Its a thrill to see where you've come from, no? I've recently been given another chunk of my family history. My grandmother's dad, my great grandfather was a land agent for the city of Atlanta for 30 years. Aquiring land for some of the most prominent sites in the city today. He went to law school when he was 50 to aid him in his service. He was kind, and was noted for his diplomacy, fairness and sensitivity when aquiring land. he never once used "eminent domain". "Thats a bad policy, to threaten. Diplomacy is the main requisite. I wouldnt take anything in the world for the new friends I've made. I can't say there is a person who, if I met them on the street, I'd have to have any cause to want to dodge him or her" Anyway, here's a link to two newspaper articles about him. One noting his duties in 1951 and another with the Mayor on his retirement in 1964. http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=accustat&album_id=148538 double click the images so you can read the text. There are some other pictures of my grandparents and grand uncles in this gallery, but I won't bore you about them. Do you have any images or stories of your family that make you all warm and fuzzy inside? Anything, you deem prominent or significant in history, no matter how local?

I don't have copies of the article nor do I know how to get my hands on one at this point. Great Great Great Uncle I think, came over from Ireland to the US during the potato famine. He kept a journal of everything that happened on his way to the US. All that happened on the ship, once he got here. That journal is now part of the historical society in Indiana. They once printed part of his journal during the trip here. The diseases on the ship, the people dying, fighting for survival, and what they did to the people on this big ship coming here in a last ditch effort to survive. It was really cool to read. Too bad I don't know where it is.

patrick,yes i do,if i have a verbal war of words with a turk,[as i do,now and then]i can allways say 800 YEARS AGO,THE LITHUANIAN ARMY GAVE THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE THE BIGGEST KICK UP THE ASS ITS EVER HAD]this rather tends to piss them off.

No warm fuzzy stories, but my mother's father is renowned in the family for being able to talk his way into and out of anything, and he's still a mostly decent guy. If you ever need to do something that's slightly illegal or unsavory to benefit yourself but doesn't really hurt anyone, he'll help you out... I think it warms his heart to see other people try to buck the system. For example, he let me lie and say I lived with him in Las Vegas so that I was able to get a Nevada driver's license (having failed the PA driver's test 3 times). And he told me he got his license in the '30s by bribing the cop who gave him the road test. That's my grandpa! He'll be 93 on Friday -- I'd better get him a card...

Oh - I forgot. I've mentioned here before about my grandfather being one of the US soldiers who liberated Buchenwald, and the little boy in the camp who had been hidden by his father (whom my grandfather photographed). If you go to the Holocaust Museum in DC and you get to the end where there are video monitors showing footage of the liberation of the different camps, you can see the little boy (Joseph Schleifstein -- here's a picture and here's a little article) in the footage of Buchenwald.

My great grand father on my father's side was one of the first to work for the Army Balloon Signal Corps

i love that story spider, about the Buchenwald boy. spunk, have any old newspaper clippings or photos of your family regarding that?

I wish my uncle would get off his ass and scan the pictures of the boy my grandpa took and the pictures from when the two of them met a couple years ago, so I could show them to you. They're neat.

Oh, I wasn't even thinking of family that closely related. My Grandfather was one of the designers and built the Surveyor (the first satellite the us put into space). My Mom has the blueprints of it in the original tube and everything. My Mother and her twin sister spent one evening sitting on each side of Ronald Reagan (during his movie days) and that was in the paper. He picked them out of a crowd and invited them. I think it was the blonde haired blue eyed twins thing, he thought it would be good for publicity. My youngest Aunt, when Reagan was running for office the first times, was standing in a group of supporters with signs. He was walking along this group and was photographed taking a picture of him and my aunt. Apparently this one picture did a great thing to boost how he was seen by the public and greatly helped him getting elected to Governor or whatever it was then. I bet she's really happy about that now....hehehehe. Oh, and that picture was on the cover of People Magazine. My Grandmother was a professional singer, on the radio, before tv. She used to sing in a live radio show from Notre Dame every weekend. She did this even after she got married and had children, but only my Uncle is old enough to actually remember her singing. Oh, and my cousin recently had an embarrassing moment during the audition phases of the reality show "Fame". They didn't mention her name, though. I just thought it was funny seeing her there.

pictures? articles?

