Alvin Williams Stokes

{{Short description|African-American investigator for the federal government}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Alvin Williams Stokes

| honorific_suffix =

| image =

| image_upright =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|12|4}}

| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|6|20|1904|12|4}}

| death_place = Westwood, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_cause =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = HUAC investigator

| years_active =

| era =

| employer =

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| known_for = Investigation into Paul Robeson and Communist Party USA and African Americans

}}

Alvin William Stokes (December 4, 1904 - June 20, 1982) was a 20th-century African-American civil servant, best known as an investigator for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

{{cite news

| author = United Press International

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/24/obituaries/alvin-williams-stokes.html

| title = Alvin Williams Stokes

| newspaper = New York Times

| page = D23

| date = 24 June 1982

| accessdate = 5 June 2020}}

{{cite book

| title = Hearings Regarding Communist Infiltration of Minority Groups

| publisher = US GPO

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UsJGAQAAMAAJ

| pages = 426-433, 426 (birth, investigation), 427 (NAACP, Urban League), 427-433(Robeson)

| date = 1949

| accessdate = 5 June 2020}}

Background

Alvin W. Stokes was born on December 4, 1904, in New York City.

Career

From 1935 to 1940, Stokes served chief administrative officer and secretary to three Bergen County sheriffs, as well as the first ever black member of the Bergen County Republican Committee.

From 1945 to 1954, Stokes served as an investigator for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

In 1949, Stokes led as first witness into HUAC hearings on "Communist Infiltration of Minority Groups." He stated:

In the course of my investigations, I have interviewed hundreds of Negro leaders in every walk of life. On the basis of these interviews and committee records, I can report that hardly more than 1,400 Negroes, or one-tenth of 1 percent of the entire Negro population of the United States, are members of the Communist Party. This in spite of the fact that they have been and are the target of constant and relentless Communist propaganda.

After praising the efforts of the NAACP and Urban League, Stokes launched into his findings on Paul Robeson.{{cite book

| title = Paul Robeson, All-American

| first = Dorothy Butler

| last = Gilliam

| publisher = New Republic Book Company

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VdEEAQAAIAAJ

| page = 140

| date = 1976

| isbn = 9780915220151

| accessdate = 5 June 2020}}

{{cite journal

| title = (unclear)

| journal = Interracial Review |volume=29

| publisher = Catholic International Council

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ONFKAAAAYAAJ

| page = 208

| date = 1956

| accessdate = 5 June 2020}} Of particular concern to HUAC (discerned from repeated questions to most witnesses during this set of hearings) was a "welcome home rally" for Robeson at Rockland Palace in New York City on June 19, 1949, sponsored by the Council on African Affairs (on the 1947 AGLOSO); Stokes had attended the rally. Robeson had just returned from what Stokes describes as a "Communist-inspired" World Peace Conference in Paris on April 20, 1949. Stokes paraphrase Robeson as saying, "It is unthinkable that American Negroes or Negroes anywhere would go to war on behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations, against a country which in one generation has raised our people to the full dignity of mankind." Stokes said that only a quarter of the audience of some 5,000 were African-Americans and claimed that "The rest were the usual ragtag and bobtail of the Communist Party." Stokes did not relate the gist of Robeson's speech, though he claimed that "Mr. Robeson's voice was the voice of the Kremlin." He then cited a survey of 1,000 citizens in 7 cities that he claimed showed that Robeson was having effect on the American population. When questioned, Stokes admitted that there was no direct link between the Party and race riots in Detroit (apparently referring to the 1943 Detroit race riot). Stokes could not testify whether Robeson was in fact a member of the Communist Party, but another witness in that series of hearings, Manning Johnson, testified that Robeson was a secret Communist. (During those same hearings, Manning Johnson also said of Stokes "He talked to us in New York about 2 years ago and convinced me I should take part before this committee.")

In 1950, Stokes reported to fellow HUAC investigator Louis J. Russell on William Remington (accused by Elizabeth Bentley of Soviet espionage).

Once, Stokes entered the dressing room of Lena Horne as part of HUAC investigations into Communist infiltration in Hollywood. Horne told him, how could a Negro work for such an organization as HUAC?

{{cite book

| first = Gary

| last = May

| title = Un-American Activities: The Trials of William Remingto

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=plJnoiS4WrYC

| pages =

| date = 1994

| isbn = 9780199923335

| accessdate = 5 June 2020}}

In 1968, Stokes served as co-chair on an advisory committee to New Jersey Citizens for Richard M. Nixon during the 1968 United States presidential election.