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Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations

January 20, 2024

The United States Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was a list drawn up on April 3, 1947[1] at the request of the United States Attorney General (and later Supreme Court justice) Tom C. Clark.[1] The list was intended to be a compilation of organizations seen as "subversive" by the United States government. Among those were: Communist fronts, the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazi Party.[1]

History edit

Creation edit

The Attorney General's list was first known as the Biddle list after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Attorney General Francis Biddle began tracking Soviet controlled subversive front organizations in 1941. The original list had only eleven organizations but was greatly expanded by the end of the decade to upwards of 90 organizations.[2] It did not list individuals.

Communist groups, which emerged both in the pre-war and the post-war list, are marked by one ". In the meantime, even some trade unions that excluded members of openly communist groups from their membership lists were dissolved, partially also by government resolution.

Thousands of Americans with progressive or radical political beliefs signed petitions for, or became members of, these groups without being aware of the Communist ties of the group. Many were later persecuted and suffered personal consequences during the McCarthy era. Some others, though, were found through HUAC investigations and Venona cable intercepts, to be actively involved in Soviet sponsored espionage and related activities.

Biddle list edit

Biddle List of 5 February 1943
  1. American League Against War and Fascism
  2. American League for Peace and Democracy[citation needed]
  3. American Patriots, Inc.
  4. American Peace Mobilization
  5. American Youth Congress
  6. Communist Party USA
  7. Congress of American Revolutionary Writers
  8. League of American Writers[3]
  9. Michigan Federation for Constitutional Liberties
  10. National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners
  11. National Committee for Peoples Rights[citation needed]
  12. National Federation for Constitutional Liberties
  13. National Negro Congress
  14. Protest War Veterans of the USA
  15. Washington Book Shop Association
  16. Washington Committee for Democratic Action
  17. Workers Alliance

(Source: New York Times of 5 December 1947)[4]

AGLOSO of 4 December 1947 edit

On December 4, 1947, US Attorney General Tom C. Clark released the "Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations" (AGLOSO).

As reported by the New York Times on the same day, the list included groups from the Biddle List plus new groups plus eleven (11) school.[4] Leaders of five groups—the Reverend William H. Melish of the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, Martic Martntz of the Armenian Progressive League of America, Howard Selsam of the Jefferson School of Social Science, Max Yergan of the Council on African Affairs, and Edward Barsky of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee—denied the government's accusation.[5]

The next day, the New York Times reported a second batch of groups who rejected the government's accusation: William Z. Foster and Eugene Dennis of the Communist Party USA, an unnamed spokesperson for the International Workers Order, an unnamed spokesperson for the Civil Rights Congress, an unnamed spokesperson for American Youth for Democracy, Harrison L. Harley of the Samuel Adams School for Social Studies, and Walter Scott Neff of the Abraham Lincoln School.[6]

AGLOSO of 4 December 1947
  1. Abraham Lincoln School of Chicago, IL
  2. American League Against War and Fascism
  3. American League for Peace and Democracy[citation needed]
  4. American Patriots, Inc.
  5. American Peace Mobilization
  6. American Polish Labor Council
  7. American Youth Congress
  8. American Youth for Democracy
  9. Armenian Progressive League of America
  10. Civil Rights Congress including: Civil Rights Congress for Texas, Veterans Against Discrimination of Civil Rights Congress of New York
  11. The Columbians
  12. Communist Party USA including Communist Political Association, Citizens Committee of the Upper West Side (New York City), Committee to Aid the Fighting South, Dennis Defense Committee, Labor Research Association, Southern Negro Youth Congress, United May Day Committee, United Negro and Allied Veteran of America
  13. Connecticut State Youth Conference
  14. Congress of American Revolutionary Writers
  15. Council on African Affairs
  16. George Washington Carver School of New York, NY
  17. Hollywood Writers Mobilization for Defense
  18. Hungarian-American Council for Democracy
  19. International Workers Order
  20. Jefferson School of Social Science of New York, NY
  21. Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee
  22. Ku Klux Klan
  23. League of American Writers[citation needed]
  24. Macedonian-American People's League
  25. Michicagn Federation for Constitutional Liberties
  1. National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners
  2. National Committee to Win the Peace
  3. National Council of American-Soviet Friendship
  4. Nature Friends of America
  5. National Federation for Constitutional Liberties
  6. National Negro Congress
  7. New Committee for Publications
  8. Ohio School of Social Sciences
  9. Philadelphia School on Social Sciences and Art
  10. Photo League of America
  11. Proletarian Party of America
  12. Protest War Veterans of the USA
  13. Revolutionary Workers League
  14. Samuel Adams School for Social Studies of Boston, MA
  15. School of Jewish Studies of New York, NY
  16. Seattle Labor School
  17. Socialist Workers Party including American Committee for European Workers Relief
  18. Tom Paine School of Westchester, NY
  19. Tom Paine School of Social Science of Philadelphia, PA
  20. Walt Whitman School of Social Science of Newark, NJ
  21. Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
  22. Washington Book Shop Association
  23. Washington Committee for Democratic Action
  24. Workers Alliance
  25. Workers Party including Socialist Youth League

