Leftist Bookstore Is Smoke-Bombed; Harvard SDS Takes Up Collection

A red smoke bomb was tossed through the front door of the new Frederick Douglass Bookstore at 49 Mass Ave. in Boston between 2 and 2:30 a.m. yesterday.

The bookstore, which was picketed at its opening last Saturday by a veterans group, is run by an admitted Communist, Edward S. Teixeira.

The smoke bomb, about the size of a beer can, left a faint pink frosting on 50 to 75 per cent of the books in the store. The only other damage was two large broken windows--$85.

Harvard SDS took up a collection for Teixeira last night and urged its membership to patronize the store.

The bookstore specializes in Negro history, which is why it carries the name of the Negro abolitionist. But Teixeira says it also caters to political activists, and he pointed out his extensive selection of Marx.

After the picketing Saturday, Teixeira requested police protection because he feared violence. The demonstrators were members of the American Veterans Committee, Boston Local #1. They did not protest Teixeira's communism per so, but objected to the association of Frederick Douglass--"a genuine American here"--with a communist bookstore.