Bartley Crum
Bartley Crum (November 28, 1900 – December 9, 1959) was an American lawyer who became prominent as a member of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, his book on that experience, and for defending targets of HUAC, particularly the Hollywood Ten and Paul Robeson. Background Bartley Cavanaugh Crum was born on November 28, 1900, in Sacramento, California, the son of James Henry Crum and Emma Cavanaugh. He was raised Roman Catholic. In 1922, he received a BA and in 1924 a JD from the University of California at Berkeley. Career Crum started his career as a teacher of English and International Law at UC Berkeley. Neylan and Hearst In 1924, Crum joined the law offices of John Francis Neylan, chief attorney for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. As a Hearst lawyer, Crum helped defend Clarence Darrow in 1933. "Darrow taught me more law than I had known before", Crum said later. In 1934, Neylan, "along with Bartley Crum, a young associate who functioned as an administrative aide", called newspaper publishers together to take a stand against the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike and accompanying San Francisco General strike. According to ex-Popular Front, liberal journalist Sidney Roger, Neylan was the "mastermind" for the shipping industry to break the strikes by convincing Bay area newspapers of a "Communist plot", during which time Crum "became a strong supporter of the longshore union and Harry Bridges". Kenny and NLG In 1938, Crum left Neylan and set up a law office with Philip Ehrlich and David A. Silver. In 1938 or 1939, he joined the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) as an organization of progressive and communist lawyers to counter the conservative American Bar Association, probably at the behest of friend and fellow liberal Republican Robert W. Kenny. In 1939, Crum helped defend Harry Bridges in one of his deportation hearings. He also criticized the US policy during the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath. In 1942, Crum was a vice president of NLG's local chapter. In 1943, Crum served as president of the NLG's San Francisco chapter. In 1943–1944, Crum sponsored American Youth for Democracy. Wendell Willkie Crum worked in the 1940 and 1944 campaigns of U.S. presidential candidate Wendell Willkie. In 1941, he became chairman for the Western US of "Fight for Freedom, Inc.", a group favoring intervention in World War II (in alignment with Wilkie). In 1943, Crum served as special counsel on FDR's Fair Employment Practices Committee. He also served as Willkie's liaison to FDR via David Niles. When Willkie failed to get the Republican presidential nomination in 1944, Crum helped form "Independent Republicans for Roosevelt" and campaigned for FDR, occasionally with Harry S. Truman. In October 1944, Crum served as an attorney for Harry Bridges. In November 1944, Crum sent a letter to the Civil Service Commission on behalf of Larry Resner on the subject of loyalty charges. On March 18, 1945, Crum signed a statement issued by the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, advertised in the Daily Worker. In September 1945,