The House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC) was established= 5/26/1938

          Well the Reds kicked me out, yes out in the cold
          All I had left was mine rubies and gold.
          They gave me the gate, yes the gate without pity
          Now I get my revenge on the Unamerican Committee.
                            (or "on McCarthy's Committee")

                "The Refugee" (Shootin' with Rasputin) by Gene Raskin

Ol' Tailgunner Joe was 1st elected 1946 & actually played in the "Government Committee on Operations of the Senate and its permanent subcommittee on investigations." The 36-day Army-McCarthy hearings came in 1954, which became the rapid end of his illustrious career. HUAC was, of course, a committee of the House of Representatives. It was a special committee to investigate all kinds of subversives on U.S. soil, including Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and American Communists. It was initially known as "the Dies Committee" for its chairman, Martin Dies. It evolved into the one we knew and loved. It's, and especially the Army-McCarthy depredations remain fresh in my mind today - I'll never forget helping my friend's father hide his books in his cellar. How can an American have to hide his books?

Copyright © 2005, Abby Sale - all rights reserved