Show thread(((JaneinNJ)))May 2
@culturednyc Lionel Stander also used that voice to stand up for democracy during the McCarthy era. From his #NYT obituary, under questioning by #HUAC, “Mr. Stander lectured the committee on democracy and due process of law and refused to repeat under oath his former frequent denials that he had ever been a Communist.” He was blacklisted in Hollywood for 24 years. BTW, he has a great late-career role in #NewYorkNewYork. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/obituaries/lionel-stander-dies-at-86-actor-who-defied-blacklist.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fVA.2IVs.0hF7TR07nACV&smid=url-share
Lionel Stander Dies at 86; Actor Who Defied Blacklist

The New York Times
WIST QuotationsApr 27

A quotation from Henry Commager

Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare

Commager, Henry Steele - Essay (1947-07), "Who Is Loyal to America?" sec. 2, Harper's Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168 | WIST Quotations

Who among American heroes could meet their tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was "rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God." Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or…

WIST Quotations
MikeDunnAuthorApr 8

Today In Labor History April 8, 1896: Songwriter Yip Harburg was born. Harburg was known for the social commentaries of his lyrics. He supported racial, sexual, gender equality, and labor unionism. HUAC had him blacklisted for his radical politics. Consequently, he couldn’t travel or work in Hollywood for many years. Some of his most famous songs include: It’s Only Paper Moon and Brother Can You Spare a Dime, as well as all of the songs from the film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Harburg was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in New York’s Lower East Side. His nickname, “Yip,” was likely taken from the socialist organization he belonged to, the Young People's Socialist League, also known as "yipsels.” He attended high school with Ira Gershwin, where they developed a lifelong friendship. Gershwin was the one who really pushed him to start writing lyrics. During World War One, he moved to Uruguay to avoid the draft because he opposed the war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuStRWuYptQ

#workingclass #LaborHistory #music #yipharburg #huac #blacklist #communism #anticommunism #antiwar #musicals #gershwin

A Tribute to Blacklisted Lyricist Yip Harburg: The Man Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz

YouTube
MikeDunnAuthorMar 6

Today in Labor History March 6, 1930: 100,000 people demonstrated for jobs in New York City. Demonstrations by unemployed workers, demanding unemployment insurance, occurred in virtually every major U.S. city. In New York, police attacked a crowd of 35,000. In Cleveland, 10,000 people battled police. In Detroit, the Communist Party organized an underemployment demonstration. Over 50,000 people showed up. Thousands took to the streets in Toledo, Flint and Pontiac. These demonstrations led to the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), sponsored by Republican congressman Hamilton Fish, with the support of the American Federation of Labor, to investigate and quash radical activities.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #unemployment #huac #communism #policebrutality #greatdepression #riot #police #newyork #cleveland #detroit #flint #republican

MikeDunnAuthorFeb 10

Today in Labor History February 10, 1898: Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht was born. Brecht was a doctor, poet and playwright. He fled the Nazis only to be persecuted in the U.S. by HUAC during the Cold War. He is most well-known for his play, “The Three Penny Opera.” He also wrote “Mother Courage and Her Children” and “The Days of the Commune,” about the Paris Commune. Additionally, he wrote poetry and composed the lyrics to many of the songs performed in his plays, like “Mack the Knife” and “Alabama Song” (AKA Whiskey Bar).

https://youtu.be/6orDcL0zt34

#workingclass #LaborHistory #nazis #fascism #huac #Anticommunist #witchhunt #BertoltBrecht #marxist #Poet #books #writer #author #fiction #playwright #ParisCommune @bookstadon

Lotte Lenya sings Alabama Song (vaimusic.com)

YouTube
🕵️old klezmers🎻Jan 14

a sidetrack I shall have to return to after I finish my PMBS research but damn the HUAC interrogation of musicians here is very sadly fascinating. came to it when searching the names of some minor PMBS members on Internet Archive.
https://archive.org/details/investigationofc5702unit/page/n7/mode/2up

#HUAC #MusicHistory #McCarthyism #AFMlocal802

Investigation of communism in the Metropolitan Music School, inc., and related fields. Hearings : United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Hearings held Feb. 7-Apr. 12, 1957

Internet Archive
Liam O'Mara IV, PhDNov 27
#AlgerHiss was released from prison on #ThisDayInHistory in 1954. He was accused of spying for the #USSR in the 1930s, and gaoled for perjury when they couldn't make that stick. No evidence has been found that shows him a spy, and his life was ruined by #HUAC based on rumour.
Liam O'Mara IV, PhDNov 25
In 1947 on #ThisDayInHistory, the #HollywoodTen were cited for contempt of Congress by #HUAC and then blacklisted in the entertainment industry. The #HollywoodBlacklist grew in the following years, keeping known #leftists from writing, directing, or acting in Hollywood pictures.
MikeDunnAuthorNov 25

Today in Labor History November 25, 1947: The "Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted by Hollywood movie studios for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The blacklist lasted for 13 years, when Dalton Trumbo, a former Communist Party member, was finally credited as the screenwriter of the films “Exodus” and “Spartacus.” Some of the stars accused of having Communist ties included Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Katharine Hepburn and Fredric March. In 1941, Walt Disney blamed "Communist agitation" for the cartoonists and animators' strike. In 1945, Gerald L. K. Smith, founder of the fascist America First Party, began giving speeches attacking the "alien minded Russian Jews in Hollywood." Ronald Reagan, who was president of the actor’s union, testified before HUAC that a clique within the union was using "communist-like tactics." His first wife, actress Jane Wyman, blamed his allegations against friends and colleagues as a factor leading to their divorce.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #communism #fascism #union #anticommunism #huac #FreeSpeech #redscare #hollywood #sagaftra #reagan #antisemitism #wga

WIST Quotations Has Moved!Nov 18

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

In our country we must trust the people to hear and see both the good and the bad and to choose the good. The Un-American Activities Committee seems to me to be better for a police state than for the USA.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

More info about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/80…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #America #freedomofthought #inquiry #marketplaceofideas #mccarthyism #RedScare #society #trust #huac #unamerican

Column (1947-10-29), "My Day" - Roosevelt, Eleanor | WIST Quotations

In our country we must trust the people to hear and see both the good and the bad and to choose the good. The Un-American Activities Committee seems to me to be better for a police state than for the USA.

WIST Quotations