Terms in this set 14 as a result of the work of the house unamerican activities committee, hundreds of people were. The committee was the latest in a line of similar groupings dating back to 1918 formed to investigate supposed subversive activity by communist or fascist groups and individuals inside and outside of the federal government. Huac stands for the house of unamerican activities committee and investigated suspicions of communist subversion or propaganda by influential people in american society. Those investigated included many artists and entertainers, including the hollywood ten, elia kazan, pete seeger, bertolt brecht, and arthur miller. House unamerican activities committee huac in the cold war years, the u. Read the following excerpt from house resolution 282, the legislation that established the house unamerican activities committee in may 1938. On this date, the select committee on house unamerican activities became a standing house committee. Reports of the house unamerican activities committee huac 19481964. Resisting huac a grassroots success story published by chip gibbons at november 19, 2015 political button reading. The house unamerican activities committee was an investigative committee of the united states house of representatives. The defendant is asked questions about a note from eleanor roosevelt. Huac often pressured witnesses to surrender names and other information that could. The house unamerican activities committee huac or house committee on unamerican activities hcua, from 1969 onwards known as the house.
Oppenheimer was eventually required to testify before the house unamerican activities committee. The house unamerican activities committee huac was born in 1938 and. House of unamerican activities committee huac prezi. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will. In the early days of the cold war the inquisition led by the house unamerican activities committee led to the imprisonment of screenwriters and directors and. It was set up in 1938 to investigate the activities of americans viewed as a threat to the way of life of the populace and government operations. The house unamerican activities committee late 1940s annotation worry about infiltration of the united states by subversive elements first emerged in the 1930s, when it was believed that german agents were spreading nazi propaganda through the country. Investigation of unamerican propaganda activities in the united states. The house unamerican activities committee huac was a. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about huac like never before.
Huac, fueled by postwar communist and subversive paranoia, investigated dozens of artists and provided the model for. Led by a republican congressman, j parnell thomas, members of the house unamerican activities committee huac went into session in washington in 1947 to investigate whether communists were working at the heart of a business with great public influence. The new york times reported that almost fifty witnesses had been subpoenaed. Huac had the responsibility of investigating unamerican propaganda and activities. It was originally created in 1938 to uncover citizens with nazi ties within. She was one of the first black women to host a television show. Sumner welles is sworn in and sits during the hearings. In this connection, the house unamerican activities com mittee is one of the most sinister facts of our national life. The house unamerican activities committee huac was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties. Although the house committee on unamerican activities was established in 1938, it became a permanent committee in 1945. Pdf of the finding aid for the papers of the house unamerican activities committee 1945 to 1969 and its successor after renaming, the house internal security committee 19691975.
Records of the house unamerican activities committee nara. The house unamerican activities committee was a panel established in the united states house of representatives during the middle of the 20th century. Hearings before a special committee on unamerican activities, house of representatives, seventysixth congress, third session seventyeighth congress, first session on h. House unamerican activities committee article about. There, he admitted his past ties with the communist party but denied involvement in espionage activities. House of representatives, investigated allegations of communist activity in the u.
House unamerican activities committee history debates. It eventually named more than 1,000 government workers as being suspected communists, and essentially created a template for what would. The committee, precursor to the house unamerican activities committee, focused on the threat of communist infiltration from the late 1930s into the mid1940s. House of representatives, investigated allegations of communist activity in. The huac was created in 1938 to investigate alleged activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having.
Rankin of mississippi resuscitated huac from the brink of elimination. Special committee to investigate unamerican activities. Established as a select committee in 1938, the panel initially investigated domestic fascist groups. House committee on unamerican activities press release for a hearing on communist influences in the motion picture industry, september 19, 1947 house unamerican activities committee preparing to question actor gary cooper as a witness, photograph by acme photographs for new york worldtelegram and the sun, october 1947. The committees actual name was house committee on unamerican activities. House unamerican activities committee the first amendment. Listen to jackie robinson appears before huac history. A473x investigation of unamerican propaganda activities in the united states. And regardless of his support for the american cause during world war ii, his leftist political leanings were never forgotten by his superiors. On this date, the select committee on house unamerican activities became a.
House of representatives established the house unamerican activities committee huac. The hearings attracted an enormous amount of press attention due to the glamour associated with hollywood celebrities. Mccarthy career timeline wisconsin historical society. The permanent standing house committee on unamerican. Records of the house unamerican activities committee. The committee began operating in 1938, but its greatest impact came following world war ii, when it engaged in a highly publicized crusade against suspected communists. House unamerican activities committee huac is formed by congress to investigate communist activity in the united states. Dunbar when the house unamerican activities committee subpoenaed filmmakers to testify about communism in the industry, a few held their ground and for a time. United states congress house special committee on unamerican. The permanent standing house committee on unamerican activities.
House unamerican activities committee, 194575 2,058 feet 14. It is a great movie, but it is just one piece of the larger story of huac that describes a coordinated government crackdown on ascendant progressive movements and a powerful grassroots movement that defeated it. The history and legacy of congress most notorious investigative committee chronicles the origins of the committee and its work during world war ii and the cold war. Ronald reagan and albert maltz, testimony before huac, 1947. House of representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations. The house unamerican activities committee huac, a committee of the u. House committee on unamerican activities press release. The committee was established in reaction to the overthrow. Bertolt brecht testifies before the house unamerican.
It is not merely that we do not need this committee. House unamerican activities committee definition of. Immigrant families worked punishing hours in dilapidated apartments just to survive. With communist and fascist regimes posing threats to the security of european countries, congress decided to investigate the potential of danger in the united states.
But the communist press consistently referred to the committee as the house unamerican activities committee as opposed to a committee on unamerican activities so as to suggest that the committee, and not the subject of its investigations, was unamerican. Ronald reagan and albert maltz, testimony before huac, 1947 the house unamerican activities committee began to investigate charges of alleged communist influence in the movie industry in the fall of 1947. The ohio unamerican activities committee continued its investigations for the next several years. House unamerican activities committee definition of u.
From its inception in 1938 until it was dissolved in 1975, the house unamerican activities committee huac took a prominent role in the investigation of communist activity in the united states. House unamerican activities committee simple english. With at least two witnesses committing suicide, this was the beginning of the end for many careers and a few lives. Hearings before the committee on unamerican activities, house of representatives, eightieth congress, first session. House unamerican activities committee article about house.
The committee was established in reaction to the overthrow of a number of established foreign. Those investigated included artists and entertainers such as the hollywood ten, elia kazan, pete seeger, and arthur miller. Despite brechts antinazi activities, in 1947 he was nonetheless called before the house unamerican activities committee huac and accused of writing a number of very revolutionary poems, plays, and other writings. House unamerican activities committee definition of house. After discussing various incidents in american history where individuals were compelled to confess to what was regarded as heresy, to reveal their beliefs or associations, or to participate in ritualistic affirmation of allegiance with particular attention to the midtwentieth century hearings of the house unamerican activities committee and the mccarthy investigations, and the barnette. House unamerican activities committee synonyms, house unamerican activities committee pronunciation, house unamerican activities committee translation, english dictionary definition of house unamerican activities committee. Hearings begin before the house unamerican activities committee, on charges of communist infiltration in hollywood, chirman. A subcommittee of the committee on unamerican activities met at 10 a. Because of the activities of people like klaus fuchs, harry gold, and david greenglass, the 1940s and. House unamerican activities committee huac, a committee 193875 of the u. In 1949, jackie robinson was called before the house unamerican activities committee to discuss the appeal of communism to black america. Reorganized from its previous incarnations as the fish committee and the mccormackdickstein committee. The truman administrations loyalty program study collection, harry s. The house unamerican activities committee oviatt library.
Papers are housed at the national archives and records administration in washington, dc. Public law 601 section 121, subsection q 2 soviet espionage within the united states government by united states. While october 20, 1947, seemed like an ordinary monday for many washington congressional staffers, for a few the day was anything but. House of representatives that conducted investigations through the 1940s and 50s into alleged communist activities. Resisting huac a grassroots success story defending. A5 1958a the house committee on unamerican activities.
House unamerican activities committee pronunciation, u. The huac was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on. Committee members branded witnesses as red if they refused to comply or. Ohio unamerican activities committee ohio history central. The house unamerican activities committee huac, or house committee on unamerican activities, or hcua was an investigative committee of the united states house of representatives the huac was created in 1938 to investigate alleged activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties. The house unamerican activities committee was empowered for more than three decades to investigate subversive activity in american society. Domestically, the house unamerican activities committee huac was charged. Trumbo, a film which deserves to be seen, depicts the particularly insidious role the house unamerican activities committee huac played in contributing to the hollywood blacklist. A federal employee loyalty program was instituted in 1947 to preclude the. Special committee to investigate unamerican activities us. On this day, the house unamerican activities committee huac opened special hearings that were to last three weeks. Roosevelts effort to help came at the end of the war, but still spared a thousand lives. Page 588 the committee on unamerican activities, as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized to make from time to time investigations of i the extent, character, and objects of unamerican propaganda activities in the united states, ii the diffusion within the united states of subversive and unamerican propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and. House unamerican activities committee translation, english dictionary definition of u.