National Endowment for the Humanities
The House Un-American Activities Committee
Was the House Un-American Activities Committee justified in investigating subversive influences in the entertainment industry? Part two of the three-part series of lessons that examine the anti-communism movement after World War II,...
Digital History
Digital History: Mc Carthy and Mc Carthyism [Pdf]
Read about one of the truly black eyes in American history when Senator Joseph McCarthy was able to make false accusations against politicians and ordinary citizens alike, claiming they had communist leanings and were enemies of the...
Digital History
Digital History: Alger Hiss
Secondary source information on the Trial of Alger Hiss.
PBS
Nova: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies
The companion site to the show by the same title. Interesting site allows the reader to decipher a coded message. Information on Venona Intercepts and interviews with children of famous spies.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s
[Free Registration/Login Required] An essay tracing the anti-Communist hysteria beginning in earnest at the end of World War II that resulted in Truman's federal Loyalty Security program and ending with McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War
View videos, photograph, and renderings of American presidents and their foreign counterparts in this image-rich examination of the post-World War II environment and the cold war that followed it. Includes a review of key foreign-policy...
Smithsonian Institution
National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Dwight D. Eisenhower
This site from the National Portrait Gallery explores presidential actions during the Cold War. Click on Dwight D. Eisenhower to see how the Cold War was developing and being handled during his presidency. Find out about the Communist...
University of Virginia
Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Harry S. Truman: Domestic Affairs
A broad look at the Truman presidency domestically including the labor problems he encountered, his Fair Deal, the instransigence of the Republican Party, and McCarthyism.
Digital History
Digital History: The Strange Case of Alger Hiss [Pdf]
This site is from a unit that covers the period from the Second World War up to the Cold War. It looks at the case of Alger Hiss who was accused in 1948 of belonging to the Communist Party, imprisoned, and who denied the association his...
George Washington University
Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project: House Un American Activities Committee
A description of the genesis of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the bullying inquisition of those the committee accused of having Communist leanings.
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: Hiss and Chambers: Strange Story of Two Men
This site provides a New York Times article published in 1948, offering an investigation of the Chambers-Hiss accusation. Includes the following sections: the prologue, the accusation, the denial, the Chambers rebuttal, the Hiss...
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Alger Hiss Trials (1949 50)
A very nice resource on Alger Hiss and his trial for perjury in 1949. Excerpts are provided from the HUAC hearings, the trial itself and information on the role of Richard Nixon is given.
PBS
Nova Online: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies: Alger Hiss
Read about the case against Alger Hiss, who was accused of spying for the Soviet Union. Investigation was done by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
New York Times
New York Times: On This Day: Harry S. Truman: Decisive President
A New York Times obituary of Harry S. Truman, which outlines his life as a Senator, Vice-President, and President. Read about his domestic and foreign policy decisions.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Mc Carthyism
Read about the dangers of paranoia when exercised by people of power. The witch-hunting of the McCarthy era made rash and false accusations against supposed Communist sympathizers that affected many lives.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fbi Stories: A Byte Out of History: The Alger Hiss Story
An account from the FBI about the Alger Hiss case in which he was convicted of perjury after the accusation of his being a Soviet agent.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Red Scare America
Describes the events that took place during the McCarthy Era and actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ordinary Americans feared being identified as a Communist sympathizer and libraries removed books from their shelves...
Google Cultural Institute
Google Cultural Institute: Alger Hiss
This visual website from Google Cultural Institute shares background information and photos about Alger Hiss.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Alger Hiss
Fact sheet and biography contain interesting information and history on Alger Hiss who was accused by Whitaker Chambers as being a Communist and Soviet spy.