Great Fear

The HUAC helped to spark the Great Fear by holding widely publicized hearings on alleged Communist infiltration in the movie industry. The Great Fear spread from the federal government to the farthest reaches of American association, cultural, and economic life.

HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee, launched by Congressmen Martin Dies of Texas and other conservatives in 1938. After WWII, HUAC helped to spark the GREAT FEAR by holding widely publicized hearings on alleged Communist infiltration in the movie industry. A group of writers and directors, dubbed the Hollywood Ten, went to jail for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about their past associations. Many Universities, Churches, Political organizations, and business undertook these same anti-Communism campaigns, which often led to employees take loyalty oaths.

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin marked the final of the Great Fear. Feb. 1950, he delivered a bombshell during a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. He declared that in his hand he held names of 205 men who were known to the Secretary of State as being of the Communist Party. He later reduced his numbers though.