I don't actually have my hands on the pictures or articles. My Aunt Elaine has the copy of People Magazine that my other aunt was on with Ronnie. My Mom and her twin have the pictures of them at dinner hidden somewhere they won't get out. There weren't pictures or articles about my Grandma cuz she was on the radio. My Mom has all of the stuff about my Grandfather locked up (cuz everyone else in the family wants to steal it from her). Maybe one day I will be able to track down that article about that relative of mine coming over from Ireland, but not just yet. Boy would I love to get my hands on a copy of that journal.

let this thread serve as a reminder to have your family scan the shit your family does have because paper only lasts so long.

I have a cousin a couple times removed who was the voice of the Grand Ol Opry, another cousin a couple times removed that was the baby in the Popeye movie, and a great great grandfather and great great great grandfather who were in the Confederate forces (The g-g-g grandfather was killed in the siege of Atlanta). And an extreme great-grandfather came over in 1620 to Virginia as the governor's aide. This is all on my grandmother's side. On my grandfather's side, I just learned at the family reunion last weekend that we may have a town in West Virginia named after the family (Sewell, apparently a ghost town now) and that one of our relatives in Virginia (West Virginia? it was pre-civil war) ran a ferry and lived in a hollow tree at the town site. He went there to settle on the advice of a lunatic, according to the county history, and was later killed by marauding Indians.

I have heard of that town Sem. Don't remember where. I am seeing a red/blue haze in my brain at the moment. There was a town named after my granfather's side of the family in Scotland, after they immigrated from Italy. It's called Gygi. Apparently for years and years everyone in that town was a Gygi and had that same last name, so if you ever go to Gygi, Scotland you are bound to run into distant family members. I also have a great uncle that was murdered by Al Capone. Have a couple of pictures of him, but it wasn't in the paper, as Al Capone killed so many people during that time it wasn't concidered newsworthy. I don't have a scanner, or I would scan the pics of my great uncle Frank for you guys.

going forwards.hundreds of years,another of the old great great grandfathers was on the front line fighting Napoleon,on the side of the Russians.

semillama,perhaps one of your old folks,and one of my old folks,split a bottle of vodka together on a frozen battle field in Russia,i like to think so.best regards.

That's quite possible, since Lithuania is a small country...if only Great-Grandpa hadn't changed the family name, and if only anybody could freakin' remember what it used to be...

On my paternal grandmom's side, one of my ancestors is Ulysses S Grant. On my paternal grandfather's side, one ancestor was in the Tennessee legislature. He was the last man in the state house when the Union army came to town in the Civil War. He was a Union supporter, so he happily surrendered the state to the Union. :) This same guy was also a doctor on the Trail of Tears.

if its KUCHECK OR KULACOFSKI then you my brother.[if my father were alive,he would give you the correct spelling]he spoke russian,polish,lithuanian,english,greek and italian.[not bad for a boy that left school at 13].i suggest you track down all your old relations,AND PUMP THEM FOR ALL INFORMATION BEFORE THEY DIE.i got a lot of my information from a very old aunt in Michigen.regards,[bro]?

my mom's father's father (my great granfather) was Holland's emersary (spelling...) to Greece. They were pretty rich, so when the war came my grandfather had been so sheltered that it really messed him up, he fought for the resistance in Holland, started drinking and never recovered. He married my grandmother, moved to canada and became a finance minister for the province of .... i think it was Sask.? Eventually the Premier (a premier is the same as a senator) called him into his office to talk about him being drunk all the time. They had a slight argument which my grandfather ended by throwing a large glass paperweight at the premier's head. Mom's family had to leave the province. I would know more about this, but no-one will talk about it. --- My dad worked at a recording studio in the late 70s. He worked his way up to manager and got to work with many big artists of the time. One night he was filling in for someone else, while they were recording Elton John's half of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". After a perfect taping, he went to play it back, hit the wrong button, and ended up erasing the entire thing. Elton John had to do it all over again. So i get a little smirk whenever i hear that song. When dad left the studio for good they said he could take any memento he wanted, so he took the gold record for that song. It hangs on our living room wall.

