Clayton Knowles
Encyclopedia
Clayton Knowles worked as the Washington correspondent for The New York Times
from 1943-1971. He became an established and well respected journalist during that time.
's testimony in June 1955. Knowles was one of the more cooperative witnesses the senators encountered as a number of other journalists invoked the Fifth and First Amendments to avoid answering questions, many of them lost their jobs because of it.
Knowles told the subcommittee that he suffered from "extreme naivete" when he joined the Communist Party
while working at the Long Island Daily Press in 1937. Knowles testified that he went to the FBI with his story in 1954 after he found out that his name had been dropped in the subcommittee hearings. Knowles claimed to have left the Communist Party in 1939.
Knowles provided the subcommittee with the names of his Communist Party cell-mates during the years at the Long Island newspaper. He told them he knew of no Communists at the New York Times.
His testimony prompted Senator Thomas Carey Hennings to admonish the subcommittee counsel J.G. Sourwine for not giving the subcommittee advanced notice of the witnesses and questioned whether "any useful purpose" had been served by publicly embarrassing such a long-rehabilitated communist such as Knowles.
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
from 1943-1971. He became an established and well respected journalist during that time.
Testimony in the Senate
Knowles was one of 34 journalists and 26 New York Times employees subpoenaed by the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in November 1955. The subpoenas were a result of journalist Winston BurdettWinston Burdett
Winston Burdett was an American broadcast journalist and correspondent for the CBS Radio Network during World War II and later for CBS television news. He was born in Buffalo, New York. From 1937-1942 he was involved with the Communist Party...
's testimony in June 1955. Knowles was one of the more cooperative witnesses the senators encountered as a number of other journalists invoked the Fifth and First Amendments to avoid answering questions, many of them lost their jobs because of it.
Knowles told the subcommittee that he suffered from "extreme naivete" when he joined the Communist Party
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
while working at the Long Island Daily Press in 1937. Knowles testified that he went to the FBI with his story in 1954 after he found out that his name had been dropped in the subcommittee hearings. Knowles claimed to have left the Communist Party in 1939.
Knowles provided the subcommittee with the names of his Communist Party cell-mates during the years at the Long Island newspaper. He told them he knew of no Communists at the New York Times.
His testimony prompted Senator Thomas Carey Hennings to admonish the subcommittee counsel J.G. Sourwine for not giving the subcommittee advanced notice of the witnesses and questioned whether "any useful purpose" had been served by publicly embarrassing such a long-rehabilitated communist such as Knowles.