The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was an investigating committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee investigated what it considered un-American propaganda, but was condemned by many for persecuting people and ruining their lives and careers on account of their personal political beliefs. A committee comprises a mechanism of bureaucracy or of proto-bureaucracy whereby a limited number of people receive delegated functions of government or administration. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ...

The House Committee on Un-American Activities grew from a special investigating committee established in May of 1938 and chaired by Martin Dies. At that time, its work was aimed mostly at German-American involvement in Nazi and KKK activity, although the committee also investigated communism in the Works Progress Administration, including the Federal Theatre Project. In 1938 Hallie Flanagan, the head of the Federal Theatre Project was subpoenaed to appear before the committee to answer the charge that the project was overrun with communists. Flanagan was called to testify for only a part of one day, while a clerk from the project was called in for two entire days. This may have had something to do with the fact that one of the members of the committee embarrassed himself by asking whether the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe was a member of the Communist Party. 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Martin Dies, Jr. ... German-Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry. ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... This article is about communism as a form of society built around a gift economy, as an ideology that advocates that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... The Works Progress Administration (later Works Projects Administration, abbreviated WPA), was created on May 6, 1935 with the signing of Executive Order 7034. ... Scene from Orson Welles Voodoo Macbeth The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was a project to fund theater performances in the United States during the Great Depression. ... Hallie Flanagan (27 August 1889-23 July 1969) was an American theatrical visionary, director, playwright, author, and director of the Federal Theater Project, a part of the Works Progress Administration. ... This article is about communism as a form of society built around a gift economy, as an ideology that advocates that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. ... An anonymous portrait, often believed to show Christopher Marlowe Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (baptised February 26, 1564–May 30, 1593) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. ... ...

It became a standing (permanent) committee in 1946. Under the mandate of Public Law 601, passed by the 79th Congress, the committee of nine representatives investigated suspected threats of subversion or propaganda that "attacks the form of government guaranteed by our Constitution." In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to the Committee on Internal Security. The House abolished the committee in 1975 and its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee. 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, or (more commonly) the House Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. ...

Little of note came from its investigations of Nazis, but the committee came into its own when it acted on suspicions that some people with Communist sympathies and links worked for the U.S. government. The background to this was the fact that radical students in the 1930s had often been attracted to Marxism, particularly in the "Popular Front" era. Several of these people had reached positions of power by the late 1940s. Conservative voices in Congress, notably Senator Joseph McCarthy tended to be extremely suspicious of such people, believing that these Communists had dual loyalty, and were either actual or ideological agents of the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin. There were fears that such agents were actively working to overthrow the United States from within, and thus had to be forcibly removed from any positions of influence. In particular, the committee, with the leadership of Congressmen such as Richard Nixon, brought about the trial and imprisonment of Alger Hiss. Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons First Kit Kat in UK The photocopier is invented by Carlson Air mail service across the Atlantic Science... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Popular Fronts comprise broad coalitions of political and other groups, often made up of oppositioners or left wingers, and often united against particularly stringent circumstances. ... Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the V1 flying bomb and the first ballistic missile, the... Conservatism is any of several historically-related political philosophies or political ideologies. ... Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician of the Democrat Party and later of the Republican Party. ... Dual loyalty is when citizens of one state whose cultural or religious affiliation with another country is strong have a loyalty to the other country which equals or exceeds their loyalty to their home country. ... Iosif (usually Anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... Order: 37th President Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973–1974) Term of office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 Preceded by: Lyndon B. Johnson Succeeded by: Gerald R. Ford Date of birth: January 9, 1913 Place of birth: Yorba Linda, California Date of death: April 22... Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was a U.S. lawyer and government official accused of spying for the Soviet Union. ...

