I believe that at that time Mr Surrell was a communist because of all the things that I had heard and had seen his name appearing on many of the commy front things.

And when he pulled the strike, the first people that

smear me and put me on the unfair list were all of the Comme Front organizations.

I can't remember them all, they've changed so often, but one that's clear in my mind is a League of Women Voters,

the People's World, the Daily Workers, the PM magazine in New York, they smeared me. Nobody came near to find out what the true

facts of the thing were. We are hearing Walt Disney give testimony before the

House Un-American Activities Committee. World War II had ended two years prior,

and the country is in the grip of fear

of communist infiltration of American institutions,

among them, Hollywood.

Disney's testimony, and that of other so-called friendly witnesses, helped establish the Hollywood

blacklist, a list that included hundreds of writers and entertainers suspected of having communist affiliations,

many themselves hauled in front of the Un-American Activities Committee.

The blacklist was created in November 1947 and for more than a decade ended the careers of many Hollywood hopefuls. Hi there I'm Don Wildman and this is American History Hit.

Welcome to the podcast.

After World War II was won, a formidable adversary re-emerged onto the American stage.

An ideology, that some said, would threaten the fragile freedoms and liberties held dear by

all Americans.

It was communism.

And according to many, it had become a cancer that infected the American body politic,

one that had to be excised before the nation could be cured.

My guest today, Dr. Kathleen Feeley,

...