Folk Singer Josh White Reads Lyrics of “Strange Fruit” into the Congressional Record
Folk singer Josh White, called to testify for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on this day turned the tables on the committee by reading the lyrics of Strange Fruit, a searing indictment of lynching made famous by Billie Holiday.
Josh White was a noted African-American blues and folk singer who was also outspoken on civil rights and other social issues. On June 22, 1950, he was named in the notorious report Red Channels as a Communist sympathizer. As a result, he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to testify on this day. White did not back down from his political commitments by affirming his support for civil rights and reading the entire lyrics of the famous Billie Holiday song, Strange Fruit, into the Congressional Record. (See April 20, 1939, for Holiday’s original recording of the famous anti-lynching song.)
Earlier in his career, White had been invited to sing at the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt in February 1941, in what was characterized as a “command performance,” becoming the first African-American ever to perform at the White House. He also played at President Roosevelt’s third inauguration in 1941. And on January 31, 1963, he performed at “Dinner with the President,” an event honoring President John F. Kennedy that was presented to a national audience by CBS television.
Learn more: Elijah Wald, Josh White: Society Blues (2001)
Hear Josh White Sing “House of the Rising Sun”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8Ueo7r2nbA
Read Anne Braden’s critique of HUAC racism: Anne Braden, HUAC: Bulwark of Segregation (1964)
Read the great book on HUAC and the Hollywood blacklist: Thomas Doherty, Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist (2018)
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here