On 26 March 1953, Dashiell
Hammett testified before HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), where
he was considered a hostile witness for refusing to answer questions for
refusing to provide names of people he had associated with in organizations
Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC considered dangerous to democracy.
Hammett had served in both WWI
and WWII (he had volunteered for service in WWII, despite being 47 and still
suffering from the tuberculosis he had contracted during WWI). After the War,
Hammett had served as a chairman and President of the Civil Rights Congress
(CRC), which tried to call attention to racial injustice in the US. The CRC was
named a Communist organization in 1947.
The CRC posted bail for 11 men
who were appealing convictions on conspiracy charges for “to advocate, abet, or
teach the desirability of overthrowing the government.”
In 1951 Hammett was called to
testify before Congress about the CRC’s involvement. Specifically, he refused
to provide names of those who had contributed to the bail fund. Hammett invoked
the Fifth Amendment but was cited for contempt and served 5 months in a Federal
Prison.
