Grade Level 11th Grade
Subject Social Studies
Course U.S. History
Time Frame 120-150 minutes
Duration 3 periods
HUAC v. Hollywood
The Impact of the Second Red Scare
Daniel Schwarz, Lindsey Link
Published by K20 Center
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 License
Essential Question
What impact did the Second Red Scare have on the United States?
Summary
This lesson will introduce students to the Second Red Scare (also known as the era of McCarthyism), the House of
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and the public fear of communism that ran rampant in the 1940s and
1950s. Students will analyze a political cartoon that addresses the public fear of communism; reflect upon and
summarize what they have learned in a video about McCarthyism; analyze excerpts of testimony delivered by four
entertainers summoned by HUAC: Lucille Ball, Edward Dmytryk, Paul Robeson, and Pete Seeger; and make
connections between the Hollywood blacklist and the cultural climate today.
Snapshot
Engage
Students will analyze a political cartoon addressing the public fear of communism using the T.A.C.O.S. strategy.
Explore
Students will view a video about McCarthyism, and they will use either the POMS or S-I-T strategies to reflect
upon and summarize what they have learned.
Explain
Students will use the SOAPSTone strategy to interpret excerpts of testimony delivered by four entertainers
summoned by HUAC: Lucille Ball, Edward Dmytryk, Paul Robeson, and Pete Seeger.
Extend
Students will use the True for Who? strategy to compare and contrast the perspectives of individuals whose
words are included in the transcripts. Students will have the option of staging mock trials that will bring to life the
testimony they have read.
Evaluate
Students will write an Exit Ticket paragraph in which they will analyze another political cartoon in order to draw
connections between McCarthyism and current events.
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Standards
Oklahoma Academic Standards (Social Studies: United States History (9th through 12th grade))
USH.6.2: Describe domestic events related to the Cold War and its aftermath.
USH.6.2A: Summarize the reasons for the public fear of communist influence within the United States and how
politicians capitalized on this fear including the leadership of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Army-
McCarthy hearings, the Second Red Scare, the Alger Hiss controversy, and the Rosenbergs’ spy trials.
Attachments
Edward Dmytryk HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.docx
Edward Dmytryk HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
Edward Dmytryk HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.docx
Edward Dmytryk HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.pdf
Lesson Slides - HUAC v. Hollywood.pptx
Lucille Ball HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.docx
Lucille Ball HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
Lucille Ball HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.docx
Lucille Ball HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.pdf
Paul Robeson HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.docx
Paul Robeson HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
Paul Robeson HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.docx
Paul Robeson HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.pdf
Pete Seeger HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.docx
Pete Seeger HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
Pete Seeger HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.docx
Pete Seeger HUAC Testimony- HUAC Versus Hollywood.pdf
SOAPSTone - HUAC v. Hollywood - Spanish.docx
SOAPSTone - HUAC v. Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
SOAPSTone - HUAC v. Hollywood.docx
SOAPSTone - HUAC v. Hollywood.pdf
SOAPSTone Teacher's Guide - HUAC v. Hollywood.docx
SOAPSTone Teacher's Guide - HUAC v. Hollywood.pdf
Surprising-Interesting-Troubling- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.docx
Surprising-Interesting-Troubling- HUAC Versus Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
Surprising-Interesting-Troubling- HUAC Versus Hollywood.docx
Surprising-Interesting-Troubling- HUAC Versus Hollywood.pdf
TACOS -HUAC v Hollywood - Spanish.docx
TACOS -HUAC v Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
TACOS -HUAC v Hollywood.docx
TACOS -HUAC v Hollywood.pdf
True for Who - HUAC v Hollywood - Spanish.docx
True for Who - HUAC v Hollywood - Spanish.pdf
True for Who - HUAC v Hollywood.docx
True for Who - HUAC v Hollywood.pdf
True for Who Teacher's Guide-HUAC v Hollywood.docx
True for Who Teacher's Guide-HUAC v Hollywood.pdf
Materials
Lesson Slides - (attached)
T.A.C.O.S. handout - (attached; optional; one per student)
Surprising, Interesting, Troubling handout - (attached; optional; one per student)
SOAPSTone handout - (attached; one per student)
SOAPSTone Teacher's Guide - (attached)
True for Who? handout - (attached; one per group)
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True for Who? Teacher's Guide - (attached)
Lucille Ball HUAC Testimony Transcript - (attached; one per student)
Edward Dmytryk HUAC Testimony Transcript - (attached; one per student)
Paul Robeson HUAC Testimony Transcript - (attached; one per student)
Pete Seeger HUAC Testimony Transcript - (attached; one per student)
Pencil or pen and notepaper
Student computers or tablets for internet access
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15 minutes
Engage
Introduce the lesson using the attached Lesson Slides. Display slide 2 to share the essential question and slide 3 to
go over the lesson's learning objectives. Review them with students to the extent you feel necessary. Clarify for
students that they will be hearing the terms "Second Red Scare" and "era of McCarthyism" used interchangeably,
but they both refer to the same period in history.
