1media/2003-McCarthyismExhibit_022-resized_thumb.jpg2024-10-09T07:29:05-07:00Queens College Special Collections and Archivese5d75124350046eec0e648a38e4b73292f02c4b0460991Panel from 2003 exhibit on McCarthyism curated by Dorothy Pita and Larry Kaplan.plain2024-10-09T07:29:05-07:00Queens College Special Collections and Archivese5d75124350046eec0e648a38e4b73292f02c4b0
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12024-10-08T09:59:45-07:00Investigation2plain2024-10-09T07:29:52-07:00During the McCarthy period years, the FBI and the Special Investigating Unit of the New York City's Board of Higher Education established extensive files on “subversive” staff and students. In the late 1940s, these individuals included anyone who supported Henry Wallace's Progressive Party 1948 campaign for president. Congress also established committees, chaired by both Republicans and Democrats, to investigate colleges across the country. The Board of Higher Education also held hearings, usually in secret. Witnesses called before these committees were required to provide the names of colleagues and friends. The only way to avoid informing on others was to plead the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution against self-incrimination. But doing so led to immediate loss of employment. Some professors became friendly witnesses, and a few even bragged about their actions.
