house un-american activities committee.

English - English

Definition of house un-american activities committee. in English English dictionary

Related Terms

House Un-American Activities Committee.

HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee

the full name of HUAC. Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, established in 1938 under Martin Dies as chairman, that conducted investigations through the 1940s and '50s into alleged communist activities. Those investigated included many artists and entertainers, including the Hollywood Ten, Elia Kazan, Pete Seeger, Bertolt Brecht, and Arthur Miller. Richard Nixon was an active member in the late 1940s, and the committee's most celebrated case was perhaps that of Alger Hiss. Its actions resulted in several contempt-of-Congress convictions and the blacklisting of many who refused to answer its questions. Highly controversial for its tactics, it was criticized for violating First Amendment rights. Its influence had waned by the 1960s; in 1969 it was renamed the Internal Security Committee, and in 1975 it was dissolved

House Un-American Activities Committee

committee set up during the late 1940s and early 1950s in the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate citizens that were thought to be communists, HUAC

Hyphenation

House un-A·mer·i·can activities com-mit-tee