HUAC:

Anti-Communism, Propaganda, Personal grudges, and Self-preservation.

Nick Colasanto

3/23/05

Houston

History F

Thesis: Throughout the mid 1900’s when anti-communist feelings swept America, the House Committee on Un-American Activities held hearings to drive suspected Communists from the State Department, Hollywood, and the military.

Title: HUAC: Anti-Communism, Propaganda, Personal grudges, and Self-preservation.

I. Intro

A. Suspicion of Communists

B. Investigations begin

II. 1938-1945: Birth of HUAC

A. Martin Dies

B. Causes

C. Unions

III. 1947: Parnell Thomas Era

A. Hollywood Ten

IV. 1948: HUAC at large

A. Nixon

B. Alger Hiss case

V. 1949-1952: John Wood

A. Internal Security Act

B. Hollywood part 2

VI. 1953-1954: Velde Leadership

A. Communist infiltration of schools

B. 100 Things To Know About Communism

VII. 1955-1963: Walter Administration

A. Immigrants

B. Arthur Miller

VIII. 1963-1975: The Downfall

A. Edwin Willis

B. Antiwar Protest Investigations

C. Abolished

IX. Effects & Conclusion

A. Censorship

B. Views into politicians motives

C. Division, Witch-hunt, Public view.

As the United States was on the brink of entering another World War, disgust of Fascist and Communist associations grew fierce. Democrat Martin Dies felt that Communist leaders had involved themselves with every labor union. Dies’ hatred of communism and foreigners resulted in the Committee to Investigate Un-American Propaganda Bill. On July 21, 1937 this bill established a seven-member committee to investigate anyone or anything linked to Un-American propaganda. Martin Dies told his fellow representatives that it would only require seven months for the investigations to be carried out. In fact, investigations would take place for 38 years. The House accepted this bill on June 7, 1938 forming the House on Un-American Activities Committee, (HUAC). Many critics felt that this committee would merely become a vehicle for chairmen to achieve political goals and boost their reputations. Throughout the mid 1900’s when anti-communist feelings swept America, the House Committee on Un-American Activities held hearings to drive suspected Communists from the State department, Hollywood, and the economy. (Klingaman p.108)

In the 1920’s and early 1930’s there were several congressional investigations into the operation of banks, railroads, the stock exchange, and the war. Professor Felix Frankfurter stated in The New Republic, “The procedure of Congressional investigations should remain as it is. No limitations should be imposed by Congressional legislation or standing rules. The power of investigation should be left untrammeled.” (Goodman, 5). These views among the public and high-ranking officials lead to the creation of HUAC. The United States was still feeling the effects of the depression when Martin Dies proposed an investigation of recent strikes in the country. Communist leaders were believed to be behind these strikes. Dies felt that members of the communist party wanted to bring in propaganda to stir up the working class and destroy the American government. This fear of subversive activities in a nation still rebuilding from WWI and depression led to the establishment of HUAC. (Goodman p.4-6,15).

The first few years of HUAC’s existence featured opposition to the New Deal legislation and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The New Deal was program created by President Roosevelt and Congress to reduce unemployment and carry the nation out of depression. Acts such as the National Industrial Recovery Act led Dies to believe that the New Deal was influenced by communism. This program regulated American business to ensure fair competition. The codes developed by the National Recovery Act guaranteed that price competition would be fair and orderly in the country. Critics felt that the government had far too much involvement in the economy. Another move made by the New Deal was the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. This set up fair employment standards and gave workers the right to form unions. Martin Dies felt that all labor unions were tied to the most serious threat to America’s security: Communism. Most of the members in HUAC were opposed to the New Deal, giving them even more reason to connect Roosevelt and the New Deal to communism. (Klingaman p.108, “New Deal”).

Early in the life of HUAC, critics could see that this committee was full of biased leaders who sought power. When the house voted to make HUAC permanent, it was almost certain that this proposal would be accepted. The fear in America about communism and the growing power of HUAC had an enormous influence on society. If anyone voted against HUAC they could be viewed as a communist in the publics eye. If a suspect was questioned or even mentioned as a communist there would be instant proof of guilt. Members of the National Lawyers Guild challenged the bias and irrational nature of the committee by claiming, “Martin Dies and his committee is the secret weapon with which Adolph Hitler hopes to soften up our Nation for military conquest.” (Klingaman, 185). It was a toss up as to whether HUAC was protecting or hurting the country at this point.

