Professor Harlow Shapley last night referred to an accusation that he is a prominent Communist-front sympathizer as "just another smear" and added that "these charges don't mean much any more."
The charge had been made by a former FBI undercover agent, John J. Huber, before a closed session of a Senate Judiciary Committee on September 8.
Shapley, Paine Professor of Practiced Astronomy and Director of the Harvard College Observatory, denied his membership in all the Communist organizations named by Huber, but refused to comment further on the accusation.
Huber placed Shapley's name with those of Paul Robeson, Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker, Charlie Chaplin, and other "well-known figures."
The former FBI agent claimed that there are over 1,000,000 "Communist believers in the country.
Heading Huber's list of "most active Communist front organizations" were the International Workers Order and the American Slav Congress.
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