Dolsen, James H.

James Dolsen was a founding member of the Communist Party USA. He served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Workers Alliance of Allegheny County and District Secretary of the International Labor Defense, in addition to being affiliated with several Communist organizations in the Pittsburgh, Pa., area. Dolsen was also a correspondent for the Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Communist Party USA. He was questioned by the Dies Committee and the House Un-American Activities Committee regarding his work as a Communist leader. In the early 1950s, Dolsen was convicted of sedition along with Steve Nelson and served several years in a workhouse before a new trial was demanded by the United States Supreme Court due to the unreliable testimony of FBI informant Joseph Mazzei. Dolsen lived to be 103 years old and was an active member in the Communist party until his death in 1988.