The FBI's Lesbian: Angela Calomiris and the American
Communist Party (a true story ripped from the headlines)
This abbreviated Table of Contents gives some idea of the topics, themes, and personalities dealt with in the MS. The structure is, in a general sense, circular, detailing different aspects of Angie's celebrity as an anti-Communist informant/witness. Five chapters at the heart of the MS take us directly into the courtroom at Foley Square for the 1949 Smith Act trial, the history of which has received little critical attention.
Introduction: Red Scare, Lavender Scare--Gays in the Red Scare and Angela Calomiris
Chapter 1: Village Gossip--First news of Calomiris, Judy Holliday, Eleanor Roosevelt
Chapter 2: Eleanor Roosevelt and More Village Gossip--Calomiris on radio with Mary Margaret McBride and Eleanor Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt's Village circle
Chapter 3: Angie as Mati Hari--Calomiris transformed by the press into an All-American girl hero
Chapter 4: The Big Lie--That Calomiris was not paid by the FBI, sacrificed her career, deserves a job
Chapter 5: Gay in the CPUSA: Angie and Harry Hay--Gay politics emerging from the Red Scare, the founder of Mattachine in Los Angeles, CP attempts to oust Calomiris in NY
Chapter 6: Angie Takes the Stand--Her vulnerability as a lesbian and defense strategy
Chapter 7: The "Doggonedest" Trial--Calomiris as part of the prosecution strategy, the endless reading of Communist classics, i.e., Lenin, Engels, Marx into the trial transcript
Chapter 8: Angie's Not a Union Maid--The elimination of Communist influence in labor unions
Chapter 9: Angie on the Negro Question--The elimination of Communist organizing among African Americans
Chapter 10: The Photo League--Pioneering documentary photographers, Calomiris and the League's demise, her testimony against Sid Grossman
Chapter 11: Angie in the Anti-Communist Network--Support from the elite of the anti-Communist crusade, i.e., Victor Riesel, Victor Lasky, Fred Woltman, Counterattack, George Sokolsky
Chapter 12: Almost a Brilliant Career--The publication of her book, the pursuit of a movie or TV contract, and a prestigious job in photography
Epilogue: Land's End and Other Endings--Abandoned by the FBI and the retreat to Provincetown, MA