By 1947, the Republican Party had regained control of Congress. These leaders felt that it was time for a change in HUAC. Congress granted Republican, Parnell Thomas, the head chairmanship of HUAC. Thomas wasted no time establishing himself as an investigator who conducted hearings based on his own prejudices. Thomas began his career by questioning alleged Soviet spies Gerhart and Hanns Eisler. These brothers were well known film directors. This case encouraged Thomas to investigate the communist influence in the American motion picture industry in the spring of 1947. In May of 1947 HUAC held hearings in Los Angeles. Representatives were intent on proving that the screenwriters’ guild had communist members. HUAC felt that the writers were inserting propaganda into films. Thomas even believed that Roosevelt encouraged pro-soviet films. Witnesses such as Ronald Reagan and Gary Cooper admitted the feeling that many people in Hollywood had become communist. The information gained in this hearing led HUAC to subpoena screenwriters, producers, and directors to testify in October of 1947. (“House Un-American” p.1, Klingaman p.179-180, Mills p.1-2, “Memories of HUAC” p.1-3)

The Committee met in Washington for these testimonies, encountering several witnesses who refused to speak. Nineteen of these people were considered “unfriendly witnesses.” Only eleven of these witnesses were forced to testify. The lone playwright to answer any questions was Bertolt Brecht. The remaining ten were dubbed “The Hollywood Ten.” The Hollywood Ten featured director Edward Dmytryk, and screenwriters Dalton Trumbo, John Lawson, Albert Maltz, Alvah Bessie, Samuel Ornintz, Hebert Biberman, Adrian Scott, Ring Lardner Jr., and Lester Cole. All of these people mentioned, with the exception of Dmytryk, refused to answer any questions, demanding that their First Amendment rights protected them. Some of the Hollywood Ten had to be forcibly removed during hearings for becoming too combative when questioned about their past. Everyone in the Hollywood Ten (not including Dmytryk) were still members of the communist party in 1947. The Hollywood Ten waived their right to a trial by jury and on April 19, 1948 the members were found guilty of contempt of Congress. They were sentenced to one year in prison with a $1000 fine. After the hearings Ring Lardner Jr. proclaimed that,

“Organizations such as the Motion Picture Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy, Hollywood Anti Nazi League, and League of American Writers would not really have functioned anywhere near to the extent that they did without the very active participation of Communists in their forefront; nor, I think would the unions that were being formed or reformed at the time have gotten as strong as fast as they did without the extra work that Communists put into organizing and recruiting people for them.” (“The real blacklist”, 3)

1948 introduced the dedication, hard work, and determination of a young man trying to make a name for himself in the government. Richard Nixon was assigned to HUAC to rid America of the communist party. Nixon and Congressman Karl Mundt proposed a Bill that would outlaw the communist party. This Mundt-Nixon Bill, required communist political organizations to file reports with the attorney general. The government would have been able to keep an eye on suspicious organizations by forcing them into the open. Although the house passed this bill, it failed to make its way through the Senate. Nixon’s inability to gain recognition by means of this bill caused him to focus on the upcoming Alger Hiss case. (Klingaman p.282)

In 1948 HUAC investigated a high-level state department advisor named Alger Hiss. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hiss was sent to the Chiang regime in China to make sure they were receiving ample supplies to counter the Japanese. Hiss also had to deal with the issue of whether or not America should support Communist forces under Mao Zedong in their resistance against Japan. Hiss stated, “There were vigorous debates over those of us engaged in far eastern matters about the role of Chinese Communists.”(Klingaman, 174) In 1946 Hiss was an advisor to the U.S. delegations to the United Nations General Assembly during its meetings in London. After returning from London, Secretary of State James Byrnes informed Hiss that Republican congressmen were charging that he was a communist. (Klingaman, Faner)