(Source: New York Times of 5 December 1947)[4]

Later history edit

The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was expanded by President Harry S. Truman's Executive Order 9835.[1] EO 9835 established the first Federal Employee Loyalty Program designed to root out Communist infiltration of the U.S. government. It allowed for organizations to be listed on the recommendation of certain members of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) members, as designated by committee Chairman J. Parnell Thomas. Those he named initially were John McDowell, a Pennsylvania Republican, Richard Vail, an Illinois Republican, and John Wood, a Georgia Democrat. They readied their first version of the list for Attorney General Tom C. Clark within a few days.[7] It appeared in the Federal Register on March 20, 1948.[8]

Executive Order 10450, issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in April 1953, expanded the Attorney General's List and added the proviso that members of the United States armed forces could not join or associate with any group on the list under threat of discharge from military service.[9]

List as of 1959 edit

Abolition edit

The list went through several revisions until President Richard M. Nixon abolished it in 1974.[10]

Impact edit

The list's impact was immediate but not all important. Its purpose was to provide a guide for the loyalty boards mandated by EO 9835. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began using it immediately, but it was only one of many lists they used. The HUAC maintained its own list. Membership in an organization on any such list was reported to the Justice Department and loyalty boards.[7]

The list was quickly adopted by other public and private groups, which used it to discriminate without any notice, charges, or hearing.[11]: 26–27 

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b c d "Prelude to McCarthyism: The Making of a Blacklist". Goldstein, Robert Justin, Prologue, U.S. National Archives. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  2. ^ M. Stanton Evans, Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (New York: Crown Forum, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4000-8105-9, pp. 55-60, notes).
  3. ^ Mitgang, Herbert (1987-09-28). "Policing America's Writers". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  4. ^ a b c "Groups Called Disloyal". New York Times. 5 December 1947. p. 18. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  5. ^ "Accused Groups Deny Disloyalty: Five Organizations Listed by U.S. Insist They Are Not Subversive, Assail Clark". New York Times. 5 December 1947. p. 18. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Accused Groups Condemn 'Purge'; Foster of Communist Party Hits Federal Charges -- One Body R~calls 'Palmer Raids'". New York Times. 6 December 1947. p. 13. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Hoover and the Un-Americans". O'Reilly, Kenneth, Chapter 8:Counter Intelligence, University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  8. ^ Attorney General's list, Federal Register 13, (20 March 1948) 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Defense Department Form 98, Revision 1 June 1959
  10. ^ Pear, Robert (1980-10-27). "Immigration Service Keeps List Of 'Proscribed' Groups in Nation; Basis for Listing Groups". New York Times. pp. A19. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
  11. ^ Brussee, Vincent (2023). Social Credit: The Warring States of China's Emerging Data Empire. Singapore: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 9789819921881.

