The Age of McCarthyism
A Brief History with DocumentsThird Edition ©2017
Incorporating important recent scholarship, this popular supplement combines a comprehensive essay on the history of McCarthyism with compelling documents that trace the course of anti-Communist furor in the U.S. The volume’s 95-page essay follows the campaign against domestic subversion from its or...
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Incorporating important recent scholarship, this popular supplement combines a comprehensive essay on the history of McCarthyism with compelling documents that trace the course of anti-Communist furor in the U.S. The volume’s 95-page essay follows the campaign against domestic subversion from its origins in the 1930s through its escalation in the 1940s to its decline in the 1950s. The second part includes over 47 original documents (including 6 new sources) — congressional transcripts, FBI reports, speeches, and letters — that chronicle the anti-Communist crusade. The essay and documents have been thoroughly updated to reflect new scholarship and recently revealed archival evidence of Soviet spying in the U.S. Also included are headnotes to the documents, 15 black-and-white photographs, a glossary, a chronology of McCarthyism, a revised bibliographical essay, and an index.
“This documentary collection is indispensable for any serious student of one of the most troubling eras in American history. The authors’ knowledge of the field is encyclopedic and their historical insights are powerful, subtle, and persuasive.”
- Maurice Isserman, Hamilton College"The extended interpretive essay on the nature of McCarthyism and the range of documents make this a great collection. The chronology, glossary, and bibliographical essay are particularly useful for undergraduate teaching."
- James R. Barrett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Table of Contents
ForewordPreface
List of IllustrationsPART ONE
Introduction: The Age of McCarthyism
The American Communist Party
The Growth of the Anti-Communist Network
Communism and National Security: The Menace Emerges
The State Steps In: Setting the Anti-Communist Agenda
Communists in Government and the Big Spy Cases
Atomic Espionage
The Loyalty-Security Program
The Assault on the Communist Party
The Destruction of the Communist Fronts and Unions
Congressional Committees and Unfriendly Witnesses
Red-Baiting and Careerism: Joseph McCarthy at Work
Congressional Investigations and the "Loss" of China
Anticommunism at the State and Local Levels
Blacklists and Other Economic Sanctions
Liberals and the Struggle against McCarthyism
The Legacy of McCarthyismPART TWO
The Documents
1. From the Communist Party’s Perspective: William Z. Foster Looks at the World in 1947
1. William Z. Foster, The New Europe, 1947
2. The Anti-Communist Perspective: An American Legion View
2. James F. O’Neil, How You Can Fight Communism, August 1948
3. Quarantining Communism: J. Edgar Hoover Speaks to the American People
3. J. Edgar Hoover, Testimony before HUAC, March 26, 1947
4. Communist Spies in the State Department: The Emergence of the Hiss Case
4. Washington KGB, Telegram to Moscow, March 30, 1945
5. Washington KGB, Telegram to Moscow, March 5, 1945
6. Whittaker Chambers, Testimony before HUAC, August 3, 1948
7. Alger Hiss, Testimony before HUAC, August 5, 1948
8. Whittaker Chambers, Testimony before HUAC, August 7, 1948
9. Alger Hiss, Testimony before HUAC, August 16, 1948
10. Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss, Testimony before HUAC, August 17, 1948
11. Whittaker Chambers at, the HUAC hearing, August 25, 1948
12. Whittaker Chambers, Statement to the FBI, December 3, 1948
13. The "Pumpkin Papers," December 1948
5. Atomic Espionage and the Rosenberg Case
14. Klaus Fuchs, Confession to William Skardon, January 27, 1950
15. A. H. Belmont, Office Memorandum on Julius Rosenberg, July 17, 1950
16. J. Edgar Hoover, Memorandum to the Attorney General, July 19, 1950
17. Judge Irving Kaufman, Sentencing of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, April 5, 1951
18. David Greenglass, Grand Jury testimony, August 7, 1950
19. Ethel Rosenberg, Letter to Julius Rosenberg, February 26, 1952
