Friday, October 21, 2011

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 20: 
1947: Congress investigates Reds in Hollywood 


 
On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating Communist influence in one of the world's richest and most glamorous communities: Hollywood.

After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up between the world's two superpowers-the United States and the communist-controlled Soviet Union. In Washington, conservative watchdogs worked to out communists in government before setting their sights on alleged "Reds" in the famously liberal movie industry. In an investigation that began in October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) grilled a number of prominent witnesses, asking bluntly "Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" Whether out of patriotism or fear, some witnesses-including director Elia Kazan, actors Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor and studio honchos Walt Disney and Jack Warner-gave the committee names of colleagues they suspected of being communists.

A small group known as the "Hollywood Ten" resisted, complaining that the hearings were illegal and violated their First Amendment rights. They were all convicted of obstructing the investigation and served jail terms. Pressured by Congress, the Hollywood establishment started a blacklist policy, banning the work of about 325 screenwriters, actors and directors who had not been cleared by the committee. Those blacklisted included composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman and Dorothy Parker, playwright Arthur Miller and actor and filmmaker Orson Welles.



Some of the blacklisted writers used pseudonyms to continue working, while others wrote scripts that were credited to other writer friends. Starting in the early 1960s, after the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the most public face of anti-communism, the ban began to lift slowly. In 1997, the Writers' Guild of America unanimously voted to change the writing credits of 23 films made during the blacklist period, reversing-but not erasing-some of the damage done during the Red Scare. 


American Revolution
1774 : Congress creates the Continental Association
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-creates-the-continental-association

Automotive
1965 : Last Volvo PV rolls off the assembly line
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/last-volvo-pv-rolls-off-the-assembly-line

Civil War
1819 : Controversial Union General Daniel Sickles is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/union-general-daniel-sickles-is-born

Cold War
1947 : The Red Scare comes to Hollywood
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-red-scare-comes-to-hollywood

Crime
1990 : 2 Live Crew members are acquitted of obscenity charges
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/2-live-crew-members-are-acquitted-of-obscenity-charges

Disaster
1944 : Natural gas explosions rock Cleveland
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/natural-gas-explosions-rock-cleveland

General Interest
1827 : Battle of Navarino
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-navarino
1935 : Mao's Long March concludes
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/maos-long-march-concludes
1944 : MacArthur returns
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/macarthur-returns
1973 : Sydney Opera House opens
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sydney-opera-house-opens

Hollywood
1994 : Burt Lancaster dies
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/burt-lancaster-dies

Literary
1853 : French poet Arthur Rimbaud is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/french-poet-arthur-rimbaud-is-born

Music
1977 : Three members of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd die in a Mississippi plane crash
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/three-members-of-the-southern-rock-band-lynyrd-skynyrd-die-in-a-mississippi-plane-crash

Old West
1803 : U.S. Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-senate-ratifies-the-louisiana-purchase

Presidential
1962 : Kennedy press secretary misleads press
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kennedy-press-secretary-misleads-press

Sports
1968 : Fosbury flops to an Olympic record
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fosbury-flops-to-an-olympic-record

Vietnam War
1964 : Relations between South Vietnam, the United States, and Cambodia deteriorate
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/relations-between-south-vietnam-the-united-states-and-cambodia-deteriorate
1973 : Watergate special prosecutor dismissed
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/watergate-special-prosecutor-dismissed

World War I
1918 : Turks send British officer to negotiate armistice terms
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/turks-send-british-officer-to-negotiate-armistice-terms

World War II
1944 : U.S. forces land at Leyte Island in the Philippines
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-forces-land-at-leyte-island-in-the-philippines

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