FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover Transmits Study on Communist Efforts to Influence African Americans (1956)

Date: October 24, 1956

Created By: J. Edgar Hoover;

Original or Replica: Original

Era: Civil Rights, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: OSANSA, FBI Series, Box 10, The Communist Party and the Negro Oct. 1956; NAID #12191457

This document is a personal and confidential letter written by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to William H. Jackson, Special Assistant to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, on October 24, 1956. In the letter, Hoover forwards a copy of an FBI monograph titled “The Communist Party and the Negro” for review by the White House. The correspondence reflects the Eisenhower administration’s interest in intelligence concerning domestic communism and its perceived influence on American society during the height of the Cold War.

Hoover explains that the enclosed monograph examines the relationship between the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and African Americans in the United States during the period 1953–1956. He notes that the study serves as a continuation of an earlier report covering the years 1919–1952 and focuses on Communist Party efforts to recruit African Americans and expand support for its political program. Hoover specifically recommends that Jackson review the report’s Summary and Conclusions, indicating that it contains the most significant findings of the study.