From its inception in 1938 until it was dissolved in 1975, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) took a prominent role in the investigation of communist activity in the United States. Although its supporters claim that this committee of the U.S. House of Representatives performed an important function, its critics contend that its abuse of power trampled important First Amendment rights, such as freedom of expression and freedom of association.
HUAC investigated Communist Party infiltration
HUAC’s predecessor, the McCormack-Dickstein committee, named for its chair and vice chair, Reps. John W. McCormack, D-Mass., and Samuel Dickstein, D-N.Y., had been formed in 1934 to investigate Nazi propaganda. In 1938 it became the House Un-American Activities Committee, and its first chair was Rep. Martin Dies Jr., D-Texas, who headed it until 1944. Under Dies, HUAC soon turned its attention toward investigating Communist Party infiltration and involvement in New Deal agencies, such as the Works Progress Administration. In 1939 it held hearings to investigate the WPA’s Federal Theatre Project, inquiring into whether any of its members or those who worked with it were communists.
HUAC investigations led to Hollywood blacklists
In 1946 HUAC became a permanent House committee, charged with investigating subversion in the United States. In 1947 and 1951 it investigated alleged Communist Party influence in Hollywood and the motion picture industry. As a result of these and subsequent hearings, nearly 300 actors and others employed in the movie industry were blacklisted or prevented from working. Many of those called to testify before HUAC pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. Such refusal was often taken as tantamount to guilt, and many individuals were cited for contempt of Congress. Others did testify. Among them was noted film director Elia Kazan, who named numerous people who he believed were communist sympathizers, and they too were blacklisted.
One of HUAC’s most famous hearings took place in 1948, when Whittaker Chambers, a former member of the Communist Party, testified before the committee. Chambers’ testimony eventually led to the conviction of Alger Hiss, a State Department employee suspected of being a communist, for perjury.
HUAC led to targeted investigations by McCarthy, chilling of First Amendment freedoms
HUAC fed off the hysteria of the cold war and anti-communism, paving the way for Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., to begin hearings in the Senate in 1953. Between HUAC and the McCarthy hearings, Congress held broad, roving investigations into the political activity of many Americans suspected of being communists or communist sympathizers. The hearings also investigated many who did not hold communist views, creating a climate of political intimidation that came to be called “red baiting” or McCarthyism. The impact of these hearings was to ruin the careers of many individuals and to foster a political paranoia toward anyone suspected of holding contrary political views or of joining suspected political organizations.
HUAC became unpopular during Vietnam War investigation
The end of HUAC came when it began to investigate opposition to the Vietnam War. Its 1967 and 1968 hearings investigating anti-war activists Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, both of whom attended the hearings at various times wearing a Santa Claus or a Revolutionary War patriot outfit, contributed to the rising unpopularity of HUAC. In 1969 its name was changed to the Internal Security Committee, and in 1975 it was abolished. During HUAC’s tenure, more than 3,000 individuals testified before it. Its investigations were the subject of several Supreme Court decisions that sought to define the scope of the constitutional power Congress had to hold hearings.
This article was originally published in 2009. David Schultz is a professor in the Hamline University Departments of Political Science and Legal Studies, and a visiting professor of law at the University of Minnesota. He is a three-time Fulbright scholar and author/editor of more than 35 books and 200 articles, including several encyclopedias on the U.S. Constitution, the Supreme Court, and money, politics, and the First Amendment.
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After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union found themselves on opposite sides of a “Cold War,” which pitted the democratic United States against the Communist Soviet Union. As the Cold War intensified, the frenzy over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and rebel activities on the part of private citizens, public employees and organizations suspected of having Communist ties. Citizens suspected of having ties to the communist party would be tried in a court of law. Also during this time, Senator Joseph McCarthy began a campaign against alleged communists in the U.S. government and other institutions. From 1950-1954 “McCarthyism” described the practice of accusing Federal Government employees of having affiliations with communism and leaking information. Government employees could be blacklisted (viewed as untrustworthy or someone to avoid) and could lose their jobs. The threat of Communism was a driving force that created a wedge between society and the United States government. During this time period the lines of civil liberties and national security began to blur, and U.S. citizens felt a sense of uncertainty. Some Americans felt that their personal freedoms were being taken away, while others believed HUAC and McCarthyism were necessary to secure national security. Government officials felt the same types of pressures on the home front. Were they overstepping government powers or just keeping America safe from outsiders that wanted to cause harm within the system?
What is more important — national security or personal freedom?
- The President’s News Conference, plus political cartoon, June 16, 1949
- J. Parnell Thomas to Harry S. Truman, September 29, 1948
- Political cartoon, “It’s okay—We’re hunting Communists,” October 31, 1947
- Executive Order 9835
- Letter from Jack Moffitt to Norris Paulson, April 11, 1947
- Letter from “An American” to the Chair of HUAC regarding Gale Sondergaard, March 1951
- Correspondence between J. Parnell Thomas and Harry S. Truman, April 25, 1947
- Harry Truman’s Address at the Dedication of the New Washington Headquarters of the American Legion, August 14, 1951
- Gallup Vault Poll: Celebrity Witnesses before Congress in 1947 Public Opinion, November 1947
- Video, Walt Disney testifies against Communism, 1947
- Video, Pete Seeger testimony on being blacklisted in America, 1965
Those who refused to answer questions could have several things happen to them. For one, they could held in contempt, for which there were legal penalties. For another, they could be blacklisted by their profession. There were ten Hollywood writers and directors who refused to answer the House Un-American Activities Committee's questions; the "Hollywood Ten" believed it was unconstitutional for the committee to ask them about their political beliefs. They were all blacklisted -- unable to find work, since no-one in Hollywood would hire them; and they were all found guilty of Contempt of Congress, and sentenced to serve between six and twelve months in prison.