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The Age of McCarthyism: A Brief History with Documents
Gain a deeper understanding of the anti-Communist passion felt in the US in the earlier part of the 20th century. Age of McCarthyism follows the campaign from its beginnings through to its decline using congressional transcripts, FBI reports, speeches, and letters.
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
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About the author
Ellen Schrecker
24 books23 followersEllen Wolf Schrecker is an American professor emerita of American history at Yeshiva University. She has received the Frederick Ewen Academic Freedom Fellowship at the Tamiment Library at NYU. She is known primarily for her work in the history of McCarthyism.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 2, 2014
"ARE YOU NOW, OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN, A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY?"
Or associated with a member of the Communist Party, or joined a group that has Communist Party members, or signed a petition or even shared a name with a member of the Communist Party? In all the above cases which are by no means exhaustive you could be in danger of coming under the "scrutiny" of Joe McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee or one of its many off-shoots. Ellen Schrecker's short history of the McCarthy era takes a look at what happened in the McCarthy era starting with a brief 100 page history of the main period stretching from the just after the War to the end of McCarthy himself: he had moved on to attacking the Department of Defence and this rather than his attacks on Trade Unionists, Artists and Political Activists was what brought about his demise.
In addition to the short history of the period, Schrecker has included another 150 pages of primary documents that include the summing up of the Judge at the Rosenberg case; verbatim accounts of testimony at McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee; Joseph McCarthy's "I have in my hand. . ." speech in which he claims that there are 57 (or 205 or 207 - the number varied in each rendition of the speech) Communists in the State Department; and the Supreme Courts judgments on aspects of McCarthyism including the dissenting judgement. There are also a number of photographs, including a rather ridiculous one of a young Richard Nixon hunched over some micro-film magnifying glass in hand: the micro-film was the so-called "Pumpkin papers" - allegedly secreted in a Pumpkin by Whittaker Chambers one of the Joe McCarthy's star witnesses in the "case" against Alger Hiss.
Whatever the rhetorical flourishes about fighting for freedom that accompanied this witch-hunt, the reality is that it effected tens of thousands of people many of whom were active members of Civil Society in Trade Unions, Education, Film, Television and Journalism. They could be dismissed from their positions, coerced into divulging all political activities and acquaintances over periods running back decades, black listed from employment in sectors that went well beyond those which could plausibly be called vital to "national security" including - at the sublimely ridiculous level - an eight year old girl who was refused clearance to act in a television programme for "Political Reasons"!
The period labelled "McCarthyism" (and McCarthy was the tip of the iceberg, or summit of the dunghill?) functioned as a way of narrowing the limits of Political debate, disrupting Trade Unions who would often find themselves coming under the purview of one or other of the Inquisitorial Committees when involved in industrial disputes, curtailing the political side of civil society and creating a climate of harassment and fear. The motivation of those involved would appear to be a strong dislike of the New Deal State that formed in the 1930's in response to the Great Depression - many of those targeted were those who had been involved in setting up and administering the institutions that were created during that time as well as a variety of other issues including the puerile view of the China Lobby, that it was Communist infiltrators in the State Department and not Chiang Kai-Shek who had "lost" China.
In all its Schrecker has written an excellent introduction to the era, and the additional primary documents make fascinating reading. Other books that might be of interest include Eric Foners summary that covers the period from the War of Independence to the end of the 20th Century "The Story of American Freedom: The Reality and the Mythic Ideal" and Francis Stonor Saunders "Who Paid the Piper?: CIA and the Cultural Cold War".
Or associated with a member of the Communist Party, or joined a group that has Communist Party members, or signed a petition or even shared a name with a member of the Communist Party? In all the above cases which are by no means exhaustive you could be in danger of coming under the "scrutiny" of Joe McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee or one of its many off-shoots. Ellen Schrecker's short history of the McCarthy era takes a look at what happened in the McCarthy era starting with a brief 100 page history of the main period stretching from the just after the War to the end of McCarthy himself: he had moved on to attacking the Department of Defence and this rather than his attacks on Trade Unionists, Artists and Political Activists was what brought about his demise.
