The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) or House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), from 1969 onwards known as the House Committee on Internal Security, was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist ties including the masked vigilante group known as the Minutemen.
History[]
In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy requested that the Federal Bureau of Investigation sweep its files for possible subjects of interest, to aid the House Un-American Activities Committee efforts to root out communist sympathizers.
This action didn't present any immediate problems for most of the Minutemen however, with Captain Metropolis' outstanding military record and Nite Owl's service in the police force. Mothman, however, had more difficulty because of his left-wing ties. Mothman was eventually cleared, but due to the lengthiness and ruthlessness of the investigations, the pressure prompted his drinking problem that later contributed to his decline in mental health.[1]
Because of his involvement with the government, Eddie Blake was the only vigilante not forced to testify.[1]
Hooded Justice was the only masked adventurer who refused to testify on the grounds that he was not prepared to reveal his true identity to anyone. When further pressured by the committee, HJ vanished from the public eye.[1]
Trivia[]
- The House Un-American Activities Committee was a real life investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The HUAC was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Fascist or Communist ties. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.
- The committee's anti-communist investigations are often compared to (and confused with) those of Joseph McCarthy who, as a U.S. Senator, had no direct involvement with the House committee. McCarthy was the chairman of the Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate, not the House. In the Watchmen universe, it's possible that McCarthy had some direct involvement in the HUAC's activities, despite being a senator.