Workshop 9: Free Speech

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Part of Resistance and Transformation: Unitarian Universalist Social Justice History

In This Section

Introduction
From Resistance and Transformation

We consider the House Committee’s inquiry into speakers, meetings and activities of the church an attack upon our institution and on all organized religion and our nation’s tradition of the free conscience and the open mind….
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity Minutes Welcoming and Entering 0 Opening 5 Activity 1: Introduction to HUAC 25 Activity 2: The Levering Act 30 Activity 3: Is Free Speech Fundamental?…
Spiritual Preparation
From Resistance and Transformation

If you were born before 1950, you may have experienced the era of Senator McCarthy and intense anti-Communism first-hand. If so, recall what it was like for you. What is your understanding of the “Red Scare?” What impressions did you get from the media at the time? Did you know your family’s…
Welcoming and Entering
From Resistance and Transformation

Materials for Activity Sign-in sheet and pen or pencil Name tags for participants (durable or single-use), and bold markers Copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule Optional: Refreshments Preparation for Activity Have copies of Workshop 1, Handout 1, Schedule on hand for those who need one….
Opening
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table Chalice, candle, and lighter or LED battery-operated candle Timepiece (minutes) Chime or bell Copies of Singing the Living Tradition, the UUA hymnbook, for all participants Participants’ journals (Workshop 1) Optional: Clo…
Activity 1: Introduction to HUAC
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Rev. Stephen Fritchman and the House Un-American Activities Committee Leader Resource 1, What Was It Like? A First-hand Account of HUAC Timepiece Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Read Handout 1 and copy for all participants. Read…
Activity 2: The Levering Act
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 2, The California Loyalty Oath Handout 3, This Could Happen Here Leader Resource 2, The Levering Act Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Copy Handouts 2 and 3 for all participants. Read the short b… of Rev. Stephen…
Activity 3: Is Free Speech Fundamental?
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Read the short b… of Donald Harrington on the Harvard Square Library website. Description of Activity Introduce the activity with these or similar words: Many Unitarians disagreed with Rev.
Closing
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Worship or centering table and chalice Participant journals Writing materials, including paper, pens, pencils, color pencils, and markers Taking It Home handout Preparation for Activity Customize the Taking It Home section of this workshop and copy…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Resistance and Transformation

Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other: What went well? What did not? Why? What do you think was the best moment of the workshop? Why? Did anything surprise you? Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a…
Faith In Action: Freedom of Speech as a Social Justice Issue
From Resistance and Transformation

Materials for Activity Optional: Newsprint list of unanswered questions, created in Activity 1 Preparation for Activity Speak with the social action committee, your minister, or others who can help you find examples of current congregational social justice activities that involve freedom of speec…
Alternate Activity 1: Script - A Transcript from a HUAC Hearing
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 4, Testimony before HUAC Preparation for Activity Pre-arrange with four volunteers to read the four roles in the transcript. Give them copies of Handout 4 with their assignments. Arrange furniture to effectively present the story. In the…
Alternate Activity 2: The Right Not to Speak
From Resistance and Transformation

Activity time: 15 minutes Materials for Activity Timepiece (minutes) Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Write on newsprint, and post: Have there been times in your life when you felt pressured to support something you did not agree with? When? Where did this pressure come from (work, family,…
Taking It Home: Free Speech
From Resistance and Transformation

We consider the House Committee’s inquiry into speakers, meetings and activities of the church an attack upon our institution and on all organized religion and our nation’s tradition of the free conscience and the open mind….
Handout 1: Rev. Stephen Fritchman and the House Un-American Activities Committee
From Resistance and Transformation

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was established in 1938 as a special investigating committee of the House of Representatives, and after World War II became a standing committee of the House….
Handout 2: The California Loyalty Oath
From Resistance and Transformation

Paragraph 32. DECLARATION OF LOYALTY UPON CLAIMING EXEMPTION: EFFECT OF FAILURE TO DECLARE LOYALTY Any statement, return, or other document in which is claimed any exemption, other than the householder’s exemption, any property tax imposed by this State, or and county, city, or county, city,…
Handout 3: This Could Happen Here
From Resistance and Transformation

Brochure prepared by the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles in 1954. Used with the congregation’s permission.
Handout 4: Testimony before HUAC
From Resistance and Transformation

Excerpted from more than 10 hours of testimony given by Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the Methodist Church. Transcript published in U.S. News and World Report. August 7, 1953 and … in full on the Internet Archive website. Rep. Velde of Illinois (chairman of the Committee) Mr. Kunzig (prosecutor for…
Leader Resource 1: What Was It Like? A First-Hand Account of HUAC
From Resistance and Transformation

Edited excerpt from a letter by the Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam of the United Methodist Church, who testified before the committee on July 21, 1953. My dear, dear friends, … I thought you might be interested in just what happened at the hearing of the House Committee on Un-American Activities……
Leader Resource 2: The Levering Act
From Resistance and Transformation

In 1950, Harold Levering, a California assemblyman from Bel Air, proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would require all religious institutions to sign a loyalty oath or lose their tax-exempt status (see Handout 2, The California Loyalty Oath for exact wording). The demand for a…
Find Out More
From Resistance and Transformation

Online, you can request information from the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act. Learn about the Freedom of Information Act on the American Civil Liberties Union website. Find biographical information on the website of the Harvard Square Library, under Notable American Unitarians: R….