In addition to the short history of the period, Schrecker has included another 150 pages of primary documents that include the summing up of the Judge at the Rosenberg case; verbatim accounts of testimony at McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee; Joseph McCarthy's "I have in my hand. . ." speech in which he claims that there are 57 (or 205 or 207 - the number varied in each rendition of the speech) Communists in the State Department; and the Supreme Courts judgments on aspects of McCarthyism including the dissenting judgement. There are also a number of photographs, including a rather ridiculous one of a young Richard Nixon hunched over some micro-film magnifying glass in hand: the micro-film was the so-called "Pumpkin papers" - allegedly secreted in a Pumpkin by Whittaker Chambers one of the Joe McCarthy's star witnesses in the "case" against Alger Hiss.
Whatever the rhetorical flourishes about fighting for freedom that accompanied this witch-hunt, the reality is that it effected tens of thousands of people many of whom were active members of Civil Society in Trade Unions, Education, Film, Television and Journalism. They could be dismissed from their positions, coerced into divulging all political activities and acquaintances over periods running back decades, black listed from employment in sectors that went well beyond those which could plausibly be called vital to "national security" including - at the sublimely ridiculous level - an eight year old girl who was refused clearance to act in a television programme for "Political Reasons"!
The period labelled "McCarthyism" (and McCarthy was the tip of the iceberg, or summit of the dunghill?) functioned as a way of narrowing the limits of Political debate, disrupting Trade Unions who would often find themselves coming under the purview of one or other of the Inquisitorial Committees when involved in industrial disputes, curtailing the political side of civil society and creating a climate of harassment and fear. The motivation of those involved would appear to be a strong dislike of the New Deal State that formed in the 1930's in response to the Great Depression - many of those targeted were those who had been involved in setting up and administering the institutions that were created during that time as well as a variety of other issues including the puerile view of the China Lobby, that it was Communist infiltrators in the State Department and not Chiang Kai-Shek who had "lost" China.
In all its Schrecker has written an excellent introduction to the era, and the additional primary documents make fascinating reading. Other books that might be of interest include Eric Foners summary that covers the period from the War of Independence to the end of the 20th Century "The Story of American Freedom: The Reality and the Mythic Ideal" and Francis Stonor Saunders "Who Paid the Piper?: CIA and the Cultural Cold War".
March 14, 2013
The Cold War was all about psychological manipulation, political manouevers, social deviancy, and the opposing forces of left and right. No bloodshed. Strictly business. This book is a great read for anyone who's tired of drab war novels that are full of mass murder and futile battles over land or religion or what have you. If you love the 1950s, Old Hollywood, American Lit, Marxism, Civil rights, court battles, psychology and rooting for the underdog, you will love this.
July 6, 2008
Assigned for class. Good quick read.
March 10, 2023
“The Age of McCarthyism: a Brief History with Documents —2nd edition” by Professor Ellen Schrecker was published by Bedford/St Martens in 2002. Her book is divided into two parts. The first part describes how U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy after World War 2 established a viscous campaign to confront and destroy American Communism. His campaign began in earnest in 1946 and lasted for 10 years. During this time period, McCarthy in partnership with Herbert Hoover’s FBI, standing House/Senate committees, and US judicial courts aggressively went after individuals and American social/economic institutions who were believed to have communist affiliations. Often times these attacks challenged U.S. principles of freedom of speech, rights of privacy, and core values that underpin basic human social justice freedoms. The second part of the book is a collection of documents that anchored investigations. These documents provide an important historic record of the injustices committed by American institutions. The book has an exceptional timeline of events from 1917 to 1956. The timeline references two World Wars, Bolshevik purges, capitol punishment, and imprisonments. The book’s glossary of terms, indexes, and reference notes are very well done. (P
December 3, 2020
Useful summary of the McCarthy period, presented from a (broadly) liberal point-of-view. Some of the documents (for example McCarthy's depositions to the HUAC, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's last letters to one another, and the assorted reflections of CPUSA members) are really fascinating.
Very much a book for people with an active interest in the subject, rather than casual readers.
Very much a book for people with an active interest in the subject, rather than casual readers.
February 26, 2020
A decent book on a difficult time (and person), but I can't help but feel like I've read better -- even just over the past couple of months. It's not that this is bad. I just got more out of other sources. Still, for those interested, not a bad choice...
March 22, 2023
Obviously biased and unfair. Boring.
December 15, 2024
Great documents! The other writing is good enough to get by. nothing to write home about.
December 17, 2020
A really helpful book to better understanding the Red Scare of McCarthyism. Having half the book function as context and the other as a rich collection of documents is so smart in regards to book set-up. This is a must have book on a historian's bookshelf.
February 15, 2015
decent chronicle of a pack of fascist losers who somehow survived the bloodletting of WWII.
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November 10, 2014great book
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews