George Mason University
Chnm: The Most Brainiest Man
A fascinating article about how a conversation about Lenin led to the conviction and six-month jail sentence for Joseph Yenowsky. Excellent article shows the extreme fear of Reds and communism in the 1920's.
Curated OER
History Matters: Sailor Wounds Pageant Spectator Disrespectful to Flag
This site from History Matters is an interesting newsaper article in the Washington Post dated May 7, 1919 which describes a man shot for being disrespectful to the American Flag. An example of the extremism during the Red Scare.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Huac
The HUAC was formed in 1938 to investigate Fascist and Communist activities in the United States but came into prominence in 1947 during the second Red Scare in the Cold War era and the "Communist Witch Hunts".
Read Works
Read Works: Not Scared, Prepared
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about different people and organization that help during an emergency. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
I Boston: Boston Police Strike of 1919
The year 1919 was a year of strikes all across America. Read about the Boston police force's attempts to unionize in order to improve wages and working conditions. The disastrous results were attributed partly to ethnic prejudice, partly...
PBS
American Experience: Espionage and Sedition Acts
As progressive a president as Woodrow Wilson was, when the U.S. joined World War I, he signed legislation that made it a crime to criticize the government. Read about the espionage and sedition acts that were passed and how they were...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Anticommunism in the 1950s
Learn about the Rosenberg trial, HUAC, and Joseph McCarthy.
Digital History
Digital History: Anti Communism During the Early 1950's
In February 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had charged that the Department of State knowingly harbored Communists. Hearings on McCarthy's accusations were held under the chairmanship of Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland. The...
Digital History
Digital History: Kefauver Committee
In May 1950, at the very moment that Senator Joseph McCarthy was beginning his crusade against communist subversion, the U.S. Senate created a special committee to investigate another "enemy within": organized crim
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.
American Rhetoric
American Rhetoric: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Statement at the Smith Act Trial
This is the text of the testimony of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a member of the USA Communist Party, who spoke in her own defense at her trial for being a Communist on April 24 1952, in New York.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Huac: Backlash and Implications
These videos and support materials explore the intense division experienced by those who testified before and blacklisted by HUAC during the Cold War, focusing on the testimony of Elia Kazan. The videos are from American Masters None...
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: Msu Libraries: Digital Collections: Hollywood Ten
Primary source documents related to the Hollywood Ten, a group of writers, directors, and producers who were blacklisted for purported un-American activities and ties to Communism. All materials can be downloaded.
Curated OER
History Matters: Leon Sverdlove on the Taft Hartley Act
It's interesting to read about the anti-union sentiment that led to the Taft-Hartley Act after World War II, but even more amazing to see how that sentiment was tied to the anti-communist witch hunts of the time. Read the comments of the...
Curated OER
History Matters: "Enemies From Within": Senator Joseph Mc Carthy's Accusations
Read a speech and a letter from Joseph McCarthy supporting his contention that there are Communists in the State Department.
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.
Digital History
Digital History: Domestic Communism
In the 1930s, the Communist Party and associated organizations attracted the support of a glittering array of novelists, screenwriters, critics, and artists. Within the Communist Party, these individuals had found comradeship,...
Digital History
Digital History: Margaret Chase Smith: The Conscience of the Senate
Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was the first woman to enter the Senate without being appointed to the position. During World War II, she was the only civilian woman to go to sea in a Navy...
The Atlantic Monthly Group
The Atlantic: The Never Ending Wrong
The famous author, Katherine Anne Porter, wrote an article in the July, 1977, The Atlantic magazine, recounting her memory of the Sacco-Vanzetti trial fifty years before, and commenting on the view of Anarchism and Communism in the...
US National Archives
Nara: Prologue Magazine: Prelude to Mc Carthyism: The Making of a Blacklist
This lengthy article in the Prologue Magazine, a publication from the National Archives, details the operations of the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations, or AGLOSO, which was used in compiling information based on...
Other
Cpsu: J. Edgar Hoover Huac Testimony
Read the testimony of J. Edgar Hoover before the House Un-American Activities Committee where he explains the destructive nature of Communists in the United States.
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: United States History Since 1920: Truman Loyalty Oath, 1947
In March, 1947, President Truman issued an executive order requiring that all Federal employees take a loyalty oath swearing loyalty to the United States. This was a time of fear of Communists and the Soviet Union. Read the entire...
San Diego State University
San Diego State University: Internal Security Act of 1950 (Mc Carran Act) [Pdf]
The McCarran Act was passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the words of the act "to protect the United States against certain un-American and subversive activities by requiring registration of Communist...