On August 3, 1948 an ex-communist named Whittaker Chambers told HUAC that he had known Hiss in 1934-1935 as a member of a small communist group in Washington. Whittaker Chambers and Elizabeth Bentley both identified Hiss as a Soviet agent during the 1930’s. Hiss denied Chambers’ allegations on August fourth. The cooperative manor of Hiss convinced most members of HUAC that his was telling the truth. Chambers and Bentley provided several accused names, but they provided no evidence for HUAC to require hearings. Nixon had developed a personal distaste for Hiss during this situation. This motivated Nixon to persuade colleagues to permit him to question Chambers again. Nixon and two other representatives of HUAC met Chambers in a New York federal courtroom on August seventh. Chambers revealed knowledge of Hiss’ personal life and habits. This testimony convinced HUAC that if Hiss lied about knowing Chambers, he might have lied about his past associations. HUAC questioned Hiss on August 16^th and pressured him into revealing that he once knew a man named George Crosely who resembled Chambers. On August 25^th HUAC met with Hiss and Chambers in a New York hotel room for a private hearing. Chambers’ motives were questioned during this session. Chambers declared,

“Mr. Hiss represents the concealed enemy we are all fighting. I am testifying against him with remorse and pity, but in this moment of historic jeopardy at which this nation now stands, so help me God, I could not do otherwise.” (Klingaman, 175).

September 2, 1948 featured yet another testimony by Hiss before HUAC. Hiss confessed that he may have given Chambers a car and permission to use his apartment in the 30’s. Hiss claimed that he did not know that Chambers was a communist at this time. Chambers appeared on the radio program “Meet The Press” and claimed that Hiss was a communist and might still be one. Hiss sought a suit against Chambers for defamation of character. To defend himself in court, Chambers produced documents allegedly from Hiss. Chambers brought HUAC investigators to his home to show him where Hiss had stored the reports. This resulted in Hiss’ indictment on 2 counts of perjury for lying under oath in front of HUAC. The two counts were for denying membership of the communist party and giving Chambers State Department documents for transmission to the Soviet Union. After being tried twice, Hiss was finally found guilty and sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary. (Klingaman p.173-177)

Nixon achieved great notoriety following the Alger Hiss case. Hiss was outraged about how the trials were conducted. He recognized Nixon’s motives. Hiss said of the trial:

“I realized that it was no ordinary one. The entire jury of public opinion, all of those from whom my juries had been selected, had been tampered with. Nixon, my unofficial prosecutor, seeking to build his career on getting a conviction in my case, had from the days of the congressional committee hearings constantly issued public statements and leaks to the press against me.” (Klingaman, 176).

January of 1950 marked the end of Parnell Thomas’ tenure as HUAC chairman. The emergence of democrats in the White House and Congress took Thomas out of power. Harry Truman considered HUAC to be a witch-hunt against liberals. Truman was prepared to request Congress cut off funding of HUAC. HUAC replaced Thomas with former member John Wood. Wood emerged as chairman while Congress was adopting the new Internal Security Act (ISA). The ISA established an agency to suppress subversive organizations, practically outlawing communism. James Wood’s most noticeable credential was the revisiting of the Hollywood Ten’s trial. (Mills p.2, Klingaman p.111-112)

In 1950 HUAC heard Edward Dmytryk’s case once again. Dmytryk was a director who made films attacking anti-Semitism, which won him academy award nominations. Dmytryk had been a guest lecturer for liberal organizations in the early 1940’s. During this point in his life communists approached and recruited him. In 1944 he decided to join the communist party. After leaving the Communist party he had denounced the organization. A lenient judge heard Dmytryk’s case in 1950, which resulted in an early release date. Once free, Dmytryk met with the FBI and conservatives like Reagan to try and rehabilitate his image. Dmytryk was called by HUAC to testify about any other Hollywood colleagues that he knew to be involved with communism. He named 26 of his former peers. Dmytryk worked hard to restore his reputation so he could obtain directing jobs once again. (Klingaman p.112, “The real blacklist” p.4-6)

