Baba Jeanne "B.J." (Sears) Mangaoang (1915-2007) was a Seattle woman who remained active in Communist Party (CP) politics, the fight against the Red Scare, and advocated for peace and social justice throughout her life. She was introduced to the CP as a student at the University of Washington in the early 1930s, formally joining the Party in 1938. She worked for the Northwest Citizens Defense Committee where she met her future husband, Ernesto Mangaoang, a Filipino cannery union leader who was facing deportation under the McCarren-Walter Internal Security Act.

This image of B.J. Mangaoang (then Decker) was taken during a hearing before the U.S. Congress House Un-American Activities Committee, where she and numerous other Communists and non-Communists were forced to testify. She pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Ms. Mangaoang worked as a secretary in the mechanical engineering department at the University of Washington from 1963 until her retirement in 1975. She served as Chair of the Washington State Communist Party from 1976-2001 and was a member of the Communist Party National Committee for over twenty years. She ran for elected office four times: for Congress in 1950; for Seattle City Council in 1977 and 1985, and for governor in 1988.

Caption information source: http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/cpproject/bj_interview.shtml
Caption information sources: "Mrs. Hartle Describes Cloak-and-Dagger Existence in Red Underground of N.W.," The Seattle Daily Times, June 16, 1954, p. 1, 7-9; and "`Red Scare' still a vivid memory - Emotions mark UW discussion," by Jake Batsell, February 16, 1998, The Seattle Times, p. B1.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.