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Genora Johnson Dollinger had come a long way since 1937: a new husband whom she adored, despite the long absences; vital roles in defense plants during World War II; personal family tragedies that would have destroyed many people; and, above all, the status of a rising luminary in the SWP throughout Michigan and New York and, indeed, the country. At the beginning of the 1950s, she gave every indication that she intended to continue her association with unionism and feminism. She kept assuring herself that she could handle any situation or crisis that might lie ahead. Only to a certain extent was she correct.

Five Trials and Tragedies

Genora Dollinger joined postwar critics of certain practices and institutions of American life. Why were blacks in the South and factory workers in the North deprived of compassion and benevolence, by both government and big corporations? Why were so many citizens without health care or even medical insurance? Why did the rich gain political power only because of their wealth, while millions of ordinary citizens had little or no voice in how government was run?

The political and social climate during the midpoint of the twentieth century caused these questions to be viewed suspiciously by much of the American populace. The Soviet Union was now our enemy, and criticisms of the United States were, in the minds of many citizens, tantamount to treason. An early sign of this feeling was the newsletter Counterattack, begun in May 1947 by a group of former FBI men.1 This journal’s purpose was to pinpoint—at least from its perspective—Communist infiltration into several retail, wholesale, and department store unions, as well as into numerous entertainment venues, such as radio, movies, and the newly developing one of television.2

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of the late 1940s complemented Counterattack This committee was inspired by the Great Depression, during which the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded, among other things, authors and playwrights to keep them gainfully employed. Some members of Congress worried that the stories and plays might be too critical of the American way of life and wanted some oversight of the works produced. Congressman Martin Dies, of Texas, formed a committee to keep an eye on the writers and performers. In the immediate post–World War II onset of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, HUAC took up where the Dies Committee left off, except that its role was expanded to include not only literary works but also the activities of academics, labor unions, and civil rights workers as well as cinematic expressions. Over the years, HUAC sent many people to prison and ruined scores of professional careers. In June 1950, under the auspices of Counterattack, a group known as American Business Consultants published Red Channels, a book that listed numerous organizations, including labor unions and the SWP, as being affiliated with the Communist Party. These three entities—Counterattack, HUAC, and Red Channels— fueled the mood of suspicion during the postwar years. None, however, reached the levels of xenophobia expressed by Wisconsin’s junior senator, Joseph McCarthy. He claimed to have found Communists in the State Department and other governmental agencies. How many did he personally find? None. This did not mean, however, that there was absolutely no influence of Communists in American government. It did mean that legitimate investigations were sidetracked and that serious assaults were made on the free speech provisions of the First Amendment and the due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment. It also meant guilt by association. If one knew a real Communist, one was likewise tainted as treasonous.

With these newsletters and congressional committees and a sensationalist-seeking senator all looking for “Reds,” Genora Dollinger had little chance of escaping scrutiny. She and Sol became the objects of FBI and even CIA investigations.