RULES ADOPTED BY THE 84TH CONGRESS House Resolution 5, January 5, 1955 * RULE X STANDING COMMITTEES 1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each Congress, the following standing committees: * (q) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members. * RULE XI POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES * 17. Committee on Un-American Activities. (a) Un-American activities. (b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or by subcommittee, is authorized to make from time to time, investigations of (1) the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (2) the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (3) all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation. The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House (or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) the results of any such investigation, together with such recommendations as it deems advisable. For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on Un-American Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized to sit and act at such times and places within the United States, whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents, and to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any subcommittee, or by any member designated by such chairman, and may be served by any person designated by any such chairman or member. INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES NEW YORK AREA-PART I MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1953 INITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES, EXECUTIVE SESSION committee of the Committee on Un-American Activities met, t to call, at 11 a. m., in room 225, Old House Office Building, rold H. Velde (chairman) presiding. ittee members present: Representatives Harold H. Velde in), Kit Clardy, Gordon H. Scherer, and Francis E. Walter. members present: Robert L. Kunzig, counsel; Raphael I. irector of research; Thomas W. Beale, Sr., chief clerk; Leslie C. search analyst; and Dolores Anderson, reporter. ONY OF JEAN MUIR (MRS. HENRY JAFFE), ACCOMPANIED BY HER COUNSEL, HENRY JAFFE ELDE. The committee will come to order. Let the record t present are Mr. Clardy, Mr. Scherer, Mr. Walter, and the , Mr. Velde. I have appointed this subcommittee for the -f this executive hearing. è record also show that Miss Muir has volunteered, to the to come before this committee and give facts pertinent to igations being conducted by the committee into the infiltrammunism and other subversion in the entertainment field. mmittee welcomes the testimony of Miss Muir, which it feels great assistance in continuing the work of the committee by the House of Representatives. witness stand and be sworn, please? estimony you are about to give, do you solemnly swear to uth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help JIR. I do, so help me God. DE. Let the record also show that Mr. Henry Jaffe, husband ey for Miss Muir, is present in the hearing room. proceed with your questions, Mr. Counsel. RDY. Mr. Chairman, may I add for the record that the s not come as the result of a subpena issued by the comhad previously volunteered. DE. Yes; that is right. Mr. KUNZIG. Miss Muir I want you to state, also for the record. your reasons for voluntarily coming here today. Miss MUIR. Yes. When the Aldrich Family incident took place and I was thrown off the show, people called both my husband and myself asking permission to create committees of protest, or Jean Muir committees. We turned down all these requests and offers in an effort to keep it out of the hands of any committees which might later become fronts, or be supported by Communists, and also to try and prevent me from being turned into a martyr by people with whom I did not wish to become associated. We didn't want it to become a cause célèbre. Unfortunately, it did become that. When they learned we would not join them, they began a violent and organized protest on my behalf anyhow, which caused me to become confident that the Communist Party, or members of the Communist Party fronts are actually trying to harm me, the result of this being that in so doing they hurt this committee. I feel this committee is doing a fine and educational job. They cannot use me to disparage this committee. As you know, they have tried many times. I therefore, wanted to come here. What has happened to me in the last 3 years is not, I feel, the responsibility of this committee. I wanted to come because I felt this committee is not for the purpose of persecution, but for the purpose of finding out just who is causing this kind of thing. Mr. CLARDY. May I interrupt? Since I was not a member of the committee at the time of which Miss Muir speaks, I wonder if someone could bring me up to date on this matter. I am not as familiar as I ought to be with its background. Mr. SCHERER. That would be a help to me also. Mr. VELDE. I would suggest, as chairman, that the committee carry on in the usual manner, with the counsel asking questions of the witness, if that is satisfactory with the witness or her counsel, so that we might have her general educational and occupational background. I am sure we will all be able to determine in this way exactly what the reason is for this executive hearing. Mr. KUNZIG. Miss Muir would you tell the committee your educational and occupational background? Miss MUIR. Yes. I was born February 13, 1911, in New York City, of a Scottish father and an American mother. My real name is Jean Fullarton. I studied at a dramatic school in Englewood, N. J.. and graduated in 1929, at which time I went abroad to Scotland and visited with my father's family, and then went over to France and stayed there. I went to the Sorbonne University to perfect my French. I returned to the United States in August of 1930, and got a job on my first show as an understudy. I later played the part, and from then on played in several plays on Broadway over the period of the next 3 years. Mr. VELDE. It might be of interest to the committee if you would tell us the names of the shows in which you appeared. Miss MUIR. I appeared in Bird in Hand, by John Drinkwater; St. Wench, by John Colton, and Life