Mary Spargo

Mary Spargo (1904–1991) was a 20th-century American newspaper journalist and columnist, best known for her coverage for the Washington Post of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Richard Nixon, the Hollywood Ten, and the Hiss-Chambers Case. She was also a former HUAC investigator and "secret FBI informer."

Background

Spargo was born in Yonkers, New York, and grew up in Bennington, Vermont.

Hiss Case: In 1948, Spargo reported on the testimony of Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers, who alleged that some half-dozen former federal government officials had formed a Soviet spy network that he ran, one of whom was Alger Hiss. She also warned him that "This case is going to kill the Committee unless you can prove Chambers' story."

FBI Informant: During the hearings of William Remington (accused of Soviet espionage by Elizabeth Bentley, Remington's wife suggested that he give an exclusive statement to Spargo because she had once worked for the House Un-American Activities Committee. Remington's wife was hoping also that Spargo could advise him on what to do. Remington spoke to Spargo to give her a preview of his upcoming press conference that evening at the Willard Hotel: it was a diatribe against Congress. Spargo cautioned him that with such statement would "crucify himself." The approach she counseled included praise for the committee and for Bentley. His only connection to Communism came through marriage that gave him a relationship to Joseph North (writer), long-time managing editor of the New Masses magazine in the 1930s.

While at the Post, she served as vice president of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

After she left the Post, sh worked for the American Red Cross and Daughters of the American Revolution, for the latter of which she worked as head of public relations.

In 1958, she moved to Albany, where she worked for the Albany Times Union and the government of the State of New York.

In 1977, she retired.

Personal and death

Spargo married William Sherman Pryor. They had one daughter. They divorced.

She died age 84 of a heart attack at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, New York.