Michael Furmanovsky, Interviewer, UCLA Oral History Program. B.A., University of Warwick, Great Britain; M.A., C.Phil., UCLA.
Place:Dobbs's home in West Los Angeles.
Dates, length of sessions: July 17, 1987 (84 minutes);
July 22, 1987 (84); August 3, 1987 (113); August 12, 1987 (83); September 3,
1987 (84); September 22, 1987 (88); October 1, 1987 (88); October 15, 1987
(98); October 28, 1987 (72); November 6, 1987 (84).
Total number of recorded hours 14.6
Persons present during interview: Dobbs and
Furmanovsky.
Furmanovsky based his questioning and direction of the interview on his
research for his dissertation on the history of the Communist Party in Los
Angeles during the Depression. He also reviewed the California State
Legislature's Report of the Senate Fact Finding Committee on
Un-American Activities and several books on the subject.
The interview follows a chronological format beginning with Dobbs's childhood and education, moving through his years with the Young Communist League, his service in the army, and his career as an organizer and leader of the Communist Party.
George Kodak, editorial assistant, edited the interview. He checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.
The edited transcript was sent to Dobbs in August 1988. He made some corrections and additions, verified proper names, and returned the interview in March 1989.
Richard Candida Smith, principal editor, prepared the table of contents and index. Paul Winters, editorial assistant, prepared the biographical summary and interview history.
The original tape recordings of the interview are in the university archives and are available under the regulations governing the use of permanent noncurrent records of the university. Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Oral History Program.