Overman Committee
The Overman Committee was a special
The committee's final report was released in June 1919. It reported on German propaganda, Bolshevism, and other "un-American activities" in the United States and on likely effects of communism's implementation in the United States. It described German, but not communist, propaganda efforts. The committee's report and hearings were instrumental in fostering anti-Bolshevik opinion.
Background
World War I, in which the United States and its allies fought - among other Central Powers - the German Empire, raised concern about the German threat to the United States. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 were passed in response.[1]
In the
The Overman Committee was formally an ad-hoc subcommittee of the
Initial investigation
The committee was authorized by Senate Resolution 307 on September 19, 1918, to investigate charges against the
"We do not want to make this proceeding a mere sewer or conduit into which may be dumped all the accusations and charges and libelous statements, or suspicions, of various persons throughout the United States."
—Senator William H. King
December 9, 1918[10]
Hearings began September 27, 1918, shortly before the end of World War I.[6] Nearly four dozen witnesses testified.[11] Many were agents of the Bureau of Investigations (BOI), the predecessor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The agents, controversially[12][13] and usually erroneously,[12] implicated high-profile American citizens as pro-German, using the fallacy of guilt by association.[14] For example, the Bureau chief labeled some people pro-German because they had insubstantial and non-ideological[15] acquaintance with German agents.[12] Others were accused because their names were discovered in the notebooks of suspected German agents, of whom they had never heard.[12]
Many attacked the BOI's actions. The committee heard testimony that it had not conducted basic background checks of the accused and had not read source material it presented to the committee.[15] Committee members criticized its testimony as "purely hearsay".[13][16]
Expansion of investigation
On February 4, 1919, the Senate unanimously passed Senator
The final catalyst for the expansion of the investigation was the Seattle General Strike, which began the day before the Senate passed Resolution 439.[24] This confluence of events led members of Congress to believe that the alleged German-Bolshevist link and Bolshevist threat to the United States were real.[30]
Bolshevism hearings
"Senator OVERMAN: Do you agree with what has been stated here that the Russian people generally, 85 per cent of them, are ignorant like children and do not know anything except what their rights are, or what they claim to be their rights?
Mr WILLIAMS: I think that probably not more than 50 per cent of the Russian people can read and write.[31]"
The Overman Committee's hearings on Bolshevism lasted from February 11 to March 10, 1919. and Communist Russia, and the "nationalization" of women after the Soviet revolution.
Stevenson produced a list of 200—later reduced to 62—alleged communist
Another recurring theme at the hearings was the
A third frequent theme was the "free love" and "nationalization" of women allegedly occurring in Soviet Russia.[44] Witnesses described an orgy in which there was no "respect for virtuous women";[45] others who testified, including those who had been in Russia during the Revolution,[45] denied this.[46] After one witness read a Soviet decree saying that Russian women had the "right to choose from among men",[47] Senator Sterling threw up his hands and declared that this was a negation of "free love".[46] However, another decree was produced stating, "A girl having reached her eighteenth year is to be announced as the property of the state."[48]
The senators were particularly interested in how Bolshevism had united many disparate elements on the
Final report
The committee's final report detailed its investigations into German propaganda, Bolshevism, and other "un-American activities" in the United States and predicted effects of communism's implementation in the United States.[53] It was endorsed unanimously. Released in June 1919,[52] it was over 35,000 words long,[5] and was compiled by Major Edwin Lowry Humes.[53]
The committee did little to demonstrate the extent of communist activity in the United States.[34] In its analysis of what would happen if capitalism were overthrown and replaced by communism,[54] it warned of widespread misery and hunger, the confiscation of and nationalization of all property, and the beginning of "a program of terror, fear, extermination, and destruction."[55] Anti-Bolshevik public sentiment surged after release of the report and ensuing publicity.[22]
German investigation
Bolshevism investigation
"The [Bolshevik] Government is founded upon class hatred, its avowed purpose is the extermination of all elements of society that are opposed to or are capable of opposing the Bolshevist Party. 'Merciless suppression' and 'extermination' of all classes except the present governing class are familiar slogans of the Bolsheviki, and confiscation is adopted as an essential instrument in the governmental formula."
