11
In the early nineteen-thirties, when the depression bludgeoned
his adopted country to a virtual standstill, Dad, already
practically blind, rose to his most eloquent pitch.
Desperate, grinding poverty blanketed the part of Kentucky
where he lived and if any locale was in danger of
turning to communism, it was that one. Paducah had a
Socialist party organization and the Communists saw an
opportunity to use the existing Socialist members and sympathies
for their own ends. Dad and John Smith, a shoemaker
who also held Socialist views, argued against any
marriage with the Communist party. Dad and Mr. Smith,
though neither was an office holder, had considerable influence
with the ordinary working people and they constantly
talked with them and argued: Why try something new,
such as the Communist party, when a known and effective
political party is already functioning? In the end, their
reasoning prevailed.
When Dad died in 1946 at eighty-six the world lost one
of its most fervent fighters and I lost one of the greatest
men I have known, one who had a major influence in my
being, for better or worse, the man I am today.
John T. Scopes