Friday, May 30 The Crucible and HUAC

Arthur Miller testifies before HUAC, June 21, 1956

On this day in 1956, playwright Arthur Miller testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities about his political leanings but refused to name others who had joined him in his pro-Communist undertakings.

The committee had subpoenaed Miller after he sought to renew his passport. Miller planned to go to London with movie star Marilyn Monroe, whom he married four days after appearing before the panel. The newlyweds were then to travel to Brussels, Belgium, for the opening of Miller’s new play, “The Crucible,” which dissected the 1692 witch hunt trials in Salem, Mass.

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Miller readily conceded the committee’s right to inquire into his own political activities. However, unlike most other uncooperative witnesses, he did not invoke the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination but rather cited the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and, by implication, the right to remain silent.Rep. Francis Walter (D-Pa.), the committee’s chairman, promised Miller that he wouldn’t be asked to name names but broke his word. With Monroe by his side, Miller told Walter: “I could not use the name of another person and bring trouble on him.”

Asked why the Communist Party had produced one of his plays, he said, “I take no more responsibility for who plays my plays than General Motors can take for who rides in their Chevrolets.” Asked about his brief flirtation with Communism, he said, “I have had to go to hell to meet the devil,” after which one wag quipped that he must have gone there as a tourist.

In 1957, Miller was found guilty of contempt of Congress, denied a passport and sentenced to a $500 fine or 30 days in jail. But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, ruling that Walter had misled him.

Miller and Monroe were divorced in 1961. Miller died in 2005 at age 89.

SOURCE: WWW.HISTORY.COM

Note: anyone who either had a score of under 65 or a score between 65 and 70 must retake the Regents Exam on Thursday, June 19 at 8:15.  I have submitted your names.

The Common Core Exam for ELA students will take place next Tuesday, June 3. You will follow your regular schedule for periods 1-5 . You should report to the 4th floor at 12:30 for the exam.

Remember: my students get 2 points to their bottom line grade for participating in the exam. Keep in mind that this will help you have an understanding of what you need to do to prepare for your academic future.

Those who normally eat period 8 will lunch as follows:

Last names A-M will eat period 5

Last names N-Z will eat period 6
Important:
English Common Core Regents Exam
Tuesday, June 3
A418- Adams-Elliot
A419-Feldman-Johnson
A420- Kelly-Milian
A421   Monday-Rapoza
A430 Rattray-Sloan
A433  Smith-Zeugel

In class: be aware that you are responsible for any material that is covered in class. You have only one more grade this marking period and that is an assessment on the play, which will count in the writing (50% category). You will need to know it very well. To read the whole play would only take you two hours.
Finishing Act I and moving on to Act II.

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