Why Was the HUAC Formed?

The HUAC stands for the House Committee on Un-American Activities. It was in existence from 1938 to 1975, and it was an investigative committee within the United States House of Representatives.

The committee was first formed in 1938 for the purpose of investigating the Ku Klux Klan activity in the United States and any German American involvement and aid to the Nazi Party.

After it was formed, it primarily focused on German Americans in the United States rather than investigating the Ku Klux Klan. The United States was nervous about the growing Nazi party in Germany, and the growing militarization of the party. Thus, the committee focused on any individuals that it worried might have ties to this dangerous German government.

When the committee began, it was chaired by Martin Dies, Jr. During this initial period, it was referred to as the Dies Committee. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, the committee also investigated Japanese Americans who the Committee felt might have possible ties to Japan. For example, the committee investigated the security of the internment camps on the West Coast. The internment camps were camps that Japanese Americans were moved to, and forced to live in during World War II.

HUAC Becomes a Permanent Committee

After 1945, the committee was made into a standing committee in the House of Representatives. This means that it was turned into a permanent committee in the House, rather than the temporary status that it previously had. When it was transformed into a permanent committee, Edward J. Hart became the new chairman of the committee.

The committee was composed of nine representatives. The stated purpose of the committee after it was made into a standing committee was to investigate any threats that attacked the form of government that was guaranteed by the Constitution.

HUAC and Communism

After World War II ended, the United States viewed communism as the primary threat to the government and to democracy in general. Thus, the committee focused primarily on individuals had positions of power and influence, and who were suspected communists in the country. The successful trial against Alger Hiss for charges of espionage in 1948 convinced many individuals that the committee was vital.

In 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activity turned its attention to Hollywood. The committee initiated nine days of hearings due to a belief that there was a significant communist agenda and following in the Hollywood community. Certain films such as Mission to Moscow, The North Star, or Song of Russia were seen as communist propaganda.

When certain individuals refused to answer questions in this initial questioning period, they were convicted for contempt of Congress. This initial group was called the “Hollywood Ten” and they were blacklisted by the entire film industry. When an individual was blacklisted, it meant that the studios refused to work with him or her.

Congress continued to investigate individuals in Hollywood who it suspected were tied to communism. At the end of the process, over three hundred different individuals were blacklisted by the industry. The majority of these individuals were never able to work in Hollywood again.

During this period, Senator McCarthy was prominent in investigating and persecuting large amounts of individuals for suspected ties to communism. Some of the notable individuals who were blacklisted during this period included:

• Alvah Bessie
• Lester Cole
• Dalton Trumbo
• Hanns Eisler
• Bernard Gordon
• Joan Scott
• Edith Atwater

Demise of the HUAC

At the end of the 1950s, the committee gradually declined in its power. By the end of the decade, it was denounced as an entirely “un-American”  phenomenon. The committee became the subject of political satire, and the public respected the committee less and less. It was abolished in 1975.