He was married to Susan Peck and they lived together for more than 25 years in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York- Work at The New York Times :Seymour Peck was hired by the New...
: New York Times employee. - Robert Shelton: New York Times copy editor.
- Jack Shafer: New York Times foreign desk copy editor.
- Nathan AleskovskyNathan AleskovskyNathan Aleskovsky was an employee of The New York Times in the 1950s. He worked as an assistant to the editor of the New York Times Book Review. In January 1956 he was forced to testify before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, chaired by James O. Eastland, after being fingered in fellow...
: assistant editor of the Times Sunday Book Review section. - Samuel WeissmanSamuel WeissmanSamuel Weissman was a long time New York Times employee. He worked as the supervisor of indexers at the Times. He was one of 26 New York Times employees implicated by Winston Burdett in his testimony before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee during its investigation into Communism in the...
: supervisor of indexers for the New York Times Index. - Matilda LandsmanMatilda LandsmanMatilda Landsman was a New York Times employee in the 1950s. She was subpoenaed by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in November 1955 during their investigation into Communists in the media. She was one of 34 news media employees to be subpoenaed by the Senate after the testimony of...
: New York Times stenographer and secretary. - Jerry ZalphJerry ZalphJerry Zalph was an American journalist. He spent many years as the chief proofreader of The New York Times. He is also remembered for being one of many journalists implicated as Communists during the 1950s.- Other work :...
: New York Times proofreader. - Otto Albertson: New York Times proofreader.
- John T. McManusJohn T. McManusJohn Thomas McManus was an American journalist active in progressive politics in the 1950s and 1960s best known as co-founder of the National Guardian, a left-leaning newspaper....
: general manager of the independent left-wing weekly National Guardian, New York Times employee from 1921-1937. - James AronsonJames AronsonJames Aronson was an American journalist. He founded the left-leaning National Guardian. He was a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.- Work before the Guardian :...
: executive editor of the National Guardian, New York Times employee in 1946-48. - Richard 0. Boyer: freelancer who contributed profiles to The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and wrote for the Daily WorkerDaily WorkerThe Daily Worker was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, some attempts were made to make it appear that the paper reflected a...
. - William A. PriceWilliam A. PriceWilliam A. Price was an American journalist who worked as the United Nations correspondent and, later, police reporter for the New York Daily News from 1940-1955...
: New York Daily News police reporter. Price lost his job as a result of his testimony. - Dan MahoneyDan MahoneyDan Mahoney was an Irish-American journalist who was investigated in the 1950s by Joseph McCarthy and James Eastland for possible Communist activities and party membership....
: a rewriter for the New York Daily MirrorNew York Daily MirrorThe New York Daily Mirror was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the Evening Journal and New York American, later consolidated into the New York Journal...
.
Personal life and death
Burdett's first wife was Italian anti-fascist journalist, Lea SchiaviLea Schiavi
Lea Schiavi was an Italian anti-fascist journalist. She was married to American war journalist Winston Burdett. She died in the line of duty at the hands of Russian soldiers.- The Murder :...
. She was murdered in 1942 and Burdett attributed her murder to his decision to leave the Communist Party and stop spying for them. In 1945 he married Giorgina Nathan. He also had two children, Cristina and Richard. Winston Burdett died on May 19, 1993 after a long illness.
Awards
- 1959 Overseas Press ClubOverseas Press ClubThe Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
Award: For his 1958coverage of the death of Pope Pius XIIPope Pius XIIThe Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
and the subsequent election of Pope John XXIIIPope John XXIII-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
. - 1966 Sigma Delta Chi AwardSigma Delta Chi AwardThe Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists for excellence in journalism.- History :The Awards, according to the SPJ, did not begin in 1932 when the society chose six individuals for their contributions to journalism. In 1939 the awards program began...
: For distinguished service in journalism.
Further reading
- Hearing before the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, 84th Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 17, at 1587 (1956).
- "Strategy and Tactics of World Communism - Recruiting for Espionage". Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, Committee on the JudiciaryUnited States Senate Committee on the JudiciaryThe United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary is a standing committee of the United States Senate, of the United States Congress. The Judiciary Committee, with 18 members, is charged with conducting hearings prior to the Senate votes on confirmation of federal judges nominated by the...
, United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, 84th Congress, 1st Session, June 28 and 29, 1955.
External links
- "Winston Burdett Speaking with James Eastland", (PhotographPhotographA photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
- Image of Burdett), corbisimages.comCorbisCorbis Corporation is an American company, based in Seattle, Washington, that licenses the rights to photographs, footage and other visual media...
, June 29, 1955, accessed February 13, 2011. - FBI file on Winston Burdett