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Nestor, Barbara (audio interview #9 of 10)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This eighth interview with Barbara Nestor took place more than six weeks after the previous one, after she recovered from a severe case of the flu. In contrast to previous interviews, there was some evidence of poorer hearing as well as a memory problem. She also seemed to have difficulty grasping the questions. Her voice sounds mumbled on the first side of the tape (8a) and there are skips in the recording in a few segments on the second side (8b). 2/25/1975
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- 2021-01-21
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- SUBJECT BIO - Barbara Nestor, the mother of Dorothy Healey (former chair, Southern California District, CPUSA), was a radical activist in her own right. Born in Hungary, she was raised first in St. Louis and then in Denver, Colorado. She became a socialist when she was only sixteen, and joined the Socialist Party in 1915. During WWI, she engaged in anti-war agitation. In 1919, when the Communist Party was formed in the US, she joined. After moving to Oakland, California in 1921 with her husband, Joe Rosenblum, and her children, she maintained a high level of activity, particularly with the International Labor Defense, and often risked arrest. She did not re-join the Communist Party until 1936, five years after she moved to Los Angeles. The interviews about the Los Angeles years detail the kind of rank and file organizing in which she engaged. Nestor's oral history sheds light both on her own thinking and on the influence she had on the development of her children's radicalism. Her interviews also reveal a great deal about her relationship with her daughter, Dorothy Healey and her grandson, Richard, for whom she had primary caretaking responsibilities, especially during the 1950s and the Smith Act trials. TOPICS - experiences with and impression of Jane Fonda; activities during World War II; composition and activities of southwest section of the CP; defections from CP; raising Richard Healey; and experiences selling the People's World door to door;continued discussion on experiences selling People's World door to door; the Progressive Party; McCarthyism; underground status of CP; arrest of Dorothy Healey; care of Richard Healey and his reaction to his mother's arrest;
- *** File: refbnestor20.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:54)... Tape introduction (1:54-7:40)... The interview begins abruptly with a discussion of her children. Nestor sings a song during the interview about a mother's perspective in sending her son to war. Nestor recalls that this song was popular before entrance into WWI, but that one risked arrest if they sang it during the war. However, this did not stop Nestor from occasionally singing this ballad. She describes a visit from Jane Fonda, who Nestor admired very much. Although a return visit was discussed, when Fonda married Tom Hayden she did not return because Hayden was an anti-Communist. It disappointed Nestor that Fonda would allow someone to restrict her activities. (7:40-13:00)... Nestor discusses the position of the CP during WWII, and its involvement in numerous demonstrations in support of the war. There was a lot of activity occurring behind the scenes involving the status of Czechoslovakia. (13:00-20:24)... In Los Angeles, Nestor was a member of the southwest chapter of the party, which consisted of approximately sixteen members. She recalls that during the war, people finally began to feel that anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union had been dealt a serious blow because the Jewish population was the first to enlist in the fight against the Nazis. However, it was not until Dorothy visited the Soviet Union in 1961 and met with former inmates of Joseph Stalin's camps that she learned of the atrocities. They questioned Dorothy as to why the American Communist Party supported Stalin and she admitted that they did not know these camps existed. It was not until quite some time into the war that she learned of the Nazi concentration camps. She did not know how much the party knew because they did not publish any information about the existence of these camps. She recalls reading the (Jacques) DuClos (French communist leader) letter and letters from prisoners, which exposed Stalin's abuses; however, the party objected to these letters and advised people that the information was incorrect. (20:24-25:39)... In addition to the members in the Southwest Section, there was a large group of communist sympathizers who could be called upon. Nestor discusses some of the activities of the southwest chapter. The Soviet Union and the party advocated that all resources and activities be focused on the "front." She recalls that most of the party mandates were handed down from the New York district. When Nikita Khrushchev came to power, most of the members of the southwest chapter supported him and stayed with the party. She recalls that the major defection occurred when twenty-two members of the party left, including Celeste Strack, who was a member of the Hollywood section of the party. Nestor discusses Celeste's contributions to the party. (25:39-31:26)... Most of Nestor's social ties and friends were with the comrades in the Southwest Section. of the Communist Party. She discusses her political beliefs, indicating that communism is a very prominent and domineering force in her life. She recounts several examples of confrontations with party members, stemming both her openness to hearing different viewpoints and her tendency to criticize and question party policies. (31:26-38:12)... Nestor talks about composition of her Southwest Section of the Communist Party. Most in the group never really criticized the party line and went along with whatever the Soviet Union advocated. When the twenty-two Communists defected from the party, Dorothy remained friends with many of them and was often chided for association with what the party deemed