In November 1947, ten Hollywood writers and directors were cited for contempt of court for their refusal to testify before HUAC. Criminal charges were issued against the group that would become known as “the Hollywood Ten,” and the first systematic Hollywood blacklist had begun. Of the ten, six were Jewish - John Howard Lawson, Herbert Biberman, Alvah Bessie, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, and Lester Cole - as were many of the studio executives who voted to blacklist them. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Thomas Doherty, author of Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist.
Image: Anticommunist group protests the release of "Exodus" in 1960, written by Hollywood Ten "unfriendly" Dalton Trumbo. From the Abraham Shoenfeld Papers at AJHS, P-884.
The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.
