The U.S. Congress Special Committee on Communist Activities in Washington State Hearings (1930)

Two decades before the more notorious Congressional hearings on “un-American activities” led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Representative Hamilton Fish organized a special Congressional committee to investigate Communism in states and cities across the nation. In October 1930, the Fish committee held hearings in Seattle. The called sixteen witnesses including representatives of the Seattle police department, King County prosecutor, and employers and timber industry officials who claimed that Communists were a threat to public safety in Washington state. In addition, the committee subpoened five members or suspected members of the Communist Party.

The testimony of each is linked below. These are pdf copies taken from the published hearings: United States. Congress House Special Committee on Communist Activities in the United States, “Investigation of communist propaganda. Hearings ... pursuant to H. Res. 220, providing for an investigation of communist propaganda in the United States. Part 5, volume no. 1, Seattle, WA, October 3, 1930, Portland, OR October 4, 1930”