October 29 - February 20, 2022
From Holocaust Museum Houston:
“Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) will host the multi-sensory exhibition, Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare, highlighting issues of persecution, loss of civil liberties and the dangers of propaganda. The exhibition will be on view in the Museum’s Mincberg Gallery Friday, October 29, 2021 through February 20, 2022.
In October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) called Hollywood figures to testify about allegations of communist propaganda in American films. Although the committee never found evidence of Communist propaganda, ten of the writers and directors called to testify were held in contempt of Congress, fined and sentenced to prison. Hollywood’s power players responded to the proceedings by creating a self-imposed blacklist of those “Hollywood Ten” and others implicated in the proceedings. With that, the film industry became the first mass-employer to adopt a blacklist as a policy to be used against employees whose political beliefs ran counter to prevailing orthodoxies.
The exhibition explores the intersection of politics, art, economics, and the social dynamics that impacted the American First Amendment rights of speech, religion, and assembly, during Hollywood’s Red Scare. Through personal narratives of those who were blacklisted, members of House Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC, and film executives, Blacklist examines the shifting definition of what it meant and means to be a patriotic American.
Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare is originally curated by Jewish Museum Milwaukee. HMH Curators will supplement the exhibition with personal stories for a Houston connection.
Lead sponsors include the Ronald Grabois Family Fund, The Lewis and Joan Lowenstein Foundation and Jerry Rochman. Spanish translations are sponsored by Lynn Gordon and Hyman Penn, M.D.
For more information on the exhibition visit hmh.org/Blacklist. Entrance to this exhibition is included in general admission. Tickets must be purchased online at
hmh.org/tickets. Face masks are required for all visitors ages 2 and over. Visitors in need of a face mask will be provided one.
Holocaust Museum Houston, Lester and Sue Smith Campus, located at 5401 Caroline Street, is closed Mondays except Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The Museum’s Legacy Café is open Thursdays-Sundays only. Admission is $19 for adults; $15 for seniors (ages 65+), AARP members and active-duty military; always free for children and students through age 18; and free to all visitors on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Parking is available at the Museum’s adjacent lot for $8 for a four-hour period. Tickets are available exclusively online. The Museum is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. For more information, visit hmh.org/visit.”
Reception: October 29, 2021 | 12–5 pm
5401 Caroline Houston
Houston, 77004 TX
(713) 942-8000
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