In this letter to Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas, a group of individuals from North Hollywood, California, expressed their support for his committee’s work. In 1947 the committee investigated alleged communist ties and sympathies in the Hollywood film industry. The committee’s often unsubstantiated allegations led to the blacklisting of more than 300 individuals by the film studios, severely damaging several careers.
Records of the U.S House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
Letter from Mrs. Annie Humphrey and others to Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas, May 22, 1944
House Un-American Activities Committee
The world wars stirred concerns in Congress about potential disloyalty and subversive activities in the nation. Several congressional committees met between World War I and World War II to investigate these concerns, the most prominent of which was chaired by Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas. Initially organized to investigate fascist activities, the House Un-American Activities Committee—popularly known as the Dies Committee—quickly became a controversial vehicle to persecute individuals and groups for their alleged communist ties or sympathies.
Nations are sometimes destroyed by a sudden revolution, but more often republics are destroyed by the gradual process of subversion.
Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas, Speech to the U.S. House of Representatives, February 1, 1943
In this letter to Representative Martin Dies Jr. of Texas, a group of individuals from North Hollywood, California, expressed their support for his committee’s work. In 1947 the committee investigated alleged communist ties and sympathies in the Hollywood film industry. The committee’s often unsubstantiated allegations led to the blacklisting of more than 300 individuals by the film studios, severely damaging several careers.
Records of the U.S House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
