On June 17, 1957, the Supreme Court issued three decisions that significantly limited McCarthyist overreach: Yates v. United States, Watkins v. United States, and Service v. Dulles. Known as “Red Monday” to conservative critics, these rulings began the judicial rollback of the security …
Earl WarrenU.S. Supreme CourtOleta O'Connor YatesCommunist Party USADepartment of Justicecivil-libertiesjudicialfirst-amendmentmccarthyismred-scare+1 more
Congress passes the Communist Control Act of 1954, preventing members of the Communist Party from holding office in labor unions and other labor organizations. The legislation represents the culmination of systematic efforts to weaponize anti-communism against labor organizing, following the …
U.S. CongressDwight EisenhowerHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeAmerican Federation of LaborCongress of Industrial Organizationslabor-suppressionmccarthyismanti-communismred-scareunion-busting+1 more
On April 22, 1954, the Army-McCarthy hearings began—36 days of televised proceedings that exposed Senator Joseph McCarthy’s methods to a national audience and began his political downfall. The hearings were triggered by the Army’s March 11 report charging McCarthy and his chief counsel …
Joseph McCarthyRoy CohnRobert StevensJoseph WelchG. David Schine+2 moremccarthyismcongressional-actionmilitary-politicspolitical-theaterinstitutional-resistance
On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing prison, becoming the first American civilians executed for espionage during peacetime and the only Americans executed for Cold War spy activities. Their case remains the most controversial capital punishment in …
Julius RosenbergEthel RosenbergRoy CohnIrving SaypolIrving Kaufman+3 moremccarthyismred-scarecapital-punishmentcivil-libertiespolitical-persecution+1 more
By 1952, the Hollywood blacklist had reached its peak, with over 300 writers, directors, actors, and other film industry professionals banned from employment. What began with the Hollywood Ten’s 1947 contempt citations expanded through HUAC hearings, private “clearance” systems, …
Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American IdealsStudio executivesHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeAmerican LegionFBI+1 moremccarthyismcivil-libertiesblacklistentertainment-industryfirst-amendment+1 more
On June 4, 1951, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-2 in Dennis v. United States, upholding the convictions of eleven Communist Party leaders under the Smith Act of 1940. The decision effectively criminalized political advocacy, allowing prosecution for teaching or advocating revolutionary …
Fred VinsonU.S. Supreme CourtEugene DennisCommunist Party USADepartment of Justicemccarthyismcivil-libertiesjudicialfirst-amendmentred-scare+1 more
In early 1951, the Hollywood Ten—screenwriters and directors cited for contempt of Congress in 1947 for refusing to answer HUAC’s questions about Communist Party membership—were released after serving prison terms ranging from six months to one year. Their freedom from incarceration, however, …
Hollywood TenDalton TrumboRing Lardner Jr.John Howard LawsonHouse Un-American Activities Committee+1 moremccarthyismcivil-libertiesblacklistentertainment-industryfirst-amendment+1 more
President Harry Truman vetoes the Internal Security Act of 1950 (McCarran Act) on September 22, 1950, sending Congress a lengthy veto message criticizing specific provisions as “the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press, and assembly since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798,” a …
Pat McCarranKarl MundtHarry TrumanHubert HumphreyU.S. Congress+4 moremccarthyismred-scarecongressional-actioncivil-libertieshuac+1 more
In 1950, California passed the Levering Act, requiring all state employees to sign a loyalty oath swearing they did not belong to organizations advocating overthrow of the government. The law followed a bitter fight at the University of California that had already fired 31 faculty members for …
California LegislatureEarl WarrenUniversity of California Board of RegentsAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)mccarthyismcivil-libertiesacademic-freedomred-scarepolitical-persecution+1 more
American Business Consultants Inc. publishes Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television on June 22, 1950, as an anti-Communist pamphlet-style book naming 151 actors, writers, musicians, broadcast journalists, and others in the context of purported Communist manipulation …
American Business ConsultantsJohn G. KeenanKenneth M. BierlyTheodore C. KirkpatrickVincent Hartnett+5 morehollywood-blacklistmccarthyismred-scarecorporate-complicitybroadcasting+1 more
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) holds its eleventh annual convention in Cleveland and expels two member unions, the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) and the Farm Equipment Workers, for alleged “disloyalty to the CIO” and support for the …
Congress of Industrial OrganizationsPhilip MurrayWalter ReutherUnited Electrical, Radio and Machine WorkersFarm Equipment Workers+1 morelabor-suppressionred-scareanti-communismunion-bustingmccarthyism+1 more
Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, issues the two-page Waldorf Statement on November 25, 1947, following a closed-door meeting by forty-eight motion picture company executives at New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on November 24, 1947. The statement is …
Motion Picture Association of AmericaEric JohnstonLouis B. MayerEddie MannixHarry Cohn+16 morehollywood-blacklistmccarthyismred-scarecorporate-complicityfirst-amendment+1 more
The House Un-American Activities Committee opens its first postwar hearings on October 20, 1947, investigating alleged Communist influence in Hollywood with Chairman J. Parnell Thomas presiding and Robert E. Stripling serving as chief counsel. Drawing upon lists provided in The Hollywood Reporter, …
House Un-American Activities CommitteeJ. Parnell ThomasRobert E. StriplingWalt DisneyJack L. Warner+8 morehuachollywood-blacklistmccarthyismred-scarecorporate-complicity+1 more
President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9835 on March 21, 1947, nine days after announcing the Truman Doctrine, establishing the first general loyalty program in United States history designed to root out Communist influence in the federal government. The order mandates loyalty …
Harry S. TrumanFederal Bureau of InvestigationCivil Service CommissionHouse Un-American Activities Committeecivil-libertiesmccarthyismred-scaresurveillanceloyalty-oath+1 more