oh,shit, i forgot,this last bit is for SEMILLAMA.

there must be grandiose and interesting things in my future cause there aren't very many in my past my great aunt carried a rifle in the back seat of her car, just in case. i think that's pretty cool.

waitwait! except- i'm a viking. and my later family freed the scots. ah. good job.

no,not wispers message,MY MESSAGE.[this thread is getting amazingly popular.]

heather,can you slow your key board down a bit,i cant keep up.

heather,is LAPIS also Viking?i know she has horns on the head,[but is very nice in an elfish sort of way]

Apparently way the hell back somewhere, my great uncle cousin of some sorts was related to or was Kaiser Bill. Can't ask Nana cause she's gone now, might have to check with mum. My entire family came from either Corwall (Martyn's side), or England (Mum's side). Surely we must be news royalty somewhere along the line? After all I'm so very bloody fabulous. heh

moonit,like i say,check out the old folks before they die,otherwise,your history is history.best regards.

I have a distant relative name Leroy who is retired and travels the world learning as much as he can about our family history (on the Gygi side). He used to stop by my Grandmother's on his travels, just to keep in touch and sometimes I saw him when he would come to visit. I don't know how to get in touch with him now. I mean, since he retired he doesn't have a "residence" with a phone number I could leave him a message at. It's sad when you lose touch with those who know your family roots. My Grandmother and Grandfather (on my Dad's side) met during WWII. My Grandmother was a german who was fighting against the Nazi party and my Grandfather an american. They married in secret and she moved to Cali and they raised 8 kids together. In the end he was an alcoholic, and she was so flighty she was often called a "polok" by her kids. She died in her early 50's (I guess, cuz she always lied about her age and I never knew how old she was) of a stroke from her heart disease related to drinking red wines somehow but I was young and don't really know. He died when I was 16, alone, in northern Cali in a trailer. Nothing they did ever made the news. But they were very active in their catholic church, where I graduated from in 1988, and their home built in 1939 still stands in Torrance, though my dad sold it a long time ago.

eri,what is POLOK is it german word?i only speak english,a bit of lithuaniun,less russian,and even less yiddish,pardon my ignorance,yet i am told i speak allmost perfect swedish.

Polok is an english work, a slang term for Polish people insinuating stupidity. Actually my ex husbands family is polish, and they make fun if the term a lot. I remember I went over there for a party once and I saw this stick standing up on a stand and in the middle of the stick was a hole with a lock going through it (like I used to use for my gym locker). I looked at Jim and asked him what it was and his blue eyes sparkled with mirth and said "It's a Pole-lock".

moonie who is Kaiser Bill? is that another name for some Kaiser Wilhelm, of some German reich im not recalling? You gotta realize, we get zilch in NZ history overhere.

My Great Grandmother was a direct decendant of Leif Eriksson... you know, the Viking that "discoverd" America. His brother Thorvald is supposedly the first European to have died and been buried in North America. Heather, could we be distant relatives?

hey. Pam. you gotta a newspaper clipping or photo? ayeeeee i kill me. when I started this thread, I was hoping people could provide online, or scanned documents, tales, histories and such. Documents. Not because I don't believe you. I just wanted to see old pictures. Maybe thats a high expectation. Because Im realizing, simply saying "Im related to so and so and my great x15 uncle twice removed was Ghingis Kahn's towel boy" etc etc etc is really annoying.

I could scan a $50 bill for you, if you like... How's this?

Motherfucker's got my nose.

I don't have a scanner. No one else is in San Antonio. Otherwise I would have a couple of pics, though I don't have the newspaper stuff here, or the blueprints and stuff. That's scattered all over the country.

bitch

not you eri. the tigster with his Carvel Presidents Day cake as a family heirloom.