January 20, 2024
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The United States Attorney General s List of Subversive Organizations AGLOSO was a list drawn up on April 3 1947 1 at the request of the United States Attorney General and later Supreme Court justice Tom C Clark 1 The list was intended to be a compilation of organizations seen as subversive by the United States government Among those were Communist fronts the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazi Party 1 Contents 1 History 1 1 Creation 1 2 Biddle list 1 3 AGLOSO of 4 December 1947 2 Later history 2 1 List as of 1959 3 Abolition 4 Impact 5 See also 6 FootnotesHistory editCreation edit The Attorney General s list was first known as the Biddle list after President Franklin D Roosevelt s Attorney General Francis Biddle began tracking Soviet controlled subversive front organizations in 1941 The original list had only eleven organizations but was greatly expanded by the end of the decade to upwards of 90 organizations 2 It did not list individuals Communist groups which emerged both in the pre war and the post war list are marked by one In the meantime even some trade unions that excluded members of openly communist groups from their membership lists were dissolved partially also by government resolution Thousands of Americans with progressive or radical political beliefs signed petitions for or became members of these groups without being aware of the Communist ties of the group Many were later persecuted and suffered personal consequences during the McCarthy era Some others though were found through HUAC investigations and Venona cable intercepts to be actively involved in Soviet sponsored espionage and related activities Biddle list edit Biddle List of 5 February 1943American League Against War and Fascism American League for Peace and Democracy citation needed American Patriots Inc American Peace Mobilization American Youth Congress Communist Party USA Congress of American Revolutionary Writers League of American Writers 3 Michigan Federation for Constitutional Liberties National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners National Committee for Peoples Rights citation needed National Federation for Constitutional Liberties National Negro Congress Protest War Veterans of the USA Washington Book Shop Association Washington Committee for Democratic Action Workers Alliance Source New York Times of 5 December 1947 4 AGLOSO of 4 December 1947 edit On December 4 1947 US Attorney General Tom C Clark released the Attorney General s List of Subversive Organizations AGLOSO As reported by the New York Times on the same day the list included groups from the Biddle List plus new groups plus eleven 11 school 4 Leaders of five groups the Reverend William H Melish of the National Council of American Soviet Friendship Martic Martntz of the Armenian Progressive League of America Howard Selsam of the Jefferson School of Social Science Max Yergan of the Council on African Affairs and Edward Barsky of the Joint Anti Fascist Refugee Committee denied the government s accusation 5 The next day the New York Times reported a second batch of groups who rejected the government s accusation William Z Foster and Eugene Dennis of the Communist Party USA an unnamed spokesperson for the International Workers Order an unnamed spokesperson for the Civil Rights Congress an unnamed spokesperson for American Youth for Democracy Harrison L Harley of the Samuel Adams School for Social Studies and Walter Scott Neff of the Abraham Lincoln School 6 AGLOSO of 4 December 1947Abraham Lincoln School of Chicago IL American League Against War and Fascism American League for Peace and Democracy citation needed American Patriots Inc American Peace Mobilization American Polish Labor Council American Youth Congress American Youth for Democracy Armenian Progressive League of America Civil Rights Congress including Civil Rights Congress for Texas Veterans Against Discrimination of Civil Rights Congress of New York The Columbians Communist Party USA including Communist Political Association Citizens Committee of the Upper West Side New York City Committee to Aid the Fighting South Dennis Defense Committee Labor Research Association Southern Negro Youth Congress United May Day Committee United Negro and Allied Veteran of America Connecticut State Youth Conference Congress of American Revolutionary Writers Council on African Affairs George Washington Carver School of New York NY Hollywood Writers Mobilization for Defense Hungarian American Council for Democracy International Workers Order Jefferson School of Social Science of New York NY Joint Anti Fascist Refugee Committee Ku Klux Klan League of American Writers citation needed Macedonian American People s League Michicagn Federation for Constitutional LibertiesNational Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners National Committee to Win the Peace National Council of American Soviet Friendship Nature Friends of America National Federation for Constitutional Liberties National Negro Congress New Committee for Publications Ohio School of Social Sciences Philadelphia School on Social Sciences and Art Photo League of America Proletarian Party of America Protest War Veterans of the USA Revolutionary Workers League Samuel Adams School for Social Studies of Boston MA School of Jewish Studies of New York NY Seattle Labor School Socialist Workers Party including American Committee for European Workers Relief Tom Paine School of Westchester NY Tom Paine School of Social Science of Philadelphia PA Walt Whitman School of Social Science of Newark NJ Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Washington Book Shop Association Washington Committee for Democratic Action Workers Alliance Workers Party including Socialist Youth League Source New York Times of 5 December 1947 4 Later history editThe Attorney General s List of Subversive Organizations AGLOSO was expanded by President Harry S Truman s Executive Order 9835 1 EO 9835 established the first Federal Employee Loyalty Program designed to root out Communist infiltration of the U S government