One of the committee's specialties was to investigate a particular political organization, and to label it a Communist front if, in the committee's judgment, the group was effectively under the control of the Communist Party or known party members. Some individuals — such as W. E. B. DuBois and I. F. Stone — were found to have been affiliated with literally dozens of groups so cited, although, in reality, many of the groups were nothing more than glorified petition drives, and disappeared after a single publicity campaign on behalf of a particular cause. Communist front was a term used by the House Committee on Un-American Activities or the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, especially during the 1950s, to label political organizations found to be under the effective control of the Communist Party, with special emphasis on those groups most active during the Great... ... W. E. B. DuBois William Edward Burghardt DuBois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an African-American civil rights activist, sociologist, freemason, and scholar. ... Isador Feinstein Stone (better known as I.F. Stone) (December 24, 1907 – July 17, 1989) was an iconoclastic American investigative journalist best known for his influential political newsletter, . Stone was born in Philadelphia. ...

Later the committee looked into alleged Communist propaganda by Hollywood. This led to the blacklisting of a number of leftist scriptwriters known as the "Hollywood ten" after such, subsequently largely discredited, accusations were made against them. Charlie Chaplin was another target, resulting in his relocation to Switzerland. For other uses, see Hollywood (disambiguation) Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that runs from about Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to... The Hollywood Ten was a group of American screenwriters, actors, and directors, alleged members of the Communist Party, who were convicted of contempt of Congress during the height of the Red Scare. ... Chaplin in his costume as The Tramp Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977) was the most famous actor in early to mid Hollywood cinema, and later also a notable director. ...

Certainly very little propaganda made it into their films. Only one film, Mission to Moscow, was ever found to have any traces of such influence, and it was produced as much out of enthusiasm for the Soviet Union's role as an ally in World War II as out of Communist influence. Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... Mission to Moscow is a 1943 movie directed by Michael Curtiz with a screen play by Howard Koch based on the book by Ambassador Joseph E. Davies. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

In its later years HUAC investigated the New Left, but these investigations were less successful. The young witnesses like Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman had much less to lose than the targets of the earlier investigations, and they swayed public opinion in their favor by openly defying the congressmen and making the investigations look ridiculous by performing pranks such as appearing in a clown suit. The British New Left (or Old New Left) As a result of Khrushchevs secret speech denouncing Stalin and the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) ruptured. ... Jerry Rubin (July 4, 1938 - November 28, 1994) was a high-profile social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. ... Abbie Hoffman, New York City, 1970. ... A clown participating in a Memorial Day parade A clown today is one of various types of comedic performers, on stage, television, in the circus and rodeo. ...

Committee chairs and notable members

• Martin Dies Jr., chair 1938 – 1944
• John Parnell Thomas, chair 1947 – 1948
• John Stephens Wood, chair, 1949 – 1953
• Harold Himmel Velde, chair 1953 – 1955
• Francis Walter, chair 1955 – 1963
• Richard Howard Ichord Jr., chair 1969 – 1975
• Richard Nixon
• Gordon H. Scherer
• Karl Earl Mundt
• Felix Edward Hébert
• John Elliott Rankin
• Samuel Dickstein

Martin Dies, Jr. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... John Stephens Wood (1885 - 1968) was a significant U.S. political figure. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Harold Himmel Velde (1910 - 1985) was a U.S. political figure. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Francis Walter (May 26, 1894 - May 31, 1963) was an American Congressman. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Richard Howard Jr. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Order: 37th President Vice President: Spiro Agnew (1969–1973), Gerald R. Ford (1973–1974) Term of office: January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 Preceded by: Lyndon B. Johnson Succeeded by: Gerald R. Ford Date of birth: January 9, 1913 Place of birth: Yorba Linda, California Date of death: April 22... Gordon Harry Scherer (born Dec. ... Karl Earl Mundt (1900 - 1974) was a U.S. educator and a Republican United States Senator from South Dakota from 1948 to 1973. ... Felix Edward Hébert (October 12, 1901 - December 29, 1979) was a Louisiana politician. ... RANKIN, John Elliott, (1882 - 1960) RANKIN, John Elliott, a Representative from Mississippi; born near Bolanda, Itawamba County, Miss. ... Samuel Dickstein, the New York congressman whose NKVD handlers code-named “Crook” due to his greedy compensation demands, gave Moscow information on fascist groups in the U.S. and war budget materials. ...

See also

• McCarthyism