PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Huac: Backlash and Implications
These videos and support materials explore the intense division experienced by those who testified before and blacklisted by HUAC during the Cold War, focusing on the testimony of Elia Kazan. The videos are from American Masters None...
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Hazel Scott
Jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott was not only the first African-American woman to host her own television show, but she also bravely stood up to the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood studio machine.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Huac
The HUAC was formed in 1938 to investigate Fascist and Communist activities in the United States but came into prominence in 1947 during the second Red Scare in the Cold War era and the "Communist Witch Hunts".
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...
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s
[Free Registration/Login Required] An essay tracing the anti-Communist hysteria beginning in earnest at the end of World War II that resulted in Truman's federal Loyalty Security program and ending with McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Cold War Events (1948 1955)
This article contains a summary and definition of the main Cold War events from 1948 - 1955.
Black Past
Black Past: Civil Rights Congress (1946 1956)
This encyclopedia entry talks about the Civil Rights Congress, a group that gave legal defense for blacks, but was hampered by its support of the Communist Party during the Cold War.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945 1954
In this Curriculum Unit, students will consider "Anticommunism in Postwar America, 1945-1954: Witch Hunt or Red Menace?" in 3 Lessons. The unit also includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
George Mason University
Blacklisting Hollywood's Communists: A Qualified Defense
This site from George Mason University describes the blacklisting of Hollywood communists during the Red Scare.
PBS
Pbs News Hour: Hollywood Blacklisting
Provides a written transcript or a Real Audio version of the interview of two blacklisted artists.
Other
A Different Look at the 1947 Huac Hearings
This article details the events surrounding the 1947 HUAC hearings.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Classroom: Civil Liberties in Wartime
This website contains an interactive timeline about the history of civil liberties at wartime.
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.
Digital History
Digital History: The Strange Case of Alger Hiss [Pdf]
This site is from a unit that covers the period from the Second World War up to the Cold War. It looks at the case of Alger Hiss who was accused in 1948 of belonging to the Communist Party, imprisoned, and who denied the association his...
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania: Hiss and Chambers: Strange Story of Two Men
This site provides a New York Times article published in 1948, offering an investigation of the Chambers-Hiss accusation. Includes the following sections: the prologue, the accusation, the denial, the Chambers rebuttal, the Hiss...
University of Missouri
Famous Trials: Alger Hiss Trials (1949 50)
A very nice resource on Alger Hiss and his trial for perjury in 1949. Excerpts are provided from the HUAC hearings, the trial itself and information on the role of Richard Nixon is given.
Other
Modern Times: Huac and the Censorship Changes
This site looks over the influence the HUAC had on Hollywood during the Red Scare of the 1950s.
CNN
Cnn: The Reagan Years: The Making of a President
Part of a cnn.com in-depth special "The Reagan Years", this site traces the events of Reagan's early life. From his job as a young sports commentator to his fame as a Hollywood actor that would eventually lead him into his first elected...
US National Archives
Nara: Prologue Magazine: Prelude to Mc Carthyism: The Making of a Blacklist
This lengthy article in the Prologue Magazine, a publication from the National Archives, details the operations of the Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations, or AGLOSO, which was used in compiling information based on...
Other
Behind the Scenes: The Mc Carran Internal Security Act
Read about the origins and impact of the McCarran Internal Security Act which President Harry Truman called "the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press and assembly, since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798." Find out how a fear of...
Other
Media History Digital Library: Government & Law Collection (1912 1995)
A collection of original documents that deal with the interactions between the film industry and the government. They cover such issues as censorship, film industry regulation, labor issues, juvenile delinquency, and the blacklisting of...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1945 1980: Anticommunism in the 1950s
Learn about the Rosenberg trial, HUAC, and Joseph McCarthy.