Finnegan's UE research files

Deposited within Finnegan's UE research files are Carey's reference files on the subject of communism and the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) that span the period 1933-1957. Issues revolving around domestic communism during the 1950s are given more extensive coverage than the previous decades. Press clippings (Daily Worker), articles, reports, publications, affidavits, statements, excerpts of Carey's testimony before various House and Senate committee hearings, speeches, and leaflets are among the diverse primary sources documenting the Communist Party's relationship with the UE and organized labor.

This material is supplemented by general reference material on CPUSA activities with regard to domestic politics (Progressive Party), foreign diplomacy (opposition to the Marshall Plan), and civil liberty issues arising from internal security legislation and loyalty programs associated with the McCarthy Era. Finnegan collated reference and biographical material on UE leaders and the union's alleged ties to suspected communist-front organizations. This subseries also contains FBI photographs of CPUSA chairman Gus Hall and other party leaders implicated by the federal government for violation of the Smith Act (The Dennis Case). Files pertaining to the Humphrey Committee investigation of communist infiltration of unions in 1952 document Carey's and Finnegan's role in providing key evidence linking the UE and CPUSA. Through contact with Gardner Jackson, Carey received information from a New York Post journalist Oliver Pilat documenting alleged communist espionage activities within vital defense plants (GE Schenectady) linked to the atomic energy industry. Such information was passed on to the Senate (Humphrey) committee. This cooperation strengthened the IUE's liberal anti-communist credentials as it sought to minimize the legislative backlash against trade unions resulting from the hearings. These files include several letters from Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and his staff citing the cooperation and effectiveness of the IUE in its effort to discredit the UE.