Download Hallie Flanagan, House Un-American Activities Committee

Hallie Flanagan, House Un-American Activities Committee Testimony, 1938
Most well known for its anti-communist investigations after World War II during the early
Cold War era, Congress actually established the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) in 1938. HUAC was supposed to investigate groups and individuals suspected of
disloyalty to the United States and/or subversion of American institutions, including the
government. In theory, HUAC was supposed to look at any potential “subversives” regardless
of ideology (for instance, there were fascist and Nazi groups active in the U.S. at the time),
however the committee focused mostly on investigating accusations from conservative
Democrats and Republicans in Congress that communists had infiltrated various New Deal
projects. The Federal Theatre Project (FTP), a WPA project that had staged a number of
politically progressive plays, was one of the first to be targeted. What follows is some of FTP
director Hallie Flanagan’s HUAC testimony. Shortly afterwards, the FTP became one of the
first New Deal programs to be cut by Congress.
Chairman Dies: Now, will you just tell us briefly the duties of your position?
Mrs. Flanagan: Yes, Congressman Dies. Since August 29, 1935, I have been concerned with
combating un-American inactivity.
Chairman Dies: No. We will get to that in a minute.
Mrs. Flanagan: Please listen. I said I am combating un-American inactivity.
Chairman Dies: Inactivity?
Mrs. Flanagan: I refer to the inactivity of professional men and women; people who, at that
time when I took office, were on the relief rolls, and it was my job to expend the appropriation
laid aside by congressional vote for the relief of the unemployed as it related to the field of the
theater, and to set up projects wherever in any city 25 or more of such professionals were found
on the relief rolls.
Mr. Starnes: Now, there is another statement you have made here, that some of the plays that
were put out by the Federal Theatre Project are propagandistic or that they breed class
consciousness — is that true or untrue?
Mrs. Flanagan: … I should like to go to the actual definition of "propaganda."
Propaganda, after all, is education. It is education focused on certain things. For example, some
of you gentlemen have doubtless seen "One-Third of the Nation"; and I certainly would not sit
here and say that that was not a propaganda play. I think in the discussion yesterday the word
"propaganda" was used in this connotation only: that any play which was propaganda was
necessarily propaganda for communism.
I should like to say very truthfully that to the best of my knowledge we have never done plays
which was propaganda for communism, but we have done plays which were propaganda for
democracy, propaganda for better housing —
Mr. Thomas: I think you ought to develop that point right there. You said that some plays
were propaganda for democracy. What do you mean by that? Propaganda for what forms of
democracy and what particular things? Like housing, as you just mentioned?
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Mrs. Flanagan: Yes.
Mr. Thomas: What others?
…
Mrs. Flanagan: Yes. Well, let us say first, "One-Third of the Nation." In that the definite
propaganda was for better housing for American citizens.
…
Mr. Thomas: How about "Power"?
Mrs. Flanagan. Yes. I would say that "Power" was propaganda for a better understanding of the
derivation and the scientific meaning of power and for its wide use.
Mr. Thomas: Was it for public ownership of power?
Mrs. Flanagan: That portrayed as effectively as possible both sides of that controversy, and
quoted both sides.
…
Mr. Thomas: I have here the script of "Injunction Granted." The last part of the script is all
devoted to a criticism of the legislature in the State of New Jersey. It has to do with the Workers
Alliance coming into the halls of the legislature in the State of New Jersey and sitting there and
taking over the government. Do you think that that is the proper kind of propaganda to put out
through the Federal Theatre Project?
…
Mrs. Flanagan: It was headline news of that period which had a direct relevance to the
theater. You see, in the Living Newspaper everything is factual. The records from which any
living newspaper is taken are always open to all of you and absolutely open to anyone. And I
think it is rather a remarkable fact, gentlemen, that in the 3 years of the existence of this project,
the Living Newspaper, that we have done that, not one allegation had been made that the news
were untrue. Nobody has ever proved that we have ever misquoted a person or misquoted a
quotation.
Mr. Starnes: The statement has been made in the testimony that you are in sympathy with
communistic doctrines.
Mrs. Flanagan: Congressman Starnes, I am an American, and I believe in American
democracy. I believe the Works Progress Administration is one great bulwark of that democracy.
I believe the Federal Theater, which is one small part of that large pattern, is honestly trying in
every possible way to interpret the best interests of the people of this democracy. I am not in
sympathy with any other form of government in this country.
…
Chairman Dies: I understand. Do you not also think that since the Federal Theatre Project is
an agency of the Government and that all of our people support it through their tax money,
people of different classes, different races, different religions, some who are workers, some who
are businessmen, don't you think that that being true that no play should ever be produced
which undertakes to portray the interests of one class to the disadvantage of another class, even
though that might be accurate, even though factually there may be justification normally for
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that, yet because of the very fact that we are using taxpayer's money to produce plays, do you not
think it is questionable whether it is right to produce plays that are biased in favor of one class
against another?
Mrs. Flanagan: We are not doing plays to stir up class hatred.
…
Mr. Starnes: I want to quote finally from your article “A Theater Is Born,” on page 915 of the
Theatre Arts Monthly, edition of November 1931.
… “The power of these theaters springing up everywhere throughout the country lies in the fact
that they know what they want. Their purpose—restricted, some will call it, though it is open to
question whether any theater which attempts to create a class culture can be called restricted—is
clear. This is important because there are only two theaters: [that] which wants to make money;
the other is the workers‘ theater which wants to make a new social order. …Unlike any art form
existing in America today, the workers' theaters intend to shape the life of this country, socially,
politically, and industrially. They intend to remake a social structure without the help of
money—and this ambition alone invests their undertaking with a certain Marlowesque
madness.” You are quoting from this Marlowe. Is he a Communist?
Mrs. Flanagan: I am very sorry. I was quoting from Christopher Marlowe.
Mr. Starnes: Tell us who Marlowe is, so we can get the proper reference, because that is all
that we want to do.
Mrs. Flanagan: Put in the record that he was the greatest dramatist in the period immediately
preceding Shakespeare.
Mr. Starnes: Put that in the record because the charge has been made that this article of yours
is entirely Communistic, and we want to help you.
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