Actually Patrick, I am working on getting my family tree from a relative in Sweden. I don't know if that would be good enough... I don't think there are any pictures of him period... but I could get you a picture of my great grandmother. Any items that he may have passed down through the family I'm sure turned to dust a long time ago. Did you know that October 9th is Leif Eriksson day?

check out your yahoo e-mail Patrick,was my mom hot or not?

totally

This is my third cousin. My grandfather grew up in this guy's house in NYC. Frank Favorini, the guy on the left in the top left picture, was my great-uncle and former head of the CIA's NYC division. (Or something. No one in the family knew what his job was until long after he retired, so details are fuzzy.) He passed away a couple of years ago, unfortunately -- he was an amazingly kind, funny man. This is my great-uncle John's medical practice. He saw lots of actors and singers as patients in the '50s and '60s. Elvis gave him a Cadillac. Corita Kent was an artist, nun, and my grandmother's cousin. She designed one of the "LOVE" postage stamps, which you can see here along with a really nice article about her life and work. Corita Kent's story is probably the most heartwarming one in my family. I'm glad you asked this question, Patrick -- I learned a lot about it her from my Google search.

Here are photos of Corita herself and a little bio.

thats the spirit spider. very cool. on my birthday several years ago, when nico rented a limo and we drove around LA going to stripper joints and smoking ridiculous amounts of dope, this CD was in the player in the back of the limo, as a friend had just gotten it and was playing it over and over. In particular, that song, Never There. Thats what I think of when I think of Cake. What happened to that Caddy Elvis gave your unkie?

My I can't count all the great's grandfather was a captain under George Washington in the Revolutionary War he came from Ireland his name was John Cox.My dad documented this and joined the S.A.R. I guess I could be in the D.A.R,plus darn my mom for sending the original to someone in the family but I have a copy of a letter from another great g g g g g whatever grandfather from the civil war and he was writing about catching a yankee with no pants on and if you thought my spelling is bad you should see his:) My dad said at the time that the yankees had money for cooler uniforms and the yank must have had on something like shorts. I'll look for it and scan it to you.

she looks like a man in those photos spider. no offense, but...you know. she does. in the othe portrait she looks lovely, but the nun outfit doesnt become her.

Patrick, go to this site -- http://www.corita.org/ -- and click on "About Corita" at the very top. Not only will you see a much nicer picture, but a left frame appears that contains links to tons of her artwork. This is so cool! I have to show my mom. Hey, the Art Center is in LA....is it near you?

One more thing -- I think it's so neat that she says <<She began adding words to her designs because, she said, "I have been nuts about words and their shape since I was very young.">> because that's exactly how I feel. This is why my favorite artist is Jenny Holzer, who is basically a graphic writer, and why I use words/phrases/sentences in my own art.

One MORE thing -- I think my uncle sold Elvis' Cadillac. I'll ask my mom.

. Art Center is an affluent Art College in Pasadena. However, reading more closely, I see the Corita Art Center at Immaculate Heart IS nearby. I drive by it everyday to work. Its a school and catholic center right in Hollywood. I always grumble driving by it because it can be congested with parents dropping kids off for school. Now you have a worthwhile reason to come to LA!

Heh heh heh... Well, I do have a family reunion in Las Vegas this October, and I was planning on staying longer than the party. Maybe I can swing by...

hey its your family history sister. if it were my family, id check it out. LA is about a 3+hour drive from Vegas. (why Vegas?)

Because that's where much of the brood lives. My mom was just out there for my cousin's wedding...I haven't seen a lot of my cousins in over 5 years, and she says that most of them haven't changed a bit -- they're still acting about 5 years younger than their biological ages. Can't wait to see them. *sigh*

this is my Uncle Carl on the deck of the Queen Mary (or so we think). He served as a gunner on the Queen Mary once it was converted to a war ship/troopcarrier/hospital. He subsequently died while serving after a fall on deck left him with some sort of tumor or swelling in his head or something to that effect. Today it sits in the Long Beach Harbor We've stayed a night there. Its supposed to be haunted. I wondered if my Uncle Carl was one of the ghosts. We experienced nothing thought.

first one asks for username and password

last week in carmel I stayed in a supposedly haunted mansion. http://www.pebble-beach-real-estate.com/index.cfm?PageID=1023 I didn't experience anything, either, though.