Move to slide 4 and share the instructional strategy T.A.C.O.S. with students.
Teacher's Note: T.A.C.O.S. Handout
You may choose to print the attached handout or have a class discussion analyzing the political cartoon. If you
decide to have students try the T.A.C.O.S. strategy, you should give them about 10 minutes to work on the
activity.
Display slide 5 and pass out the optional attached T.A.C.O.S. handout to students. Provide students with time to
look at the political cartoon that was published on October 31, 1947, after a week of testimony by Hollywood
screenwriters including Ring Lardner, Jr., Lester Cole, Bertolt Brecht, and John Howard Lawson.
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In this cartoon, artist Herbert Block depicts an automobile named "Committee on Un-American Activities" being
driven recklessly by HUAC Committee Chairman, J. Parnell Thomas, as he runs over pedestrians on the sidewalk.
The passenger, HUAC Chief Investigator, Robert E. Stripling, is reassuring the injured that "It's ok [because] we're
hunting communists."
Possible Student Responses
Time Period: 1947 (students should be able to get close to the 1940s using their prior knowledge here)
Action: Two men in a car called "Committee on Un-American Activities" are driving recklessly through the
streets.
Caption: "It's okay…we're hunting communists"
Objects: Students may point out the style of clothing the characters are wearing, the style of the car, or simply
that they are dealing with a time period when communism in the U.S. was a scary reality.
Summary: It looks as if the message the artist is trying to portray is that, as long as you're hunting communists
or doing the bidding of the government, it doesn't matter whom you run over. Everyone had the potential to
be a victim of the Second Red Scare.
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15 minutes
Explore
Display slide 6 and share the 5-minute video, What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen?, with students.
Optional slides 7 and 8 have been included for you to use should you want to have students share the Point of
Most Significance or something Surprising, Interesting, and Troubling in the video once it is over. Additionally, there
is an optional Surprising-Interesting-Troubling handout to pass out.
Teacher's Note: Optional Activities
Should you choose to have students share their Points of Most Significance, display slide 7 and encourage
them to take notes on a sheet of notebook paper as they are watching the video. Tell them that they should
include in their notes the points from the video that they think are most important. After the video has ended,
ask students to share with an Elbow Partner one point that they have written down in their notes which they
believe to be the most significant. After Elbow Partners have had a minute to share their POMS, ask students if
they would like to volunteer to share their POMS with the whole class.
Should you choose to have students work on the S-I-T activity, display slide 8 and pass out the Surprising-
Interesting-Troubling handout. Tell students that, as they watch the video about McCarthyism and how it
came about, they should write down one (1) thing that surprises them, one (1) thing that is interesting to them,
and one (1) thing that is troubling to them. After the video has ended, consider asking students to share any
particular information presented in the video that surprised, interested, or troubled them.
Move to slides 9-14 and take about five minutes to provide students with some background information on HUAC,
Lucille Ball, Edward Dmytryk, Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, and the Hollywood Ten.
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45 minutes
Explain
Display slide 15. Pass out the attached SOAPSTone handout and share the instructional strategy SOAPSTone with
students.
Move to slide 16. You have the option of either printing the attached HUAC Testimony Transcripts of Lucille Ball,
Edward Dmytryk, Paul Robeson, and Pete Seeger and distributing them to students or having students access the
linked Wakelet to read them.
Teacher's Note
Use this Wakelet for Spanish-speaking students.
Instruct students to take roughly half an hour to read through the transcripts. As they read, have them fill in their
SOAPSTone handout with notes from the transcripts. Most of the information for their handout is pretty
straightforward but understanding and pinpointing the tone of the interviews is what you want the students to
focus on. Once the students have had an opportunity to read the transcripts and to work through their SOAPSTone
handout, assign them into small groups and allow them about ten minutes to collaborate and share their
responses. This is a good time for students to clear up any misconceptions they may have.