—The committee's final report[52]
The report described the Communist system in Russia as "a reign of terror unparalleled in the history of modern civilization".[56] It concluded that instituting Marxism-Leninism in the United States would result in "the destruction of life and property", the deprivation "of the right to participate in affairs of government", and the "further suppress[ion]" of a "substantial rural portion of the population." Furthermore, there would be an "opening of the doors of all prisons and penitentiaries".[52] It would result in the "seizure and confiscation of the 22,896 newspapers and periodicals in the United States" and "complete control of all banking institutions and their assets". "One of the most appalling and far reaching consequences ... would be found in the confiscation and liquidation of ... life insurance companies." The report also criticized "the atheism that permeates the whole Russian dictatorship"; "they have denounced our religion and our God as 'lies'."[52]
Despite the report's rhetoric and the headlines it produced, the report contained little evidence of communist propaganda in the United States or its effect on American labor.[34]
Recommendations
The report's main recommendations included
Press reaction
The press reveled in the investigation and the final report, referring to the Russians as "assassins and madmen," "human scum," "crime mad," and "beasts."[59] The occasional testimony by some who viewed the Russian Revolution favorably lacked the punch of its critics. One extended headline in February read:[60]
- Says Riffraff, Not the Toilers, Rule in Russia
- American Manager of Great American Plant There Tells Experiences to Senators
- Outsiders Seized Power
- Came Back from Other Countries and are Growing Rich at People's Expense
- Factories Being Ruined
- 60,000,000 Rubles Spent in Three Months at One Plant to Produce 400,000 Worth of Goods
And one day later:[61]
- Bolshevism Bared by R.E. Simmons
- Former Agent in Russia of Commerce Department Concludes his Story to Senators
- Women are 'Nationalized'
- Official Decrees Reveal Depths of Degradation to Which They are Subjected by Reds
- Germans Profit by Chaos
- Factories and Mills are Closed and the Machinery Sold to Them for a Song
On the release of the final report, newspapers printed sensational articles with headlines in capital letters: "Red Peril Here", "Plan Bloody Revolution", and "Want Washington Government Overturned."[62]
Criticism
Critics denounced the committee as a "propaganda apparatus" to stoke anti-German and anti-Soviet fears, feeding the Red Scare[63] and spreading misinformation about Soviet Russia.[32]
The committee attracted criticism from the public for its perceived overreach, and especially for publishing the names of those accused of association with communist organizations. One woman from Kentucky wrote to Senator Overman on behalf of her sister, who had been accused by Archibald Stevenson, criticizing the committee for its "brutal as well as stupid misuse of power" and "gross and cruel injustice to men and women the full peer in intellect, character and patriotism of any member of the United States Senate".[37] The committee was compared to "a witch hunt" in one exchange with a witness.[64]
Aftermath
The Overman Committee did not achieve any lasting reforms.
On May 1, 1919, a month after the committee's hearings ended, a bomb was mailed to Overman's home, one of a series of letter bombs sent to prominent Americans in the 1919 United States anarchist bombings. It was intercepted before it reached its target.[66]
Later investigative committees
The Overman Committee was the first of many Congressional committees to investigate communism.[8] In the aftermath of the Overman Committee's report, the New York State Legislature established the Lusk Committee, which operated from June 1919 to January 1920,[67][68] Archibald E. Stevenson was its chief counsel and one of its witnesses.[69][70] Unlike the Overman Committee, the Lusk Committee was active in raiding suspect organizations.[68]
The Overman Committee was an early forerunner of the better known House Un-American Activities Committee, which was created 20 years later.[22]
References
- ISBN 9780815333531.