It looks like an enchanted cottage,how was your stay? Why is it suppose to be haunted?

god dammit. http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=accustat&album_id=148538 you'll see the image labeled "Uncle Carl" double click to enlarge. how did you bubby's gig go c?

it's supposed to be haunted because a little boy died in one of the bedrooms. my host, TC (the large-faced man featured on this page: http://www.billyzanemuseum.com/Life/ToddCollins.html), set up a ouija board and some marbles on teh floor in that room. he says that he's never seen actually movement happening, he has sometimes noticed that movement has occurred.

I LOVE HOT WOMEN, HOT CARS, AND LOTS OF MONEY.

I LOVE THE TASTE OF ROUGHTING CORPSE AND THE SMELL OF BURNING SKIN WILE I LICK AND SUCK ON PIECES OF PUSSY LIPS THAT I CUT OFF MY 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTERS PUSSY. JOIN ME SOME TIME WITH YOUR LITTLE CHILDREN. I LOVE CHILDREN.

I love the night life,I got to boogie,on the disco,OWWWWWWWWWW!

Obviously someone doesn't love spelling. or loves being the object of mass derision and laughter.

I finally got my grandfather's pictures of Buchenwald scanned and uploaded, and I want to share them with you. First of all, you should know he snuck his camera into the camp, as he wasn't allowed to take pictures, and when he had them developed, about half of them "mysteriously" didn't come out. He had taken pictures of the ovens, of inmates, and one of a jar with a human head in it. Those aren't here -- none of the ones we have are graphic. There are several pictures of Joe Schleifstein, the little boy who was hidden in the camp by his father. I've uploaded all the pictures into an album. Unfortunately, the size of each picture is greatly reduced, but the original files are huge. If you want to see any specific picture up close, email me and I can send it to you. (I'm going to Boston tomorrow and won't return until the 21st, so you may have to wait a little while.) We also scanned the Italian article on Joe S., written around the time "La Vita É Bella" came out -- this is what my mom saw in the magazine and immediately recognized Joe as the little boy in my grandfather's pictures. The last picture was taken a couple of years ago, when Joe went to Las Vegas and met my grandfather (and aunt).

(PS. My grandfather's name is Vinnie -- hence the captions.)

And before you ask, I have no idea why that one man is smiling as he's showing his camp tattoo, or why those two men look so healthy. My guess is that they were inmates chosen to act as guards over the others (Kapos) -- I know this went on in Auschwitz.

So horrifying. Thanks for sharing, Spider, I'm most likely going to ask you for larger pictures so that I can see more detail when you get back.

Those are pretty incredible. They gave me shivers.

Sure, agatha -- just ask whenever you're ready.

Thanks for sharing your family history with us!!

Spider, have you seen the Holicost Museum? I haven't. But, I did read the book. Absolutely horrifing.

When I was 16 years old (ages ago) I went and saw this movie with my youth group. This movie will remain with me forever. If you're interested, the name is..."The Hiding Place"

Wacher, do you make speeling mistakes on porpose?

Spider, whomever in your family is taking care of those photos, if not you, should consider storing them in acid-free envelopes (if you aren't doing so already). It will really help preserve them. I think you can order them online if you do a search for them, but I am unsure what stores would have them in meatspace - maybe an office supply store. I gotta talk to my dad and aunt about using printroom to get our family photos up. we have a bunch of them from the 1800s.

mylar sleeves. thats the material they are made of. acid free. it will help slow the natural decay. the acids in the paper are already on their to breaking down, but the mylar airtight sleeves will help slow the process down.

No tiggy I don't. Are you an ass on purpose. Sorry, I'm in a foul mood today. The wife is having a Verrrry rough time of it and I'm just plain beat.

Thanks for the info on acid-free storage. (I'm posting this on stolen time from my mom's work.) Anyway, just to clarify what I said above, the scans that I have of these photos are (area-wise) huge, like, you have to scroll up/down and side/side to be able to see the whole picture. Which is really cool, because the original photographs (hard copy) are pretty small, but scanning them has really brought out a lot of the details you'd otherwise miss, and the scans are very clear. So, again, if anyone wants to see the original scans, I can send them to you in an attachment. (Maybe that was clear before, but upon re-read, my post from last week makes it sound like I'm offering to mail you the original photos, which is definitely not what I meant.) Oh, and guess what my mom and I have been doing each night this week? Watching "Band of Brothers." OHMYGOD, I love this show. My grandfather was in Patton's 3rd Army, not the 101st Airborne which is the focus of the show, but both groups were in the Battle of the Bulge, in the Ardennes. This is kinda neat in a psychological study sort of way -- my grandfather wrote his memoirs about his time in the army, and he takes the reader from the day before the fighting started right to the day after it ended. He totally didn't write about it at all. It was (I believe) the largest German offensive of the war, and my grandfather just couldn't write about it. He's 94 this year, and the toes on his left foot are still messed up from the frostbite he got on his feet during his time in the Ardennes.

