Dorothy Ray Healey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dorothy Ray Healey
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Dorothy Healey at the Los Angeles jail, 1949.
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| Born |
Dorothy Harriet Rosenblum
September 22, 1914 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
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| Died | August 6, 2006 (aged 91) Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
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| Occupation | Political activist |
| Political party | Communist Party USA New American Movement Democratic Socialists of America |
Dorothy Ray Healey (September 22, 1914 – August 6, 2006) was an important activist in the U.S. for many years. She was involved with the Communist Party USA from the late 1920s until the 1970s. In the 1930s, she was one of the first leaders to speak up for the rights of Chicanos and Black people who worked in factories and fields.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Dorothy Healey was a well-known public figure for the Communist Party in California. She disagreed with the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. She also had different ideas from the main leaders of the party. Because of these disagreements, Healey left the Communist Party. She then joined the New American Movement. This group later combined with another to become part of the Democratic Socialists of America in 1982. She became a national leader for this new group.
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Dorothy Healey's Early Life
Dorothy Healey was born Dorothy Harriet Rosenblum in Denver, Colorado. Her parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her father's family was proud of their Hungarian background. Her mother's family followed Orthodox Judaism, a strict form of the Jewish faith.
Dorothy's mother became interested in socialism when she was a teenager. She later helped start the Communist Party USA. Dorothy was sometimes called a "red diaper baby" because her parents were involved in socialist and communist movements. Her father was a traveling salesman and not very interested in politics.
When Dorothy was six, her family moved to Los Angeles. She later became known as the "Red Queen of Los Angeles." Her family moved often because of her father's job. She went to 19 different schools before she stopped high school. At 14, she joined the youth group of the Communist Party, called the Young Workers League. She joined the main Communist Party in 1932 when she was 18. The youth group asked her to work in a peach factory. She earned 12 cents an hour and had to hide when government inspectors looked for underage workers. This was her first experience organizing workers.
Becoming a Party Leader
Dorothy Healey strongly believed in social justice, equality, and workers' rights. These beliefs drove her activism. She was a strong believer in the Communist Party from the start. She once said they felt they were leading American workers toward a socialist future. Healey became a successful organizer for workers' rights. She rose to become the leader of the Communist Party in Southern California. Eventually, she joined the national leadership of the Party. She helped guide many young communists and labor activists.
In the 1950s, she and 14 other Californians faced legal challenges. They were accused of trying to overthrow the government. She could have gone to prison for five years and paid a large fine. However, the Supreme Court later overturned her conviction.
In the 1960s, she faced more legal trouble under a law from the McCarthy era. This law said that people linked to foreign governments had to register. Dorothy and others refused to register, as they believed the Communist Party USA was not controlled by the Soviet Union. In 1965, the Supreme Court decided that this part of the law went against the Fifth Amendment. This amendment protects people from having to say things that could get them into trouble.
Leaving the Party
A very important moment for Dorothy came in 1956. This was after Nikita Khrushchev, a Soviet leader, gave a speech. The speech revealed many bad things that Joseph Stalin had done when he led the Soviet Union. Dorothy said the speech went on for four hours and made her cry. She heard about many terrible things that had happened. She believed it was all true. From that time on, she openly insisted that the American Communist Party should support democracy. She also wanted it to have fewer ties with the Soviet Union.
Many people, like the writer Howard Fast, left the Communist Party after learning about Stalin's actions. But Dorothy Healey tried to change the party from the inside. Her story is told in a book she wrote with historian Maurice Isserman. It's called Dorothy Healey Remembers: A Life in the American Communist Party (1990). In the book, she shared the hopes and disappointments of young communists. Many joined the movement before and during the Great Depression.
She stepped down from her leadership role in 1968. This was after Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sent troops to stop a movement in Czechoslovakia. She stayed in the party until 1973. She left because she disagreed with the Party's General Secretary, Gus Hall, about how strictly the party should follow its old rules. She could no longer stay quiet and publicly criticized the Party.
Later Life and Legacy
In 1974, Dorothy Healey joined the New American Movement. In 1975, she became a member of its national committee. She later supported the joining of this group with another in 1982. This created the Democratic Socialists of America. Through her work with these groups, she helped connect activists from the 1930s with younger people. These younger activists were inspired by the movement against the Vietnam War. Healey became a national vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. She said in 1984 that the group had the potential to be very exciting and important for the country.
In 1983, Healey moved to Washington, D.C.. She lived with her son, Richard Healey, to help raise her grandchildren. She had been on Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles since 1959. In Washington, she and Richard hosted a public affairs show together.
Dorothy Ray Healey was married three times. She called all three men "good men." All her marriages ended in divorce. She once wrote that her strong dislike of capitalism, which she felt harmed people, was as strong as ever. She said she remained a communist her whole life, even without a party.
Dorothy Healey died on August 6, 2006, at age 91. She passed away from breathing problems and pneumonia in Rockville, Maryland.
Dorothy Healey's large collection of papers and materials about the Communist Party USA is kept at the California State University, Long Beach library. She is also featured in two documentaries. These are Seeing Red (1983) and Dorothy Healey: An American Red (1984).
Images for kids
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Dorothy Healey at the Los Angeles jail, 1949.
