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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

The House Un-American Activities Committee

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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,...
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eBook
Digital History

Digital History: Mc Carthy and Mc Carthyism [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Handout
Digital History

Digital History: Alger Hiss

For Students 9th - 10th
Secondary source information on the Trial of Alger Hiss.
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Activity
PBS

Nova: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Website
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
[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.
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Portrait Gallery: The Presidency and the Cold War: Dwight D. Eisenhower

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Website
University of Virginia

Miller Center at Uva: u.s. Presidents: Harry S. Truman: Domestic Affairs

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Strange Case of Alger Hiss [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Handout
George Washington University

Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project: House Un American Activities Committee

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Article
University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania: Hiss and Chambers: Strange Story of Two Men

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Handout
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Alger Hiss Trials (1949 50)

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Handout
PBS

Nova Online: Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies: Alger Hiss

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Website
New York Times

New York Times: On This Day: Harry S. Truman: Decisive President

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Mc Carthyism

For Students 5th - 8th
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.
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Handout
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Fbi Stories: A Byte Out of History: The Alger Hiss Story

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Red Scare America

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
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Handout
Google Cultural Institute

Google Cultural Institute: Alger Hiss

For Students 9th - 10th
This visual website from Google Cultural Institute shares background information and photos about Alger Hiss.
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Article
Siteseen

Siteseen: American Historama: Alger Hiss

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Alger Hiss

For Students Pre-K - 1st
An image of Alger Hiss.
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Graphic
Curated OER

Alger Hiss

For Students Pre-K - 1st
An image of Alger Hiss.