Spider - I think my great uncle was in Patton's 3rd Army too! I need to confirm that with my dad. I know I have posted some of his stories around here. I wish he was still around so I could pick his brain.

Yeah, find that out! My mom behind me says my grandfather was in "the 76th," but she doesn't know if that was the 76th Division or Regiment or what. I can find out for sure later tonight. (Oh, and another clarification: he did write about fighting in the war, he just couldn't write about the Battle of the Bulge. Anyway.)

you can find online message boards/sites etc of memebers of just about every regiment/division/platoon etc that served. often some of the memebers maintain the site. its how i found memebers of my uncle's b-17 crew...you might recall that story. one of the most rewarding moments the net has every given.....well...until i discovered the free porn.

The Battle of the Bulge was so big it involved almost every unit in the European Theater. I have my father's old campain ribbon from the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the Army Air Corps as an air traffic controller for the 415th Night Fighter Sqadron attached to the Nineth Air Force. I can not find any of them. That unit moved around alot. And, it didn't last very long either. Spider, when they get to the part in B of B where the 101st is "liberating" things from the eagles nest - I have a piece of one of Hitler's fireplace mantles my father brought home from his visit there. A lot of souveniers went to a lot of homes over here from the eagles nest.

That's so cool about your souvenier, Watcher. My grandfather served in the 76th Infantry Division, and he landed in France in November '44. (I talked to him on Father's Day.) Again, anyone who wants to see my pictures up close, just email me.

im sorry for all those who did in the holicost

they did what??

....still here...

My latest pics of my girls

very cute. and you all look so happy. that's nice.

They look so cute in their Easter dresses,they really made out on the eggs.

patrick,it has taken me hours to find you,I put in to the the computer a word,in order to find my family from 1917,when the Cossacks stole our farms and gave them to to the commies,I want to find my family again,Bill Gates gave me a name on the internet,I put in in my Fathers second name,Kucheck,and it gave me patrick,on Sorabji,I dont know how the hell it did this,but it did,patrick,what is going on,you cant have the same name as me,Kucheck,it cant be done,you and me part of the same rich land owning family?...Christ,are we part of the same family?patrick,I hope you have ideas on this this,all I know is life moves in tangents,just when you think your on track,you arnt.

patrick,if you are indeed a "Kucheck",then I understand all of your family history.,we are from the same village.

patrick,odd things happen tonight,perhaps Mr.Gates is haveing fun with me.

...you know, v wanted to shut down for one year or more,you know I need to travel abroad a lot,now and then,its part of my biz.

you are very confused. dont talk to me.

Do you have a relation in Michigen?...I hope we are are not part of the same family.Try an experiment,put the word "kucheck" into your computer on search,and see what comes up.

never seen this one before..... i remember looking things up once and finding a 5x-great-grandfather listed on some history sites (he was murdered on his doorstep for being an abolitionist in pre-civil war missouri).

I think I found a back door way in to Sorabji,can you make sence of this? All you do is put in kucheck lithuania,and you get Sorabji. http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?fr=slvl-&p=kucheck+lithuania

How "Yahoo" as a search engine can put one word from Sorabji on its own site, I dont understand.,and its "1 of 1"...so it looks like patrick is not my Brother,thank God...

On the site I posted,notice what is in the "search" box.

lapis,if I do a search on your name I get this http://www.lapis.de/default/

Herzlich Willkommen bei Lapis!

...and how come if I do an internet search for relations I get Sorabjis?

Because you put those words in posts on this page, you dimwit. See your Tuesday, July 8, 2003 post above.

Have you had a bad day?