20. Julius Rosenberg, Letter to Ethel Rosenberg, May 31, 1953
21. Love in a Cold War Climate, August 23, 1950
6. The Truman Administration Deals with the Communist Menace: The 1947 Loyalty-Security Program
22. Harry S. Truman, Executive Order 9835, March 21, 1947
7. A Political Test for Employment: The Loyalty-Security Program in Operation
23. The Federal Loyalty-Security Program: Case 1
24. The Federal Loyalty-Security Program: Case 2
8. Purging the Labor Movement: The CIO Expels Its Left-Wing Unions
25. Resolution on Expulsion of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, November 1949
9. Communism in Court: Excerpts from the 1949 Smith Act Trial of the Communist Party’s Eleven Top Leaders
26. John F. X. McGohey, Opening Statement on Behalf of the Government, March 21, 1949
27. Eugene Dennis, Opening Statement on Behalf of the Communist Party, March 21, 1949
28. Louis Budenz, Testimony, March 1949
10. Outlawing the Communist Party: The Supreme Court Upholds the Smith Act
29. Chief Justice Fred Vinson, Majority Opinion in Dennis et al. v. United States, June 4, 1951
30. Justice Hugo Black, Dissenting Opinion in Dennis et al. v. United States, June 4, 1951
11. A Liberal Opposes Anti-Communist Legislation: Truman Vetoes the Internal Security Act of 1950
31. Harry S. Truman, Veto of the Internal Security Act of 1950, September 22, 1950
12. "I Have in My Hand . . .": Senator Joseph McCarthy Charges That There Are Communists in the State Department
32. Senator Joseph McCarthy, Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950
13. McCarthy’s Congressional Critics: A Republican
33. Senator Margaret Chase Smith, Speech in Congress, June 1, 1950
14. McCarthy’s Congressional Critics: A Democrat
34. Millard Tydings, Statement in the Senate, July 20, 1950
15. McCarthy’s Demise
35. Herblock, "I Have Here in My Hand — ," May 7, 1954
16. " Taking the Fifth": The Dilemma of Lillian Hellman
36. Lillian Hellman, Letter to HUAC, May 19, 1952
17. An Unfriendly Witness: Paul Robeson defies HUAC
37. Paul Robeson, Testimony before HUAC, June 12, 1956
18. Robeson Escapes McCarthyism
38. Robeson Departs the United States, July 10, 1958
19. "Are You Now . . . ?": HUAC Investigates Hollywood
39. John Howard Lawson, Testimony before HUAC, October 27, 1947
40. Ring Lardner Jr., Testimony before HUAC, October 30, 1947
41. "Free the Hollywood 10 "
20. The Hollywood Blacklist Begins: Studio Heads Fire the Hollywood Ten
42. The Waldorf Statement, December 3, 1947
21 The Blacklisters’ Bible: Red Channels
43. Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television, 1950
22. The Blacklist in Operation: Testimony from the John Henry Faulk Trial
44. David Susskind, Testimony in Faulk v. AWARE, 1962
45. Mark Goodson, Testimony in Faulk v. AWARE, 1962
46. Kim Hunter, Testimony in Faulk v. AWARE, 1962
23. Unfriendly Witnesses and Their Lawyers: The HUAC Testimony of Robert Treuhaft
47. Robert Treuhaft, Testimony before HUAC, December 3, 1953APPENDIXES
Glossary
A Chronology of McCarthyism (1917-1962)
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography
Index
Authors
Ellen W. Schrecker
Ellen Schrecker is professor of history emerita at Yeshiva University. Widely recognized as a leading expert on McCarthyism, she has published many books and articles on the subject, including Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America and No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities. Schrecker also studies academic freedom. Her most recent book is The Lost Soul of Higher Education: Corporatization, the Assault on Academic Freedom, and the End of the University. She is currently writing about professors and politics in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Phillip Deery
Phillip Deery is Professor of History and Director of Research at Victoria University, Melbourne. He has authored more than 100 scholarly publications in the fields of Cold War studies, labor movement history, and intelligence and security studies. His most recent books are Fighting Against War: Peace Activism in the Twentieth Century and Red Apple: Communism and McCarthyism in Cold War New York.
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