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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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You would notice them because it was always the same two or three men who would bring it back to what somebody had else had said earlier. All the rest of them had forgotten what somebody else had said earlier. When they would go out, after having a meeting in somebody's room, I noticed that it was around these two or three men that the others clustered, obviously looking for their cues. They recognized these three bright men as men who were brighter than they were, who could think quicker, who could think of something very good to say.

We thought very little about it. I just recognized them and their sophistication and said to myself, “These are Commies. How did they get in on this.”

It was shortly after that that the AF of L sent Bill Collins out as an organizer. Collins, although an old streetcar conductor, was a good union man. When he came into town, he came to see me. I asked him how things were going and he said, “You know, I think there's quite a handful of Commies out there.”

I said, “Do you really? Out in Detroit?”

It was the first time I'd heard that.

I said, “How do you make it out?”





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