.
Back row, L-R: T.J. O'Flaherty, Charles Erickson,
Cyril Lambkin,
Bill Dunne, John Mihelic,
Alex Bail, W.E. "Bud" Reynolds, "Francis Ashworth."
Seated L-R: Norman Tallentire,
Caleb Harrison, Eugene Bechtold, Seth Nordling,
C. E. Ruthenberg,
Charles Krumbein,
Max Lerner, T.R. Sullivan, Elmer McMillan. Trained as a carpenter, Tallentire established a business in Denver, Colorado, before becoming active in leftist politics. In August 1922, Tallentire was arrested in the raid of a
secret meeting of the
Communist Party of America in
Bridgman, Michigan. For eight months starting in September 1924, Tallentire was the district organizer for the Communist Party in Seattle, where he attempted to work with local Filipino union leaders to increase Filipino membership in the Party. After the collapse of the underground Communist Party in 1926, Tallentire went to Baltimore to organize the city's Party branches. In 1927, he was the Party's District Organizer in Kansas City. In 1932, Tallentire traveled to the Soviet Union in the Communist Party delegation to celebrate the fourteenth anniversary of the
Russian Revolution. Tallentire served as the national organizer of the Friends of the Soviet Union, and was also the assistant national secretary of the International Labor Defense.
Rockwell Kent described him as "a lifelong agitator of men's consciences toward social justice, a firm upholder of the dignity of man and a literally restless organizer of the underprivileged". He was known for his oratory and frequently quoted poetry in his speeches. George Charney compared his speeches to
William Jennings Bryant for the way he "interspersed dread prophecy and soothing homily". == Later life and death ==