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Amid the Hollywood Red Scare nearly eight decades ago, Paul V. McNutt offered these words that still ring true today: “It does not require a law to cripple the right of free speech. Intimidation and coercion will do it.”
McNutt, who was serving as lead counsel for the Motion Picture Alliance, went on to explain that the film industry cannot be a free medium if it’s called “un-American” any time it introduces a new idea or produces a film critical of the status quo. His words, which encapsulate the Hollywood Blacklist era, are now part of a new exhibit at The New York Historical titled “Blacklisted: An American Story.” It’s on view at the Upper West Side museum through October 19, 2025; it's included with general admission ($24/adult).
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The museum began working on the exhibit two years ago in partnership with the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, where the show debuted.
“When The New York Historical decided to mount ‘Blacklisted,’ none of us could anticipate the timeliness of an exhibition that focused attention on the history of the Hollywood Red Scare,” the museum’s president Louise Mirrer said in a statement. “‘Blacklisted’ can seem almost contemporary in its exploration of the intersection of politics, economics, art, and the social dynamics that impacted American First Amendment rights.”
The exhibition digs into the Red Scare of 1945–1960, a time when political and corporate interests superseded the rights of speech and assembly. The movement began on the heels of the Great Depression, which prompted some Americans to engage in what were considered “radical” politics. At that time, the Communist Party was the only interracial political party and the only party to support racial equality.
None of us could anticipate the timeliness of an exhibition that focused attention on the history of the Hollywood Red Scare.
It’s worth noting that while Senator Joseph McCarthy is often associated with the Red Scare, this particular exhibit doesn’t focus on him. Instead, it focuses on the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), which began its work years before McCarthy was elected. That committee subpoenaed film stars and other entertainment leaders to testify about alleged Communist subversion in films, demanding that they “name names,” a.k.a. snitch on others.
Eventually, nine Hollywood screenwriters and one director refused to answer the committee’s questions about their political affiliations. They became known as the Hollywood Ten.
“They were prepared to make appeals, go through the judicial system and believe they would be exonerated and maybe even celebrated as protectors of rights and freedoms,” curator Anne Lessy explained.
Instead, the Hollywood Ten were sent to jail in 1950—even though there was no evidence for their sentence. The exhibition tells the story of their trials and even highlights personal letters they sent to their families while incarcerated.
Many others in film were blacklisted for their political affiliations, often leading them to be denied employment, which destroyed careers, families and lives. Publications like The Hollywood Reporter printed names of suspected Communist sympathizers; the exhibition features front pages of the magazine with headlines like “Film industry to ban all Reds.” Former FBI agents even created a publication called Red Channels, which listed page after page of suspected creatives, including Orson Welles and Langston Hughes—“even just appearing in Red Channels could make you vulnerable to being blacklisted,” Lessy added.
One section of the exhibit, titled “Talented and Targeted,” focuses on artists whose careers were upended by the blacklist. Some like actor Paul Robeson were well-known, but others such as musician Hazel Scott and actor John Garfield didn’t get as much recognition as they deserved, Lessy said.
For a New York City lens on the story, “Blacklisted” highlights how Broadway and the theater community became an outlet for some blacklisted artists.
As the show comes to a close, it explores how HUAC’s powers waned over time. Eventually, blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo posthumously received the Academy Award for films he secretly penned either under pen-names or under the name of a friend—Roman Holiday and The Brave One. You can see his awards on view.
What are the consequences for standing up to power or moments when dissent is punished?
While the exhibit focuses on the Hollywood Red Scare, the movement didn’t just target celebrities and public figures; it also went after labor union members, educators and other ordinary people, leaving them exposed and “essentially doxxed by the federal government,” Lessy said.
To her, “Blacklisted: An American Story” offers a chance to explore “how have other people battled over ‘what does American democracy mean?’ What are our rights, freedoms and protections? What are the consequences for standing up to power or moments when dissent is punished or there’s a crackdown on creative expression? How do you navigate those periods and how also do they end?”