Digital History
Digital History: The Second Red Scare
Senator Joseph McCarthy did not create the national obsession with communist subversion. It had arisen in the late 1930s, years before McCarthy had come to public notice. Angry that they had been barred from the corridors of power for 20...
University of Washington
University of Washington: The Red Scare: A Filmography
This site from the University of Washington discusses films produced in Hollywood before, during, and after the Red Scare.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Anticommunism in the 1950s
Looks at the paranoia of the 1950s when Americans lived in fear of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities created blacklists of people working in Hollywood, McCarthyism flourished, and the Rosenberg couple were tried...
Digital History
Digital History: Anti Communism During the Early 1950's
In February 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy had charged that the Department of State knowingly harbored Communists. Hearings on McCarthy's accusations were held under the chairmanship of Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland. The...
The History Cat
The History Cat: Red Scare America
Describes the events that took place during the McCarthy Era and actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ordinary Americans feared being identified as a Communist sympathizer and libraries removed books from their shelves...
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College: Mc Carthyism: Background to the Red Scare
A brief description of the fears Americans had of the spread of Communism in Asia during the Cold War.
Digital History
Digital History: Kefauver Committee
In May 1950, at the very moment that Senator Joseph McCarthy was beginning his crusade against communist subversion, the U.S. Senate created a special committee to investigate another "enemy within": organized crim
Digital History
Digital History: Margaret Chase Smith: The Conscience of the Senate
Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman elected to both houses of Congress. She was the first woman to enter the Senate without being appointed to the position. During World War II, she was the only civilian woman to go to sea in a Navy...
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: The Hollywood Blacklist
This site describes what went on in Hollywood during the Red Scare of the 1950s when many actors and directors were asked to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about possible communist activity in Hollywood.
Other
Jewish Women's Archive: Ethel Rosenberg
A biographical account of the life of accused spies, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of espionage, sentenced, and executed in spite of intense public pressure in response to the widespread belief that they were innocent.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fbi Stories: A Byte Out of History: The Alger Hiss Story
An account from the FBI about the Alger Hiss case in which he was convicted of perjury after the accusation of his being a Soviet agent.
Other
Anarchist Murderers or American Martyrs?: Nicola Sacco
A brief biography of Nicola Sacco's life before his fateful arrest, perhaps wrongly, for murder in 1920.
George Washington University
Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project: House Un American Activities Committee
A description of the genesis of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the bullying inquisition of those the committee accused of having Communist leanings.
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College: Mc Carthy's Downfall
As part of a larger site about Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism, this page relates his ultimate downfall brought about by his bullying style and false accusations.
Library of Congress
Loc: Biographical Directory of the u.s. Congress: Mc Carthy, Joseph Raymond
Part of the official biographical guide of the U.S. Congress, this page contains a brief biography of Joseph McCarthy and his political career.
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College: Mc Carthyism: Was the Threat Real?
A brief description of the hunt for spies within the United States prior to McCarthyism.