I was actually outside the I.J. Morris funeral home on Church Avenue in Brownsville during their funeral in 1953--among thousands who gathered there. It was the biggest thing that happened in that neighborhood. Probably half the people in the crowd were FBI agents, taking photos and making notes. I'm probably on file with them as an "ultra-junior Commie."
Well, I didn't slide into the world until six years later. But that was a big funeral. Probably the biggest in IJ's history.
I knew Joel Morris fairly well. He stayed on as an "advisor" for years after he sold out to corporate ownership. He told me that it was crazy. And that half the crowd was there in support of the Rosenbergs, and half the crowd was there to make sure they were really dead.
There are photos at the Flatbush location. Big, big crowd. Especially for the time period. Can you imagine something like that today in the Internet age?
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