It was going fine until you annoyed the shit out of me. You name came up associated with this page on a search because you put it here. It ain't no grand cornspiracy.

i don't understand. how come if i put sorabji in a search box i get this site? how come if i hit the x key on my keyboard i see an x? how come if i put my hand in fire it gets hot? how come if i touch water i get wet? how come if i close my eyes i can't see anything? it's so confusing!

jack,I lost 4000 on poker tonight,so I am in no mood for for your smart ass shit.Mostly,I win,and a loss pisses me off no end.,but I allways get it back.Remind me to send you a virus for your birthday.,I have a few under lock and key.

Taking a break in the Xmas proceedings to post... My aunt found a transcript of her uncle/my great-uncle Joe's testimony from the McCarthy hearings online. (All typos in the original) ********* PART 10 April 20, 1956: [...] Mr. Tavenner. What was the chief objective of this Communist Party organization at the time when you first became a member of it? Mr. Christlieb. The musicians, of course, would be, as with many branches, as closely related to its trade union as possible, and ours was, of course, with Musicians Local 47, A. F. of M. Other objectives, of course, were to grow, recruit, and so forth. Mr. Jackson. Mr. Chairman, I would like to place the location of branch O. In what general section of the city was that ? Mr. Christlieb. Generally in the Hollywood area. Mr. Jackson. In the homes of various members ? Mr. Christlieb, Right. Mr, Tavenner. You say you met in the homes of the members? Mr. Chrisi'Lieb. That is correct. Mr. Tavenner, Can you recall at this time the names of the mem- bers in whose homes you met ? Mr, Christlieb, Yes, I can. It would be Mischa Altman, Sam Albert, Haakon Berg, George Pepper, Carroll Hollister Mr, Ta\tenner, Would you spell the first and last names? Mr, Christlieb, C-a-r-r-o-1-1 H-o-l-l-i-s-t-e-r, At the home of Joe DiFiore, Mr. TA^^NNER. Will you spell the last name ? Mr. Christlieb. D-i F-i-o-r-e. And my home. [...] Mr. Tavenner. Who were the leaders of this group in the Communist Party, that is, persons who took the most active part, after you became a member? Mr. Idriss. I remember Carroll Hollister, Joe DiFiore, Henry Roth. [...] Mr. Moulder. Call the next witness. Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Joseph DiFiore. Mr. Moulder. Hold up your right hand and be sworn. Do you solemnly swear the testimony which you are about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God ? Mr. DiFioRE. I do. TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH DiFIORE, ACCOMPANIED BY COUNSEL, . ARTHUR A. BROOKS, JR. Mr. Tavenner. What is your name, please, sir? Mr. DiFiORE. Joseph DiFiore. Mr. Tavenner. Will counsel accompanying the witness please identify himself for the record ? Mr. Brooks. Arthur A. Brooks, Jr. Mr. Tavenner. When and where were you born, Mr. DiFiore? Mr. DiFiore. New York City, 1906. Mr. Tavenner. Will you spell your name, please, sir ? Mr. DiFiore. D-i-F-i-o-r-e. Mr. Tavenner. What was the date of your birth? Mr. DiFiore. 1906. Mr, Tavenner. Do you now reside in Los Angeles ? Mr. DiFiore. I do, sir. Mr. Tavenner. How long have you resided here? Mr. DiFiore. Twenty years. Mr. Tavenner. What is your profession? Mr. DiFiore. A musician. Mr. Tavenner. How long have you been engaged professionally in that work ? Mr. DiFiore. I would say the past 80 years as a musician, Mr. Tavenner, What has been your formal educational training? Mr, DiFiore. I attended the schools of New York, taking some selective courses at New York University. I graduated and did post- graduate at the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard School of Music. (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. Tavenner. Were you a member of branch O of the northwest section of the Communist Party in Los Angeles, sometimes referred to as the musicians branch of the Communist Party ? 