Through 1953 and 1954, Harold Velde set records for the most investigations in HUAC history. Velde suspected that communists had infiltrated churches, Universities, civil right unions, and peace movements. The accusations HUAC made over the years led other individuals to feel they could do the same. The best example of this was Senator Joe McCarthy’s charges that some officials in the department of state had become communists. McCarthy felt that the secretary of the army was concealing foreign espionage activities. Senator McCarthy was investigated by the Senate due to belief that McCarthy had threatened army officials to gain special treatment for his former consultant who had been drafted. McCarthy was cleared of charges claiming he abused and mistreated suspects, but the Senate was forced to censure him after this ordeal. At this point in time, the public opinion of HUAC was extremely poor. In attempt to strengthen their image, HUAC released a series of pamphlets about communism. Frank Waldrop introduced “One Hundred Things You Should Know About Communism,” to boost public support. These booklets turned out to be very popular and 850,000 free copies were distributed in the first year. (Goodman p.321-326, Klingaman p.187 “McCarthy” p.1-2)

The mid 1950’s began the slow decent of HUAC’s existence. Democrat Francis Walter of Pennsylvania was now the chairman of the committee. He, like many others before him, hated liberal immigration. Walter created an Immigration Law that kept Eastern and Southern Europeans and Asians out of the country. Unlike previous chairmen, Walter vowed to search for “Communists as Communists,” (Goodman, 368) instead of investigating trades or professions like Hollywood or the senate. During Walter’s campaign he broke his promise when Arthur Miller was called to testify. Miller wrote a story called “The Crucible,” concerning the Salem witchcraft trials. This novel was directed at HUAC’s investigation of subversive activities during the 1940’s and 50’s. Miller was convicted of contempt when he did not name other leftist colleagues.

From the late 1950’s-on, HUAC stepped out of the limelight and remained inactive. By 1963 HUAC’s power had disappeared. This led to Walter’s retirement and Edwin Willis’ promotion. The final headline that HUAC managed to steal was its investigation of antiwar protestors. In 1969, HUAC changed its name to the Committee on Internal Security. Congressmen realized how counterproductive and useless HUAC really was by 1975. January of 1975 marked the abolishment of the committee. (Faner p.2, Klingaman p.187)

HUAC changed the ways America viewed censorship, politicians, and Communism. The Investigation on the Hollywood Ten brought about several results. In 1951 the Motion Picture Association of America created new restrictions against mentioning abortion or drugs in movies. The content of all movies started to shift. Between 1947 and 1954, 40 anticommunist films were produced. Banks were wary to give out loans to companies who strayed from conservative, safe themes. Hollywood Executives stated, “We will not knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group which advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States by force, or by any illegal or unconstitutional method.” (Mills, 2). Workers in Hollywood suspected of being a communist were suspended without pay or lost their jobs. This forced several writers and directors to work under pseudonyms. Most of the chairmen during HUAC’s reign only sought recognition and praise. Nixon put himself into the limelight during the Alger Hiss case to establish himself. Parnell Thomas could care less about the accusations he was making. These two men felt they could project themselves as heroes to society. The debate over witch hunts for Communists divided Americans. Most citizens agreed this was a party they couldn’t feel safe around. Division was created when allegations of subversion within schools and harmless societies. The House Un-American Activities Committee achieved its goal of driving suspected Communists from the State Department, Hollywood, and the economy, but it conducted itself in a less than admirable manor. (Mills p.2-4)

Works Cited

Faner, Eric and Garraty, John. “House Un-American Activities Committee.” The Reader’s Companion to American History. 1 Jan. 1991. 1991.

Goodman, Walter. The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of The House Committee on Un-American Activities. New York: Farrar, Sirans, and Giroux Inc, 1968. Clams Call Number: E743.5 .G64

Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993.

Klingaman, William. Encyclopedia of the McCarthy Era. New York; Facts On File Books, 1996.

“McCarthy, Joseph Raymond,” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2005.

“Memories of HUAC.” The Nation. 24 Oct. 1987, 245: 436.

http://webz.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark

Miller, Douglas and Nowak, Marron. The Fifties: The Way We Really Were. New York: Doubleday, 1977.

Mills, Michael. “HUAC and Censorship Changes.” 1995.

www.moderntimes.com/palace/huac.htm

“The real blacklist: true or false: the fifties was a period of blacklisting and fear in the American movie industry.” National Review. 27 Oct. 1989, 41:42

http://web2.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark