“Dragonslayers” Speech: Rep. Jimmy Roosevelt Calls for Abolition of HUAC
Rep. Jimmy Roosevelt (D–California), member of Congress and son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on this day delivered his “Dragonslayers” speech, calling for the abolition of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
The speech invigorated the movement to abolish HUAC. Just a month later, San Francisco was the scene of the largest public demonstration against HUAC, which was holding hearings on alleged Communist influence in the Bay Area. The demonstrations, which were the first large public challenge to HUAC, began on May 12, 1960. Following the demonstrations, HUAC produced a completely biased documentary film on them entitled Operation Abolition. The San Francisco ACLU responded with its own film entitled Operation Correction. The two films circulated around the country and did much to discredit HUAC and its tactics.
Roosevelt’s speech and the San Francisco demonstrations marked a significant turn in public opinion against HUAC and its long-running assault of the freedom of belief and association.
The House of Representatives finally abolished HUAC on January 14, 1975.
Watch an Interview with Jimmy Roosevelt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvCH3ThsNr0
Read about the history of HUAC: Walter Goodman, The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (1968)
Watch the documentaries on the famous 1960 anti-HUAC demonstrations, The HUAC version, “Operation Abolition”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeiW63M3bcI
And the ACLU reply, “Operation Correction”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be8fZNZAWN4
Learn more about HUAC: http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/huac