Abstract
IT WAS A TYPICALLY SULTRY Tuesday morning that third day of August, 1948. Summoned on short notice by the unpredictable House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), a contingent of Washington reporters with note-pads and pens in hand filed into a large imposing hearing room usually reserved for the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and waited for the unscheduled public session to begin.' HUAC was up to something, of that the reporters were sure. As was often the case, the committee had begun its morning session in Executive Session, meeting behind closed doors in their cramped Old House Office Building hearing room. Standing in the hallway, waiting for the day's witness to reappear so they could snap another photo, reporters barely had enough time to smoke a cigarette when staff informed them that the committee had abruptly adjourned, having elected to reconvene in open session. Six congressmen, all critics of Harry Truman's democratic administration, along with the press corps, crossed New Jersey Avenue, entered the ornate committee room, and waited for the chairman to pound his gavel.2
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