An Exhibition Explores Whether the Red Scare Has Lessons for America Today

New York Times

25-04-2025

For those who wonder if history repeats itself, an upcoming show at the New York Historical, may provide some insight — and a warning.
'Blacklisted: An American Story,' highlights a dark chapter in American history by focusing on two decades of attacks on political leftists and suspected Communists in Hollywood that resulted in destroyed careers, jail terms and pitted many in the entertainment industry against one another.
Perhaps there are lessons to be learned. Or, at the very least, 'Blacklisted' may provide something to think about, which is the goal of the exhibition.
The exhibition 'is a way to remind people of a time when questions were raised about who is an American and of citizenship,'' said Louise Mirrer, president and chief executive of the New York Historical, in an interview. 'We are asking the same questions today that were there at the genesis of the Blacklist era. This exhibit could not be more relevant and timely.'
'Blacklisted,' which runs from June 13 to Oct. 19, focuses on what became known as the Red Scare. For decades, starting after World War I and returning with greater fury in the 1940s and 1950s, a variety of politicians, government officials and agencies began to root out many individuals for their leftist beliefs and — correctly or not — Communist sympathies.
It wasn't hard to find people to attack. The hardships of the Depression in the 1930s led to a growth in membership in the Communist Party in America by those seeking a different economic system. But as the Soviet Union changed from being a World War II ally to a Cold War enemy in the years that followed, hundreds of leftist activists in the 1930s were now under suspicion.
The New York Historical (formerly known as the New-York Historical Society) exhibition focuses on the Hollywood blacklist, when actors, writers, musicians and others in the entertainment industry were targeted and often lost their jobs for their real or suspected ties or sympathies to the Communist Party or their refusal to aid government and Congressional investigations by identifying others.
'People are now asking questions about which books can be given to the young,'' said Mirrer, 'or what films can be circulated and what is taught.'' She added, 'It's important to remind people of the things that happened in the past and encourage them to think about today.'
For Mirrer, the blacklist era is not in the distant past.
'I remember as a youth in the 1960s, that my mother had many friends targeted by HUAC,'' said Mirrer, referring to the House Un-American Activities Committee, which investigated suspected Communists. 'There were whispers of people who had lost their jobs or had their lives ruined or fled to Canada.'
An earlier version of the exhibition was shown in 2023 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and was developed in coordination with the Jewish Museum in Milwaukee.
It has been expanded in the last two years with around 50 new items added. While the exhibition touches on the anti-Communist campaign by Senator Joseph McCarthy, it focuses mainly on the HUAC hearings, which predated McCarthy's later hearings in the Senate.
There are about 150 objects in the exhibition highlighting a number of themes, among them the 1947 HUAC hearings, in which Hollywood actors were forced to testify either about their own political activities or those of others.
The exhibition will examine those who named names and those who resisted. It shows how blacklisted writers were forced to write under other people's names, how Broadway served as a refuge for many blacklisted artists and how the blacklist era was finally broken.
On display will be photos, posters, film clips, costumes and newsreels from the HUAC committee hearings along with personal narratives from those blacklisted and from film executives and members of Congress. In addition, the show will feature subpoenas from HUAC, telegrams, documents and other personal items.
Such Hollywood names as Paul Robeson, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lee Grant and Orson Welles are among those featured — for better or worse.
One section of the exhibition looks at 'the Hollywood Ten,'' the left-wing screenwriters and directors who refused to answer questions before HUAC and were later jailed in 1950 for contempt of Congress. Prominent among them was the screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who wrote such films as 'Roman Holiday,' 'Exodus' and 'Spartacus,'' some under a false name and others uncredited at the time. His uncredited work won two Academy Awards.
Some items on display came from descendants of blacklisted actors and writers, among them drawings that Mr. Trumbo's daughter sent him while he was in prison. Other items come from Columbia University, the University of Pittsburgh, the New York Public Library and Carnegie Hall.
'It was exciting to reach out to families and descendants to incorporate so many personal items in the show,'' said Anne Lessy, curator of the show. Lessy added that the exhibition shows a 'Red Scare that goes beyond McCarthyism.'
The daughter of the actor John Garfield lent an original portrait she made of her father as well as a number of movie posters. His acting career was cut short following his refusal to name names when called before the committee. He was, effectively, blacklisted and later died of a heart attack at age 39.
Julie Garfield recalled, in an interview, how her father and her family were constantly followed by F.B.I. agents. The agents even came to the family home after her father's death, which she blames on the stress of that era. While her father was accused of being a member of the Communist Party, he never was.
'We want to show people how awful and messed up the country was,'' said Garfield, who is an actress and teacher. 'And how it was intimidated by one or two people who were allowed to ruin the lives of people. People were destroyed because of their beliefs.'
In terms of lessons that the exhibition may impart, Mirrer outlined a dark side and a more hopeful one.
'I would like people to know that there were people of great courage who took the view that American democracy was of the utmost importance and had to be sustained,' she said. 'They saw to it, and the period came to an end. ''