It allowed for organizations to be listed on the recommendation of certain members of the House Un American Activities Committee HUAC members as designated by committee Chairman J Parnell Thomas Those he named initially were John McDowell a Pennsylvania Republican Richard Vail an Illinois Republican and John Wood a Georgia Democrat They readied their first version of the list for Attorney General Tom C Clark within a few days 7 It appeared in the Federal Register on March 20 1948 8 Executive Order 10450 issued by President Dwight D Eisenhower in April 1953 expanded the Attorney General s List and added the proviso that members of the United States armed forces could not join or associate with any group on the list under threat of discharge from military service 9 List as of 1959 edit Abraham Lincoln Brigade April 29 1953 Abraham Lincoln School April 29 1953 Action Committee to Free Spain Now April 29 1953 Alabama People s Educational Association April 29 1953 American Association for Reconstruction in Yugoslavia April 29 1953 American Christian Nationalist Party April 29 1953 American Committee for European Worker s Relief April 29 1953 American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born April 29 1953 American Committee for the Settlement of Jews in Birobidzhan Inc September 28 1953 American Committee for Yugoslav Relief Inc April 29 1953 American Committee To Survey Labor Conditions in Europe July 15 1953 American Council for a Democratic Greece formerly known as the Greek American Council Greek American Committee for National Unity April 29 1953 American Peace Crusade American Polish League Black Dragon Society Cervantes Fraternal Society Committee to Abolish Discrimination in Maryland Committee to Aid the Fighting South Committee to Defend the Rights and Freedom of Pittsburgh s Political Prisoners Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy Committee for Constitutional and Political Freedom Committee for the Defense of the Pittsburgh Six Committee for Nationalist Action Committee for the Negro in the Arts Committee for Peace and Brotherhood Festival in Philadelphia Committee for the Protection of the Bill of Rights Committee for World Youth Friendship and Cultural Exchange Committee to Defend Marie Richardson Committee to Uphold the Bill of Rights Congress of African Women Dai Nippon Butoku Kai Daily Worker Press Club Detroit Youth Assembly Elsinore Progressive League Families of the Baltimore Smith Act Victims Federation of Greek Maritime Unions Florida Press and Education League Freedom Stage Inc Friends of the Soviet Union Garibaldi American Fraternal Society German American Bund Harlem Trade Union Council Hellenic American Brotherhood Hungarian Brotherhood Independent Socialist League Industrial Workers of the World Japanese Association of America Jeannette Rankin Brigade Jewish Community of Cortlandt Jewish Culture Society Jewish People s Committee Johnsonites Knights of the White Camelia Ku Klux Klan Labor Youth League League of American Writers Mario Morgantini Circle Michigan Council for Peace Michigan School of Social Science Nanka Teikoku Gunyudan National Negro Congress Nationalist Action League Oklahoma League for Political Education Peace Information Center Peace Movement of Ethiopia People s Educational and Press Association of Texas People s Rights Party Revolutionary Workers League Russian American Society Silver Shirt Legion of America Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Virginia League for People s Education Youth Communist LeagueThis list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items February 2011 Abolition editThe list went through several revisions until President Richard M Nixon abolished it in 1974 10 Impact editThe list s impact was immediate but not all important Its purpose was to provide a guide for the loyalty boards mandated by EO 9835 The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI began using it immediately but it was only one of many lists they used The HUAC maintained its own list Membership in an organization on any such list was reported to the Justice Department and loyalty boards 7 The list was quickly adopted by other public and private groups which used it to discriminate without any notice charges or hearing 11 26 27 See also editEnglish language press of the Communist Party USA Non English press of the Communist Party USA List of members of the House Un American Activities CommitteeFootnotes edit a b c d Prelude to McCarthyism The Making of a Blacklist Goldstein Robert Justin Prologue U S National Archives Retrieved 6 February 2007 M Stanton Evans Blacklisted by History The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America s Enemies New York Crown Forum 2007 ISBN 978 1 4000 8105 9 pp 55 60 notes Mitgang Herbert 1987 09 28 Policing America s Writers The New Yorker Retrieved 2022 02 16 a b c Groups Called Disloyal New York Times 5 December 1947 p 18 Retrieved 16 June 2020 Accused Groups Deny Disloyalty Five Organizations Listed by U S Insist They Are Not Subversive Assail Clark New York Times 5 December 1947 p 18 Retrieved 16 June 2020 Accused Groups Condemn Purge Foster of Communist Party Hits Federal Charges One Body R calls Palmer Raids New York Times 6 December 1947 p 13 Retrieved 16 June 2020 a b Hoover and the Un Americans O Reilly Kenneth Chapter 8 Counter Intelligence University of Pennsylvania Retrieved 6 February 2007 Attorney General s list Federal Register 13 20 March 1948 Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Defense Department Form 98 Revision 1 June 1959 Pear Robert 1980 10 27 Immigration Service Keeps List Of Proscribed Groups in Nation Basis for Listing Groups New York Times pp A19 Retrieved 6 February 2007 Brussee Vincent 2023 Social Credit The Warring States of China s Emerging Data Empire Singapore Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 9789819921881 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Attorney General 27s List of Subversive Organizations amp oldid 1188664266, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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