Begins. I have forgotten who wrote that. It was a story about a maternity ward. These are all I remember right now. It was while I was appearing in St. Wench that I got an offer to go to Hollywood for Warner Bros. I went in January of 1933 and during the following 4 years made at least 25 or pictures. Among them were As the Earth Turns, Desirable, Dr. lonica, Stars Over Broadway, Midsummer Night's Dream, Gentleen Are Born, Orchids to You, White Bondage, and so on. While I as in Hollywood, Warner Bros. sent me to London, in 1936, to make picture for them in their English studio, which they were trying to uild up at the time. I also did television work over there, in the arly experimental stages. I came back here and played for a while Golden Boy. I had in the meantime met Mr. Jaffe, and we were arried late in 1940. I left Hollywood in 1937, during the summer, nd did stock appearances in summer stock companies. I then went ack to Hollywood and made 2 more pictures, 1 of them for M-G-M nd 1 at the Fox Studios. I believe that was the Lone Wolf Meets Lady. I think that brings us up to date on my work, up to my marriage. During the subsequent years we had three children. I also worked summer theaters and made one more picture, The Constant Nymph, or Warner Bros., with Charles Boyer and Joan Fontaine. Mr. VELDE. When did you first start the Aldrich Family show? Miss MUIR. I had been doing radio work, had my third child, and ad done a little TV. Oh, I left out that I had gone to London in 938 and played in two pictures, and then a little in TV. I started working in TV and did 2 or 3 shows. One, a Philco show on Sunday light. That following August, in 1950, I was signed to play the part of Mrs. Aldrich, in the Aldrich Family show. It was to be a half-hour TV show. I was very excited about this, and went to dress rehearsal he Sunday evening before the time to start, and we were all told he show would not go on. The reason for this was not told to us at the time. Nobody seemed to know the reason, but a newspaperman on the New York Times called and found out about it, and it was on the front page of the New York Times the following day, all about me. Consequently it spread all over the country. Mr. VELDE. Then you actually never did appear on the Henry Aldrich TV show? Miss MUIR. No. Mr. CLARDY. What date was that? Miss MUIR. August 25, 1950. Since then I have not worked. Miss MUIR. The fact that the reason for the cancelling of the show was because NBC had received, I believe, 10 telephone calls and 2 telegrams-I believe that was the number, wasn't it? (Off the record discussion takes place between counsel, members of committee, and witness.) Mr. VELDE. We will now go on the record again. Mr. KUNZIG. Miss Muir, in order to clear the record, when was it you went to London, and did a show? Miss MUIR. I went to London in 1936 for Warner Bros. I was under contract with them at the time. Then again in 1937, in the winter of 1937 and into the spring of 1938. I did a play called People at Sea, by J. B. Priestley. Mr. KUNZIG. What I meant to clarify was the fact you mentioned in your previous testimony about going to London and doing TV shows in 1937. Did they have TV then? 61439-55- -2 Miss MUIR. Yes. BBC was experimenting in TV in the earlier stages. Mr. KUNZIG. I wanted to be sure we had the record straight on the dates. With regard to the front organizations that have not been listed by Counter Attack, and so forth, let us go into some of those, in order to tell the committee, the true story, and the actual facts as to what they were, and what your participation was in them. First, the Congress of American Women. You were listed as a vice president of that organization. Tell the committee about that. Miss MUIR. I had forgotten that I was an officer of that committee. I was for about 6 months. It came about through a Dr. Gene Weltfish, who was under Dr. Frank Boer. I met her at a party and she asked me to join the Congress of American Women, which was for the purpose of helping to solve the problems of women in this country. Mr. KUNZIG. Is this the same Dr. Gene Weltfish who has received large publicity with respect to biological warfare? Miss MUIR. Yes; I believe that is she. Mr. CLARDY. I believe that is the one who spoke before the American forces in Korea. Miss MUIR. Thinking this actually was what the organization was for, I said I would be very glad to join. During the following 6 months I never attended a board meeting. I never went to a board meeting. By the end of 6 months, the composition of the minutes and literature they were sending out had never reflected this idea about solving problems of women in this country. Instead it always seemed to have something to do with some kind of resolution to protect Russia, or something about somebody concerned with that in this country. I don't remember who were mentioned at this late date, but something about their tone began to make me very suspicious, and I resigned. Unfortunately for me, I resigned over the telephone, to the executive secretary, whose first name was Alice. I don't recall her last name. Mr. KUNZIG. When was this, Miss Muir? Miss MUIR. This was in 1945 and 1946. Mr. KUNZIG. According to your testimony, you were in it for a brief period of time, and then resigned, but did so over the telephone? Miss MUIR. Yes; that's right. Mr. KUNZIG. For the record, the Congress of American Women was cited as subversive and Communist by Attorney General Tom Clark. in letters to the Loyalty Review Board, released June 1, 1948, and September 21, 1948. It was also cited as subversive and Communist, and supported at all times by the international Communist movement, according to the Congressional Committee on Un-American Activities, in their report on the Congress of American Women, House Report No. 1953, April 26, 1950 (originally released October 23, 1949). It was also cited as "one of the most potentially dangerous of the many active Communist fronts." It was incorporated in January 1947, with national headquarters in New York City, and is the American branch of the International Democratic Women's Federation, which was formed at a Paris convention in November 1945 "at the |