- ^ Murray, 15-7
- ^ Senate Judiciary Committee Photo Gallery Archived 2009-07-01 at the Wayback Machine . United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 2
- ^ a b c "Overman Report Accuses Brewers". The New York Times. June 15, 1919. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
- ^ a b c Congress, Brewing and Liquor Interests, volume 1, p. 3
- ^ Hagedorn, p. 53
- ^ a b Mittelman, p. 83
- ^ Congress, Brewing and Liquor Interests, volume 1, pp. 3–4
- ^ Congress, Brewing and Liquor Interests, volume 2, p. 1596
- ^ Congress, Brewing and Liquor Interests, volume 1, p. 1387 and volume 2, p. 1385
- ^ a b c d Lowenthal, p. 37
- ^ a b Lowenthal, p. 40
- ^ Lowenthal, p. 39
- ^ a b Lowenthal, p. 38
- ^ Congress, Brewing and Liquor Interests, volume 2, p. 2453
- ^ Murray, p. 96
- ^ Schmidt, p. 140
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 6
- ^ Clark, p. 16
- ^ a b "Senate Orders Reds Here Investigated" (PDF). The New York Times. February 5, 1919. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ a b c Schmidt, p. 136
- ^ Murray, p. 46
- ^ a b Murray, p. 94
- ^ Hagedorn 54, 58
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 12-4; Powers, 20
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 14; Lowenthal, 49
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 19, 29
- ^ Schmidt, p. 138
- ^ a b Hagedorn, p. 55
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 606
- ^ a b Clark, p. 15
- ^ Hagedorn, p. 147
- ^ a b c Murray, p. 95
- ^ a b Hagedorn, p. 129
- ^ McFadden, p. 296
- ^ a b Lowenthal, p. 60
- ^ Pfannestiel, p. 13
- ^ Murray, p. 97
- ^ Powers, p. 47
- ^ Hagedorn, p. 148
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 381
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 116
- ^ Nielsen, p. 30
- ^ a b Lowenthal, p. 51
- ^ a b Lowenthal, p. 52
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 354
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 475
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 14-8
- ^ a b United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 34
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, 475
- ^ a b c d e "Senators Tell What Bolshevism in America Means" (PDF). The New York Times. June 15, 1919. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ a b "Drastic Red Bill Ready for Senate" (PDF). The New York Times. June 12, 1919. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ a b Schmidt, p. 144
- ^ Schmidt, pp. 145–146
- ^ Schmidt, p. 145
- ^ a b c McCormick, p. 92
- ^ "Senators Denounce Lawlessness". Casa Grande Valley Dispatch. July 18, 1919. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ Murray, 97
- ^ "Says Riffraff, not the toilers, rule in Russia". New York Times. February 17, 1919. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Bolshevism bared by R.E. Simmons". New York Times. February 18, 1919. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ Murray, 98
- ^ Sproule, pp. 122–123
- ^ United States Congress, Bolshevik Propaganda, p. 893
- ^ Pfannestiel, p. 132
- ^ "Find More Bombs Sent in the Mails; One to Overman" (PDF). The New York Times. May 2, 1919. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
- ^ Pfannestiel, p. xi
- ^ a b Nielsen, p. 15
- ^ Hagedorn, p. 231
- ^ Schmidt, p. 139
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Clark, Evans (2008) [1920]. Facts and Fabrications About Soviet Russia. BiblioBazaar, LLC. ISBN 9780554588193.
- United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Brewing and Liquor Interests and German Propaganda: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Second and Third Sessions, Pursuant to S. Res. 307. volume 1, volume 2. Govt. print. off., 1919. Original from the University of Michigan.
- United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary (1919). Bolshevik Propaganda: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress, Third Session and Thereafter, Pursuant to S. Res. 439 and 469. February 11, 1919, to March 10, 1919. Govt. print. off., 1919. Original from the University of Michigan.
Secondary sources
- Hagedorn, Ann (2007). Savage Peace: Hope and Fear in America, 1919. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743243711.
- Lowenthal, Max (1950). Federal Bureau of Investigation. New York: William Sloane Associates, Inc. ISBN 0-8371-5755-2.
- McCormick, Charles H. (1993). Seeing Reds: Federal Surveillance of Radicals in the Pittsburgh Mill District, 1917–1921. ISBN 9780195071870.
- McFadden, David W. (2003). Alternative paths: Soviets and Americans, 1917–1920. Univ of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822958215.
- Mittelman, Amy (2008). Brewing Battles: A History of American Beer. Algora Publishing. ISBN 9780875865737.
- Murray, Robert K. (2009). Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919–1920. ISBN 9780816658336.
- ISBN 978-0-8142-0882-3.
- Pfannestiel, Todd J. (2003). Rethinking the Red Scare: The Lusk Committee and New York's Crusade Against Radicalism, 1919–1923. Routledge. ISBN 9780415947671.
- Powers, Richard Gid (1998). Not without honor: the history of American anticommunism. ISBN 9780300074703.
- Schmidt, Regin (2000). Red Scare: FBI and the Origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919–1943. Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 9788772895819.
- Sproule, J. Michael (1997). Propaganda and Democracy: The American Experience of Media and Mass Persuasion. ISBN 9780521470223.
External links
- Volume 1 and volume 2 of the committee's hearings on the brewing industry and German propaganda, from the United States Congress via Google Books
- volume 1 of the committee's hearings on Bolshevik propaganda], from the United States Congress via Google Books
- Excerpt from the committee's Final Report. New York Times: "Senators Tell What Bolshevism in America Means," June 15, 1919, accessed February 24, 2010