“Senator Hill Proposes Complete Inquiry Into Hiring of Undesirables”
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.), 20 May 1950. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1950-05-20/ed-1/seq-35/>
This primary source serves as a compelling example of McCarthyism in action, illustrating how fear can fuel mass hysteria and encourage individuals to turn against one another. By studying this painful chapter of LGBTQIA+ history—often overlooked in mainstream academic discourse—students gain awareness of the arguments and rhetoric of the era. Additionally, this source provides an opportunity for students to develop critical thinking skills, enabling them to identify fear-mongering language and recognize how it can perpetuate harmful political and cultural narratives, particularly against systematically disenfranchised communities.
This article, published in the Evening Star on May 20, 1950, reports on Senator Hill’s call for a “full and complete” investigation into the employment of homosexuals by the Federal Government. Acting on behalf of the District Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hill’s resolution is framed as a response to the supposed security risks posed by queer individuals. The article details how the resolution came about, including police efforts to identify individuals as queer as senators labeled them as “bad security risks” and “undesirables.” The Appropriations Subcommittee described their evidence as “so shocking that action should be taken immediately.” The story outlines key arguments for firing queer employees, with rhetoric aimed at “cleansing the government rolls” and “weeding moral perverts out of the service.”Journalism/News
To fully understand this article, educators should provide students with background on the McCarthyism era and the various ways fear of communism manifested during that time. It would also be helpful for students to learn about the origins of the term witch hunt and the Lavender Scare, which involved government-sanctioned discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community.
- What’s the relationship between language and power, and how is that demonstrated through this article?
- How does this article present the senator’s argument that members of the LGBTQIA+ community are "undesirables" who should be fired due to their sexual orientation? How would you counter this argument?
- In what ways does the article highlight how fear can divide the nation?
- How can fear drive those in power to scapegoating and escalate mass hysteria?
- What steps can we take to prevent witch hunts and combat homophobia now and in the future?
NCTE Standards
NCTE.5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
- Students can both identify strategies in the article that make or detract from a persuasive argument, and replicate the persuasive appeals in their own counterarguments.
NCTE.6: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
- By reading this article and connecting it to other historical and contemporary examples of scapegoating, students can develop critical thinking and inquiry skills by making inferences from the information provided and posing thoughtful questions to guide research and discussion.
- Educators can use this article to help students practice analyzing arguments and crafting their own. Begin by introducing students to a list of logical fallacies, such as this one from OWL Purdue, to help them identify how Senator Hill and Senator Wherry connect homosexuality to antipatriotism. Students can then analyze the arguments made by key members of the Senate and police in the article, using graphic organizers (e.g., this one from ReadWriteThink) to identify rhetorical devices, before constructing their own counterarguments.
- Teachers of history or literature might incorporate this article as part of the historical context for a larger unit on The Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials, and their connections to McCarthyism and the Lavender Scare. The article could serve as an introduction to the concept of witch hunts and the power of disparaging language or as a follow-up activity, asking students to identify and synthesize overlapping themes between the Salem Witch Trials or Arthur Miller’s allegorical play.
- Additionally, educators can use excerpts from the documentary The Lavender Scare to provide further context. This would help students understand that homosexuality and queerness were once criminalized, offering an outline of US policies related to sexual orientation at the time.
- This article may raise concerns among those hesitant to criticize the US government’s actions, fearing such criticism might be perceived as unpatriotic—a sentiment that was prevalent during both the Lavender Scare and the Red Scare, as well as in some contexts today. Additionally, some students and educators may find the disparaging language used to describe members of the LGBTQIA+ community upsetting.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- To address concerns about criticizing government actions, educators can draw on James Baldwin’s perspective, as expressed in Notes of a Native Son (1955): “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually” (9).
- Furthermore, Learning for Justice provides a valuable resource for supporting queer students in the classroom. It offers guidance on fostering an inclusive classroom culture and using mindful, affirming language.
- Chronicling America has several newspapers that outline the Lavender Scare from the 1950s.
- Adkins, Judith. “These People Are Frightened to Death.” National Archives. The US National Archives and Records Administration, 2016. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/summer/lavender.html.
- This is another resource that includes some of the court documents that followed this news story.
- Johnson, David. “Interview with David K. Johnson, Author of the Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government.” Press.uchicago.edu, 2004. https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/404811in.html.
- In addition to his podcast and book, this interview with David Johnson helps to outline the connection between the Cold War and the Lavender Scare.
- National Archives Foundation. “The Lavender Scare.” National Archives Foundation, June 20, 2023. https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/the-lavender-scare/.
- Educators could use this resource as an outline of the timeline with alternative primary sources from the Lavender Scare.