New exhibit explores the impact and legacy of the Hollywood blacklist

New York — The central question in 1947, as the House Un-American Activities Committee investigated alleged Communist influence in Hollywood, was: "Are you a member of the Communist Party?"Chaired by Republican Rep.John Parnell Thomas of New Jersey, the committee eventually led to a Hollywood blacklist, now the focus of a new exhibit at the New York Historical Society."The exhibit really tells the story of the Hollywood Ten," Louise Mirrer, president of the New York Historical Society, told CBS News, of a group of 10 Hollywood writers and directors.

"And the charge was for the Hollywood Ten, that they were making movies that espoused the Communist point of view."The Hollywood Ten refused to answer the committee's questions.They were held in contempt of Congress, each sentenced from anywhere between six months to a year in prison, and blacklisted by studio executives."I think it had an enormous effect," Anne Lessy, assistant curator of history exhibitions for the historical society, told CBS News of the impact of the blacklist.

"If you wanted to be a part of the film industry, you essentially forfeited your privacy and your right to your own political ideas and affiliations." Screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten, spent 10 months in prison.His daughter, Mitzi, was 5 years old at the time.

Her drawings and letters to him are on display in the exhibit, as well as testimony from those who named suspected Communists."In an effort to save themselves, their careers and their reputations, many, you know, creatives felt compelled to name names, which is what the committee wanted," Lessy said.

Even Walt Disney famously testified before the committee."Walt Disney very much objected to labor organizing that had taken place in his studios and blamed it on Communist infiltration," Lessy said.

"And then you also have Ronald Reagan, who at the time, was president of the Screen Actors Guild.While he didn't name names in public, he did to the commit...