Series VII: Trials and Legal Records, 1913-1987, inclusive

The first subseries is the most substantial; it documents several notable trials involving members of the CPUSA and associated individuals and organizations who were prosecuted under the 1940 Smith Act, including Joseph Brandt, Eugene Dennis (also represented by his trial for contempt of court, arising from his Smith Act trial), Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Stephen Mesarosh (Steve Nelson). Many cases began at the local or state level and progressed to the federal court system. Transcripts, trial exhibits, and background research for several of these cases are available here. Of particular interest are two boxes of index cards which provide biographical information on a number of individuals who acted as government witnesses, as well as details about the cases in which they gave testimony.

Files found in the second subseries reflect trials that resulted from a variety of prosecutions, including perjury, contempt, and deportation hearings. Individuals are either CPUSA members or individuals associated with the organization, including William Albertson, Harry Bridges, Gerhart Eisler, Charlene Mitchell, Morris Schappes and Louis Weinstock, as well as files from the New York Supreme Court, relating to the Inquiry by the Board of Regents with Regard to the CPUSA

This subseries holds legal documents concerning several federal laws enacted during the 1940s and 1950s, such as the McCarran Act and the Smith Act, and New York State's Feinberg Law, under which CPUSA members were prosecuted. It also holds files originating from the CPUSA regarding protest and activism in reaction to these laws. Records and reports from US congressional committees, like the House Committee on Un-American Activities (generally known as the House Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC), can also be found here. There are also two scrapbooks on various communist trials.