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3500 COMMUNISM IN HOLLYWOOD MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY Mr. Tavenner. I show you photostatic copies of several pages from the September 1939 issue of Soviet Russia Today. Page 24 contains the text of an open letter calling for closer cooperation with the Soviet Union. Will you examine the document and state whether your name appears on page 25? Mr. Odets. Yes, sir; my name is there. Mr. Tavenner. Will you tell the committee who solicited your signature to that letter and the circumstances under which it was obtained? Mr. Odets. Again you have my word, Mr. Tavenner, that I have no memory of this at all. Mr. Tavenner. I show you a letterhead of the United Office and Professional Workers of America, local 16, dated February 1, 1940. This is a committee sponsoring the fifth annual stenographers' ball. Your name appears thereon as one of the sponsors. Will you tell the committee who solicited your sponsorship and the circumstances. Mr. Odets. I am going to guess it was some stenographer. I don't know. Mr. Tavenner. Are you acquainted with local 16 of the Profes- sional Workers? Mr. Odets. No, I don't know what that is. No, I don't know what that is, Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Tavenner. Local 16 is a group that has been rather notorious in its activities as a part of the larger organization which was ex- pelled by the CIO because of its Communist Party activities. Mr. Odets. I don't know about that, nothing about that. Mr. Tavenner. I show you a pamphlet entitled "Youngville, U. S. A." published by the American Youth Congress. Your name appears therein as a member of the National Advisory Committee. "Will you tell the committee the circumstances of your membership on the National Advisory Committee of this organization? Mr. Odets. I can't, sir. You throw me for a loss. You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know about this. Mr. Tavenner. Well, will you examine it closely enough to refresh your recollection, if you can? Mr. Odets. No, I remember the name of the organization, the American Youth Congress. In fact, I think at that time it was the leading youth congress in the country. And again I remember it as a very broad front outfit. I see the advisory committee is a very broad one. Mr. Tavenner. You do recall, do you not, that the organization has been cited by the Attorney General as a front organization. Mr. Odets. No, this is my first knowledge of that, the fact that you say so. Mr. Tavenner. The Daily Worker of March 5, 1941, carries a statement in defense of the Communist Party. I hand it to you so you may examine it. I want to read a part of this statement. It is in this language. Consequently, we, who are not Communists, whose concern goes beyond the preservation of their constitutional rights to the maintenance of the democratic way of life as a road into future, urge you, the President, to exercise your authority and influence, to prevent those under you from stimulating un- American actions against Communists by undemocratic utterances.