as enemies. The Southwest Section often sponsored fundraising events. At one of these events, a woman introduced Nestor as a leader because of her long standing association with the party. This bothered her because she did not view herself as a leader, but as a typical "Jimmy Higgins." However, as a charter member of the party she did garner a higher status. (38:12-41:34)... Eight months after giving birth to Richard, Dorothy was asked to work as the head of the United Mine Mill and Smelter Workers. Leaders in the union asked Nestor if she would care for Richard so that Dorothy could take on this position. She was able to continue her political activities because she and Dan (Fedya) coordinated their schedule so that one or the other of them was with Richard at all times. Although Dan was also a party member, he was in a different section so they did not have conflicting schedules. Caring for Richard was very different than when she took a leave of absence from the party to care for her own children. At that time, her children were very young and unable to care for themselves, and she did not have access to childcare. She typically sold the People's World door to door on Saturday or Sunday. Although she disliked this form of fundraising, she was very good at explaining the movement to people and always sold papers during her outings. end of tape *** File: refbnestor21.mp3 (0:00-3:35)... In this segment, Nestor continues discussing her activities in the Communist Party and her experiences selling the People's World. Most of her activity occurred on the weekends and she mainly visited people outside her immediate neighborhood. The party generally did not think that organizing in one's own neighborhood was a good idea. She believes that this unofficial policy was applied to her more than anyone else because Dorothy was the acting secretary of the Communist Party at the time. (3:35-6:14)... Note: there are several skips in the recording in this segment. Nestor usually sold no more than ten copies of the People's World when she visited neighborhoods. She typically told people that it was a paper devoted to worker's interests. She was generally well received, but if people disagreed, she engaged in discussions about their differences. On the average, she visited approximately twenty homes in the course of a day. If she encountered someone who was interested in the movement, but could not afford to buy the paper she gave it to them for free. (6:14-14:38)... Following WWII and the reorganization of the party, Nestor's dislike for Stalin grew and she lost even more faith in the Soviet Union. The party supported the formation of the Progressive Party and she attended several meetings to learn about its platform. Although she viewed the Progressive Party as a stepping stone, she claims that Dorothy thought that it was a Communist Party stooge. Nestor, on the other hand, viewed it as a new popular front. She describes the arguments she used when she canvassed approximately 300 homes to speak to people about the Progressive Party and Henry A. Wallace. Many people expressed disdain for Thomas E. Dewey and were inclined to vote for Harry S. Truman in the 1948 presidential election. She believes that the Progressive Party did not enter the political scene at the best time and did not afford itself enough time to garner a broad base of support. (14:38-19:13)... Note: there are several skips in the recording within this segment. Nestor contends that in the 1930s the Communist Party was very influential in gaining support for many of the social policies passed during the New Deal. The peak of the party's popularity was in WWII. In retrospect, she believes that the party began to lose support and members following the war. The factional struggles between William Z. Foster and Earl Browder hampered support for the party both in and outside its ranks. She believes that these conflicts led people to doubt the purity of the party. (19:13-23:31)... Nestor believes that the fascists were in control of the political climate in 1949-50, and she was concerned for Dorothy's safety. She repeats the incident when five men approached Dorothy at a speaking engagement and threatened to kill her if they were instructed to do by their leaders. She does not see any differences between the Palmer Raids of 1919-20 and the Smith Act of 1950, indicating that both periods were representative of sinister policies. She discusses her attitudes towards the military and their ability to coordinate with government representatives in financing the destruction of human lives. (23:31-31:04)... She viewed the 1949-50 period as a fascist take over with a militaristic tone, and feared for Dorothy's safety, believing that neither prison nor moving to another country would provide her with any real shelter or form of protection. (31:04-36:07)... Nestor recounts the circumstances surrounding Dorothy's arrest. In preparation, Nestor took Richard to a colony in New Mexico so that he would not see his mother being arrested. When Nestor explained to Richard that his mother had been arrested he exclaimed, "You know, if you guys haven't gotten a revolution yet, when I grow up I'm going to be just like my mother and fight capitalism because I hate it too." Although, Richard was prohibited from visiting his mother in jail, he was allowed to sit in the courtroom during her trial. Nestor recounts Dorothy's befriending of a prostitute in jail who initially opposed Dorothy's radicalism and threatened to kill her. When Dorothy was arrested, Nestor was not optimistic and believed that she would end up getting a prison sentence. (36:07-41:02)... Regarding the Communist Party's attempts to go underground during the 1950s, Nestor argues that there was really no way of hiding from the fascists; any government corrupt enough to enact such policies was also capable of finding underground organizations. Nestor believed that the best defense in Dorothy's trial would be to put her on the stand to speak for herself. end of tape
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