3938 COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES, CALIF., AREA Mr. DiFiORE. Mr. Tavenner and members of this committee, I do not think that this committee has the right to inquire into my private beliefs and associations and therefore I must clecline to answer on constitutional grounds, including the first and fifth amendments. Mr. Tavenner. Do you have an}^ personal knowledge of a plan by the Communist Party to use its members who were musicians to circulate petitions in Los Angeles to place the Independent Progres- sive Party on the ballot in 1948 ? Mr. DiFiORE. Again I must decline to answer on the grounds pre- viously stated. Mr. Tavenner. I hand you a document marked for identification as "DiFiore Exhibit ^o. 1.'" It is a photostatic copy of an Independent Progressive Party peti- tion bearing date of January 31, 1948, at the end of which, is an affida- vit over the name of Joseph DiFiore. Will you examine that, please, and state whether or not the name appearing at the bottom of the affidavit is your name and whether it is your signature ? (Document handed to the witness and his counsel.) (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. DiFiore. I shall decline to identify any signature on any docu- ment that you may present me on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. Tavenner. I offer the document in evidence and ask that it be marked "Joseph DiFiore Exhibit No. 1." Mr. Moitlder. Without any objection, it is so admitted. (This exhibit is similar to'"Kalman Bloch Exhibit No. 1", p. 3957 and will not be reproduced in the printed record. It is on file in the committee's records.) Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Chairman, this affidavit, as the others, shows that the individual named, Joseph DiFiore, circulated the petition and obtained the signatures thereon. Are you now a member of the Communist Party ? Mr. DiFiore. Again I must say that you have no right to inquire, into my beliefs and associations. But I will state that I am not a mem- ber of the Communist Party. yir. Tavenner. Were you a member of the Communist Party at the time that the subpena was served on you to appear before this committee ? Mr. DiFiore. I must invoke the same amendments, the first and fifth. (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. DiFiore. I must decline to answer on the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. Tavenner. Were you a member of the Communist Party at the beginning of this hearing which was on Monday of this week, today l>eing Friday Mr. DiFiore. I must decline to answer on the grounds previously stated. Mr. Tavenner. Were you a member of the Communist Party yes- 1 erday ? Mr. DiFiore. I must decline to answer on the grounds previously stated, sir. Mr. Tavenner. Is it just Fridays that you are not a member of the Communist Party ? COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES, CALIF., AREA 3939 Mr. DiFioRE. I decline to answer. Mr. Taat.nner. I have no further questions. Mr. DiFioRE. On the grounds of the first and fifth amendments. Mr. jNIoulder. Any questions, Mr. Doyle ? Mr. DoTi.E. I think in connection -with the witness' testimony that we have no right to inquire, I want to read one short paragraph from the decision of Quinn v. United States, which is a recent decision of May 23, 1955. The Supreme Court said, and I quote : There can be no doubt as to the power of Congress, by itself or thi'ough its committees, to investigate matters and conditions relating to contemplated legislation. This power, deeply rooted in American and English institutions, is indeed coextensive with the power to legislate. Without the power to investi- gate — including of course the authority to compel testimony, either through its own processes or through judicial trial — Congress could be seriously handi- capped in its efforts to exercise its constitutional function wisely and effectively. May I say to the witness, in view of your answer that you are not now a member of the Communist Party, I don't mean to impute any lack of good faith on your part : But may I ask so as to clear it in my own mind and on the record, are you in any way today, which is the day you said you are not a member of the Communist Party, in any relationship directly or indirectly to again be a member of the Com- munist Party at some future date. Or are you completely free from any conscious awareness of being in any w^ay tied up with the Commu- nist Party philosophy ? Is tliat a fair question ? (The witness confers with his counsel.) Mr. DiFioRE. Mr. Doyle, I liave no intention of joining the Com- munist Party. Mr. Doyle. I want to compliment you. Mr. Moulder. Is that all, Mr. Doyle? Mr. Doyle. That is all. Mr. Moulder. Mr. Jackson? Mr. Jackson. I have no questions. Mr. Moulder. Mr. Scherer? Mr. Scherer. No questions. Mr. Moulder. The witness is excused. ************ Uncle Joe died a few years ago and had been estranged from my grandfather, his younger brother, since the late 1970s, so we don't know if there was any truth to the accusation that he was a Communist and holding meetings in his house. He also wasn't a musician for 80 years, as the typo said, but 30. (He played the viola with the LA symphony.)