Red Scare!; Right-wing Hysteria, Fifties Fanaticism, and Their Legacy in Texas

Austin, Texas: Texas Monthly Press, Inc, 1985. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. xii, 39, [2]0 pages. DJ has several tears and chips. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Inscription reads, To Chuck--Best Wishes. Don E. Carleton. 10 Feb. 1999. The book includes a Foreword by John Henry Faulk, Preface, Prologue, Essay on Sources, Notes, and Index. Also includes chapters on A Nervous New Civilization; Voices from the Left; Fear and Money; Red Scare Activists Organize; The Red Scare Begins; The Red Scare and the Schools; The Victim is a Symbol: The George W. Ebey Affair; "Oveta Doesn't Brook Back-Talk"; Demagogues in Austin: McCarthy at San Jacinto; Bertie and the Board; Conclusion: Beyond the Red Scare. The author reveals that what began as a coalition against communism became a power struggle between conservatives and liberals. Dr. Carleton has been executive director of The University of Texas at Austin's Dolph Briscoe Center for American History since its creation in 1991. From 1979 until 1991, Dr. Carleton was head of the University's Eugene C. Barker Texas History Center. From 1975 until 1979, he served as founding director of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center, an urban history archives project sponsored by Rice University, the University of Houston, and the City of Houston. Dr. Carleton has published and lectured extensively in the fields of local history, archives, historical research methods and sources, urban history, the history of journalism, and Twentieth Century U.S. political history. His book Red Scare won the Texas State Historical Association's Coral Tullis Award for the most important book on Texas published in 1985. John Henry Faulk (August 21, 1913 - April 9, 1990) was a storyteller and radio show host. His successful lawsuit against the entertainment industry helped to bring an end to the Hollywood blacklist. Faulk's radio career at CBS ended in 1957, a victim of the Cold War and the blacklisting of the 1950s. AWARE, Inc., a for-profit corporation inspired by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, offered a "clearance" service to major media advertisers and radio and television networks; for a fee, AWARE would investigate the backgrounds of entertainers for signs of Communist sympathy or affiliation. In 1955, Faulk earned the ill will of the blacklisting organization when he and other members wrested control of their union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists from officers backed by AWARE. In reprisal, AWARE labeled Faulk a Communist. When he discovered that AWARE was actively keeping radio stations from offering him employment, Faulk sought compensation. Several prominent radio personalities along with CBS News vice president Edward R. Murrow supported Faulk's attempt to put an end to blacklisting. With financial backing from Murrow, Faulk engaged New York attorney Louis Nizer. Attorneys for AWARE, including McCarthy-committee counsel Roy Cohn, managed to stall the suit, originally filed in 1957, for five years. When the trial finally concluded in a New York courtroom, the jury had determined that Faulk should receive more compensation than he sought in his original petition. On June 28, 1962, the jury awarded him the largest libel judgment in history to that date - $3.5 million. An appeals court lowered the amount to $500,000. Legal fees and accumulated debts erased most of the balance of the award. He netted some $75,000. Faulk's book, Fear on Trial, published in 1963, tells the story of the experience. The book was remade into an Emmy award-winning TV movie in 1975 by CBS Television with William Devane portraying Faulk and George C. Scott playing Faulk's lawyer, Louis Nizer. Other supporters in the blacklist struggle included radio pioneer and Wimberley, Texas, native Parks Johnson, and reporter and CBS television news anchor Walter Cronkite.