August 7

On August 7, 1958, Arthur Miller was cleared of contempt charges from the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings.

Starting in 1938, the House Un-American Activies Committee had been investigating Communists in America. Alger Hiss was investigated by HUAC. The HUAC hearings, run by the House, were independent of the Senator McCarthy hearings.

In 1947, HUAC starting investigating Hollywood figures, most notably the Hollywood Ten, who were screenwriters. Their number included Dalton Trumbo and Ring Lardner Jr. The Ten refused to testify, based on their Fifth Amendment rights. All were cited for contempt, and most of the Ten were unable to get work under their own names for decades.

A blacklist formed. Among the blacklisted was Paul Robeson and Lillian Hellman. A publication named Red Channels listed persons who were either Communist or sympathetic; Arthur Miller appeared. This blacklist was very effective. Many careers were ruined by supposed Communist sympathies. Almost all of the people on the list had not had any involvement with Communism in years, and at the time it had been legal.

People who wanted to work frequently were put into a position of having to inform on their friends, or at the very least make a public declaration disclaiming any Communist tendencies. Many Hollywood figures did, some more willingly than others.

Arthur Miller had cooperated with the Committee but refused to name names. He fought the contempt charges for two years, until the Court of Appeals squashed the charges. According to the Court, Miller had asked not to name names and the Committee had agreed to defer the question. This led Miller to believe the question settled so there was no contempt.

Miller's career was not one of the casualties of HUAC, although his friendship with Elia Kazan ended for ten years. Miller was one of the lucky ones. Many of those investigated died early or from alcoholism. Miller's play The Crucible was based upon the HUAC investigations.