Stanley levison biography
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Two years later, on April 30, 1962, he was called to testify under subpoena at an executive session of the Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, where he was represented by William Kunstler. According to the FBI, Levison's CPUSA activities ended in 1957. He was also a close adviser of King. In one letter explaining his refusal of payment Levison wrote: “My skills .
Taylor Branch, At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68
Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65
Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63
Levison, Stanley in King Encyclopedia
David Garrow, "The FBI and Martin Luther King," Atlantic Monthly; Jul/Aug2002, Vol.
290 Issue 1,
External links
Article source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Levison
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Levison, Stanley D., 1912-1979
- Authoritative Name:
- Levison, Stanley D., 1912-1979
- Biography:
- "In 1953 Jack Childs reported to the FBI that an individual named Stanley David Levison (1912-1979), a New York lawyer and businessman, was deeply involved in acquiring and disposing of the funds of the Soviet subsidy to the CPUSA.
The FBI was not aware of their relationship until very late 1961 or early 1962, and it was the discovery of their relationship that led to the protracted and intensive FBI-DOJ surveillance of King for the remainder of his life. According to the FBI, Levison's CPUSA activities ended in 1957.
He had initially been introduced to King by Bayard Rustin, a Quaker, in New York City in 1956.
When the Montgomery Bus Boycott erupted, these three master-strategists channeled resources to the local movement… hoping that it would become the spark could light the fire of a regional movement.
And indeed, partly because of their support – which ranged from fundraising, consulting, networking, ghost writing, and even the direct mentorship of Martin Luther King – it did.
I looked forward to the time when I could use these skills not for myself but for socially constructive ends. It is not clear what Levison told the FBI at these interviews, but he definitely rejected the request of the FBI that he become an informant within the Communist Party. Stanley Levison continued to fund a variety of movement causes until the day he died.
Additional Resources
Books
Ben Kamin: Dangerous Friendship: Stanley Levison, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Kennedy Brothers.
The FBI Files on Stanley Levison: (See alsoonline documents.)
Videos
Clarence Jones on Stanley (35 minutes in.)
Articles
Ben Kamin:Martin Luther King’s Dangerous Friendship.
MLK Institute bio.
New York Times obituary.
NPR: King’s New York Connection: MLK Jr.’s Friendship With Stanley Levison.
Toby Terrar:Stanley Levison’s Financial Role in the Civil Rights and Communist Movements in the 1940s to 1960s: A Rank-and-File Perspective.
Wikipediaentry.
In the summer of 1956 Bayard Rustin, himself a former member of the Young Communist League, the youth arm of the CPUSA, introduced Levison to Martin Luther King, Jr. in New York City.
Cross Cultural Solidarity
Shortly after Martin Luther King was assassinated, a group of his closest friends met in his home. The FBI decreased its surveillance, although Levison was believed to have occasional contacts with CPUSA leaders.
Childs also reported to the FBI that Levison assisted CPUSA leaders to acquire and manage the Party's secret funds and that he directed about $50,000 a year into the Party's treasury. After the death of Party treasurer William Weiner in 1954, Levison's financial role became increasingly important, and Levison, according to Childs, became "the interim chief administrator of the party's most secret funds."2 The FBI maintained close surveillance of Levison, but in mid to late 1955, Levison's financial role began to decline.
He is best known as an advisor to, and close friend of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom he helped write speeches and organize events. The FBI had him under the surveillance of Jack and Morris Childs, two former CPUSA members who became FBI informants. Levison may have been involved as a financial benefactor to the Party as early as 1945 and may have established legitimate business enterprises in the United States and Latin America in order to launder Soviet funds to the Party.
Levison was instrumental in all the activities of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the organization established by King and other Southern black preachers to further the cause of civil rights. The liberation struggle is the most positive and rewarding area of work anyone could experience.”
One of Martin’s most beloved friends and most important aides, Andrew Young, later said of Stanley: “Of all the unknown supporters of the civil rights movement, he was perhaps the most important.” Coretta Scott King wrote: “Because he was such a modest man, few people know of the magnitude of his contributions to the labor, civil rights and peace movements.” After Martin’s assassination, Stanley joined his friend Harry Belafonte in ensuring that Martin’s wife and children would have no economic difficulties.
The FBI believed that Levison was still a Communist and that King's relationship with him represented an opportunity for the Communist Party to infiltrate and manipulate King and the civil rights movement." Taken from http://www.martinlutherking.org/helms.html
- Associated Subjects:
- Levison, Stanley D., 1912-1979
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Stanley Levison
Stanley David Levison was born in New York City on May 2, 1912, to a Jewish family.
During this period, he worked for a variety of liberal causes.
In the early 1950s the FBI considered Levison to be a major financial coordinator for the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and began to monitor his activities.