Humanities Washington: Hollywood and the Blacklist Era

“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”

The answer to this question—or the refusal to answer it—cast hundreds of lives into turmoil at the dawn of the Cold War. The Red Scare that erupted in the 1940s allowed the House Committee on Un-American Activities to grab headlines by parading prominent Hollywood figures before the cameras. Witnesses could either defy the hearings at the risk of their own careers, or “name names”—inform on their colleagues and friends. The resulting blacklist threw many moviemaking professionals out of work.

This presentation, illustrated with film clips, tells the stories from this heartbreaking and scandalous era, and how notables such as Humphrey Bogart, Elia Kazan, and Charlie Chaplin were swept up in the frenzy. We’ll also ask a question: With today’s politics at a boiling point, are we living in such a period again

This program is made possible by Humanities Washington’s Speakers Bureau—"Fascinating talks by fascinating people." For more information about Speakers Bureau, please visit https://www.humanities.org/program/speakers-bureau/.

You may also like the following events from FVRLibraries - Fort Vancouver Regional Library District:

• Next month, 2nd September, 06:30 pm, Humanities Washington: Imagining the Future - A Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop in Stevenson
• Next month, 3rd September, 03:00 pm, Goodwill Computer Basics in Salmon Creek
• Next month, 4th September, 01:00 pm, Goodwill Computer Basics in Ridgefield

Also check out other Entertainment events in Stevenson.