W.W. Norton & Company © 1995 by Griffin Fariello First Edition For Mimi, The fellow traveler of my heart and in memory of Joe Passen, a proud member of the working class Well, we were Reds, and we sure were scared. —Sylvia Thompson

This remarkable historical political/social document contains personal narratives not only by individuals who were persecuted by the so-called “McCarthy Witchhunts,” but also includes first hand accounts by the very people who “hounded” them.

On the first page of his Preface, author Fariello states the fact that many Americans (particularly those citizens under 40 years of age) haven’t a clue what McCarthyism and the House Committee On Un-American Activities (HUAC) of 1945 - 1965 were (the writer call this “collective amnesia” P. 24):

The memories die hard—yet for many Americans, only the barest sketch of the era remains,

or nothing at all. In 1992, a man of thirty, doing well in a San Francisco publishing firm, told me

what he knew of the Red Scare: “It was Joseph McCarthy, and he went after Hollywood actors

for the sake of publicity. Richard Nixon was in on it.” One woman of thirty-five demanded,

“When did all this happen?” Another of the same age, after confusing “Reds” with her favorite

baseball team, came back astonished: “America had a Communist Party?”

[As a footnote to the above statement, G. Fariello observes”

“In the 1950’s, the dangers of semantic association were not

lost on the Cincinnati Reds, who to avoid any confusion

briefly changed their name to Redlegs.]

What little that is culturally remembered/known regarding the Red Hunt by the younger generation in the United States is basically promoted in films that deal with the Hollywood Blacklist—and avoid its more far-reaching effects on Organized Labor in particular and Social Conformism in general. There have been very shallow artistic treatments such as the 70’s film The Way We Were, and more penetrating and thoughtful renditions like Guilty by Suspicion.

In his book Fariello naturally includes a section on the Hollywood Blacklist (with first hand accounts by such showbiz personalities as Ring Lardner, Jr., Edward Dmytryk, Frances Chaney, Mark Goodson, Kay Boyle, Arthur Miller and others). We will not examine the Hollywood Story in this review, but will rather focus on The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), Organized Labor, and the Civil Rights and Peace Movements.

To introduce these topics of review in the correct context, we will present an edited version of Fariello’s own introductory material, Principal Federal Heresy Tribunals and Laws, as well as excerpts from the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

………………….

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES (HUAC, renamed the House Internal Security Committee in 1969)—1938-75. Preceded by the Dies Committee, HUAC became in 1945 the first permanent committee established to investigate “subversive” and “un-American” propaganda and activities, and also the most powerful. From 1945 to1957, HUAC held at least 230 hearings, at which more than three thousand persons testified, of whom more than one hundred were cited for contempt…

LOYALTY BOARDS (for federal employees; established nationwide…in 1947. From1947 to1953…More than four thousand hearings were held, and nearly thirteen thousand interrogatories and letters of charges were issued.

SENATE INTERNAL SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE (SISS)—1951 – 76.

SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES CONTROL BOARD (SACB)—1950 – 73…Sole purpose was to determine which organizations would be required to register as “Communist-action,” “Communist-front,” or “Communist-infiltrated.” Those groups compelled to register would be required to disclose membership and sources of funding…Members of such organizations would not be allowed to apply for a passport or renew an old one.

SMITH ACT (1940)—Made it a crime to “knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise, or teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing any government in the U.S. by force or violence.” Or “to print, publish, edit, issue, circulate, sell, distribute, or publicly display any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity (etc.)…of overthrowing any such government. It was also illegal to belong to, organize, or help organize any organization…who advocated or encouraged the same. The penalties were ten years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

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