Communism in Washington State 
History and Memory Project 

Clip #1 - Discovering Communism while in graduate school  at the University of Washington in 1938. 

Clip #2 - Going underground for 14 months in early 1950s

Clip #3 - Returning to Seattle and fighting HUAC 

B.J. Mangaoang

Former Chair, Washington State Communist Party 1975-2000.

Born in Bellevue Washington in 1915, B.J. (Baba Jeanne) Mangaoang grew up in the Seattle area, attended the University of Washington and joined the Communist Party while in graduate school in 1938.  Her interview covers her early life, how she came to join the Party, and her work with the Washington Commonwealth Federation in the late 1930's and 1940's. In the early 50's she went underground and in her interview describes the confusions and difficulties of that experience. She also talks about her work in recent decades which includes her service as Party chair and her candidacy for governor in 1988. 

Clip #1 - "I've been a worker all my life." Her work in child care and the importance of unions.

Clip #2 - Party work at age 15 in the 1940s

Clip #3 - The activities of  Red Squad of the Seattle Police Department in the early 1950s

Lonnie Nelson

Lonnie Nelson was born in  Seattle. Her father, Burt Nelson, was a Party member and had helped organize the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union in the 1930s. Lonnie joined the Party in 1951 and has been active ever since. She details her involvement with many different issues and causes, especially civil rights and Indian rights struggles, Central District organizing, the Coalition for the Defense of the Rights of the Black Panther Party, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Mothers for Police Accountability.

Clip #1 - Growing up in a Communist family

Clip #2 - Attending a CP summer camp in the 1960s

Clip #3 - Joining the Young Worker's Liberation League in 1970

Clip #4 - Going to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade

Clip #5 - The difficulties of interacting with the New Left

Clip #6 - The lingering effects of McCarthyism on the Party and the issue of secrecy

Clip #7 - The difficulty recruiting new members and current revitalization plans

Marc Brodine

Chair, Washington State Communist Party 2001-Present, National Committee member.

Born in St. Louis in 1952, his parents were both active Party members. Marc moved to Seattle with them in 1968. The  interview covers his membership in  the Young Communist League and activities in the anti-war movement , his trip to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigade, his later union  work with WFSE local 1488. Most importantly, he talks at length about Party activities from the late 1960s to the present, discussing issues ranging from the long-term effects of McCarthyism to the problems of interacting with the New Left and recruiting new members.

The interview was conducted by Paul Landis and Marian Spath in Seattle, February 25, 2002. Click on the "clips" to the left. 

Clip #1 - Joining the Party and working in the shipyards

Clip #2 - Selling Party literature and trying to recruit new members

Clip #3 - Helping to start the Coalition of Labor Union Women in 1974

Irene Hull

Born in Kansas, raised in California, Irene Hull came to Washington in 1942 to work in the Vancouver shipyards. Later a childcare worker, a cook, and a bookbinder, she spent a lifetime in the labor movement and was one of the founding members of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. She joined the Party in 1942 but was expelled in the early 1950s over political differences. She joined again in the late 1960s and has been a member ever since. The interview covers work experiences since the 1930s, activism in Graphic Communications Workers local 767M, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Jobs with Justice, as well as the CP.

The interview was conducted by  Stephanie Curwick and Brian Grijalva in Seattle, March 12, 2002. Click on the "clips" to the left. 

Clip #1 - Going to Moscow in 1935 for the Comintern's 7th World Congress

Clip #2 - Two more years in the Soviet Union

Clip #3 - The meaning of the Hitler-Stalin pact

Clip #4 - Estimating peak membership in the Washington state communist party

James West

Born in New York City in 1914, the son of a shoemaker and a garment worker, Jim West joined the Young Communist League at age 15 and soon after served his first jail term for picketing. He talks about his work with YCL in the early 1930s and  two years studying in the Soviet Union, as well as his years in Seattle as Northwest organizer for the YCL (1937-1942).  He also discusses his work in  the shipyards and describes  some of the Party leaders from that time.

The interview was conducted by Gordon Black and Brian Grijalva in Seattle, April 8, 2002. Click on the "clips" to the left.