In order to get a sense of the types of responses that students should be providing on their handouts, feel free to
consult the attached SOAPSTone Teacher's Guide.
Teacher's Note: Tone
After students have met in groups, take about five minutes to discuss the SOAPSTone activity and the
testimony given by the entertainers with the whole class. Don't give away the tone and intonation but allude to
it in such a way that helps the students understand how each of the witnesses were treated differently based
on who they were, what they looked like, or how they portrayed themselves. Did they behave in such a way that
was misleading to the committee? Were they being truthful?
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45 minutes
Extend
Display slide 17 and share the instructional strategy True for Who? with the students. Assign students to groups of
3 or 4. Distribute a copy of the True for Who? handout to each group. Instruct students to read and follow the
directions on the top of the page. Let the groups know that they will have about 15 minutes to discuss and fill out
their handouts.
To get a better idea of the types of responses that would be acceptable for this activity, feel free to consult the
attached True for Who? Teacher's Guide.
After the students have completed the activity, take about 5 minutes to use slides 18-29 to facilitate a whole group
discussion.
After the students complete the activity, have them choose one of the statements and, using text evidence, briefly
write about why they think that statement is fitting for their chosen witness.
Teacher's Note: Optional Mock Trial
It would be beneficial for you and the students to stage several brief "mock trials" to provide the students with
an opportunity to see and feel what those who were questioned went through. Provide each group you have
created for the True for Who? activity with a testimony transcript to act out in front of the class. Each transcript
has the "roles" listed on the first page. You can cast members of each group to play the different speaking
roles, while other students in the class could serve as additional members of the HUAC committee or can sit in
the audience. If you have access to your school's auditorium, consider setting up a row of desks on the stage
for members of the committee, while the witness could sit in the front row of seats and other students
observing the hearing could sit behind them.
Try to limit each trial to no more than 5 minutes. This exercise could be done either before or after the True for
Who? activity.
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10 minutes
Evaluate
Display slide 30 and give students a moment to study the following political cartoon:
For this Exit Ticket, do not explain the cartoon to students, but ask them instead to take out a sheet of paper and
take five minutes to write a paragraph or two in response to the following prompt:
1. What is the cartoonist trying to say about our current society?
2. Compare and contrast the behavior hinted at in this cartoon with the effects of the public's fear of
communism during the Second Red Scare.
You can use slides 31-34 as an epilogue to the lesson. Each contains information about the outcome of the
hearings and the impact that they had on each entertainer's life.
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Resources
AustinMini 1275. (2018, February 9). Lucille Ball. Flickr. [Photograph].
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14639118@N03/26302339438
Block, H. (1947, October 31). It's okay.…[W]e're hunting communists. Library of Congress. Library of Congress
Prints and Photographs Division. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00652190/
K20 Center. (2020, September 16). Bell ringers and exit tickets. Strategies.
https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/125
K20 Center. (n.d.). Elbow partners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/116.
K20 Center. (2020, September 16). POMS: Point of most significance. Strategies.
https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/101
K20 Center. (2021, February 12). S-I-T (surprising, interesting, troubling). Strategies.
https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/926
K20 Center. (2021, May 28). SOAPSTone. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/889
K20 Center. (2021, April 15). T.A.C.O.S. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1196
K20 Center. (2021, April 15). True for who? Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1586
K20 Center. (2022, March 9). Wakelet. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2180
Los Angeles Times. (1947, December 11). Charged with contempt of Congress, nine Hollywood men give themselves
up to U.S. Marshal today. Wikimedia Commons. [Photograph].
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine_of_the_Hollywood_10_charged_with_contempt_of_Congress_1947.jpg.
Schrecker, E. (2017, March 14). What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen? Ted-ED. [YouTube video.]
Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-mccarthyism-and-how-did-it-happen-ellen-
schrecker
Schwarz, J. (1986, February 20). Pete Seeger concert photo b&w. Wikimedia Commons. [Photograph].
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_Seeger_1986.jpg.
Washington Area Spark. (1946, September 23). Paul Robeson sings out against lynching: 1946. Flickr. [Photograph].
https://www.flickr.com/photos/washington_area_spark/15201050315.
Webster, S. (2022). Cancel culture. K20 Center. [Cartoon].
Wikipedia. (2018, January 9). U.S. filmmaker, Edward Dmytryk. [Photograph].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Dmytryk.jpg.
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