The Business Blog at Intuitive.com

Dave Taylor has been involved with the Internet since 1980 and is widely recognized as an expert on both technical and business issues. He has been published over a thousand times, launched four Internet-related startup companies, has written twenty business and technical books and holds both an MBA and MS Ed. Dave maintains three weblogs, The Business Blog at Intuitive.com, focused on business and industry analysis, the eponymous Ask Dave Taylor devoted to tech and business Q&A and The Attachment Parenting Blog, discussing topics of interest to parents. Dave is an award-winning speaker, sought after conference and workshop participant and frequent guest on radio and podcast programs.

48 years ago today: Arthur Miller condemned by HUAC

I wasn't alive 48 years ago, but I continue to find the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee fascinating. Five years ago I would have said that we'd never again see a rabid politico like Senator Joseph McCarthy and his watchdog HUAC group resurface, but nowadays I have a sense that it's more important than ever to study the past, learn more about the 50's, when intolerance and fear were such powerful driving factors, and try to identify how we can avoid falling into these behaviors again.

If I may dig into this topic a bit...

The House Un-American Activities Committee was set up in 1938 to identify fascists and communists within the federal government. In 1947, after World War II, HUAC turned its attention to the world of the arts, and over the next three years, got a number of Hollywood writers and directors blacklisted for their political views.

Notable members of the blacklist, known commonly as the Hollywood Ten, included Lester Cole, John Lawson, Albert Maltz, Adrian Scott and Dalton Trumbo. Comedian and film producer Charlie Chaplin felt so persecuted by HUAC that he emigrated to Switzerland during this period.

Playwright Arthur Miller, then married to blond bombshell Marilyn Monroe, was called up to HUAC and was asked to tell the Congressional committee about other people who attended Communist Party meetings where Miller was known to have been present. He refused and was cited for contempt of congress.

It took until 7 August, 1958 for Miller to clear his name, during which time he continued to produce excellent plays and other works. His best known works include The Crucible and Death of a Salesman.

Not all members of the Hollywood community said "no" to HUAC, by the way. Most notably, Screen Actor's Guild president Ronald Reagan was happy to cooperate with the blacklisting committee, reporting actors he felt were disloyal to the United States directly to the FBI with some frequency. Another former President shows up in this story too: Richard Nixon was a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee and was quite involved with the conviction of Alger Hiss as an agent of the Soviet Union in 1949.

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Posted by Dave Taylor at May 30, 2005 11:17 PM

Comments

HUAC was over in the House of Representatives.

Senator McCarthy chaired the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations.

Robert Kennedy was a staff lawyer for Senator McCarthy's subcommittee, resigning after about six months. Just another bit of trivia.

Posted by: Fred Boness on May 31, 2005 12:44 AM

Howard Veit has been in Hollywood forever. He was there when all this was happening.

http://oraculations.blogspot.com/2004/06/1-four-trillion-deficitronald-reagans.html#comments

Posted by: Fred Boness on May 31, 2005 1:17 AM

There's no need for a HUAC type of committe anymore. Right-wing bloggers to do all that kind of dirty work these days.

Isn't it remarkable how the internet has changed the world?

-- Jack Krupansky

Posted by: Jack Krupansky on May 31, 2005 10:57 AM

Sappy-brained "liberals" who idolize Robert Kennedy are always amazed when I remind them of Bobby's infamous service as staff counsel to Joe McCarthy's Senate Committee on Internal Security. Most can't believe what an incredible opportunist RFK was.

As a progressive who lived through that era (albeit mostly as a youngster) I never trusted RFK or JFK. What the USA needs is more Gene McCarthys and less Joe McCarthys; more Paul Wellstones and no Dick Cheneys.

Reflect for a moment on the colossally stupid, inept and crooked doofuses that have been Republican US presidents and vice-presidents in recent years:

Reagan (couldn't recall signing National Security Findings just days later, much less recall what they said);

Agnew, Nixon, Ford ('Nuf said);

2 Bush-league 'dumb & dumber' presidents;

Cheney (rotten to the core).

But don't get so sappy, you Democratic Party faithfuls--you get tagged with Dukakis, Mondale, Humphrey (major apologist for Vietnam), Gore and the Kerry.

What a limp and useless hand to draw to !!

Posted by: R. Queisser on December 2, 2005 11:39 PM

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