Name Henry Collins | ||
Henry collins rummaging live at paviljoen aan het water in rotterdam 13 9 16
Henry Hill Collins Jr. (1905 – 1961), AKA Henry H. Collins, Jr., and Henry Collins, was an American citizen employed in the New Deal National Recovery Administration in the 1930s and later the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. He was a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and the Washington D.C. based Ware group, along with Alger Hiss, Lee Pressman, Harry Dexter White and others.
Contents
- Henry collins rummaging live at paviljoen aan het water in rotterdam 13 9 16
- Background
- Government career
- Alleged espionage activities
- Personal and death
- Works
- References
Background
Collins was a "scion of a Philadelphia manufacturing family." He received a BA from Princeton University and a business degree from Harvard University.
Collins was also a childhood friend of Alger Hiss in Baltimore. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Business School.
Chambers also describes Collins as "my personal friend."
Government career
In 1933, Collins worked in the National Recovery Administration. He also worked at the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the US Department of Labor.
In 1948, he was serving as executive director of the American Russian Institute in New York and living at 58 Park Avenue, New York (as testified before HUAC in 1948).
Alleged espionage activities
Collins was the Ware group's treasurer and collected communist party dues from its members. He also acted as a talent spotter and recruiter for Soviet intelligence. "Worthington Wiggins" is the pseudonym of a State Department employee Collins recruited. J. Peters, head of the CPUSA's secret apparatus recognized that Collins, Hiss and Pressman had the potential for advancement within the United States government.
In 1936 a decision was made to separate Collins from the larger Ware group, and Whittaker Chambers became Collins's contact with Peters. Former State Department official Laurence Duggan, shortly before his suicide, told the FBI that Collins had attempted to recruit him for Soviet espionage, with Duggan stating that "he wanted (me) to assist in furnishing information ... to the Soviets."
Collins was also credited with recruiting Bela Gold into his CPUSA cell, a cell whose members included Edward Fitzgerald, who became a leading figure of the Perlo group.
Personal and death
Collins married Susan B. Anthony, great-niece of Susan Brownell Anthony.
He died in 1961.
Works
In addition to books on American and Soviet government, Collins may have authored some dozen books on birds.