The United States Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was a list drawn up on April 3, 1947 at the request of the

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

(and later Supreme Court justice)

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United St ...

. The list was intended to be a compilation of organizations seen as "

subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to sabotage the established social order and its structures of power, authority, tradition, hierarchy, and socia ...

" by the United States government. Among those were: Communist fronts, the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

and the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

History

Creation

The Attorney General's list was first known as the Biddle list after President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

's Attorney General

Francis Biddle Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during Nuremberg trials following World War I ...

began tracking Soviet controlled

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

s in 1941. The original list had only eleven organizations but was greatly expanded by the end of the decade to upwards of 90 organizations. It did not list individuals. Communist groups, which emerged both in the pre-war and the post-war list, are marked by one ". In the meantime, even some trade unions that excluded members of openly communist groups from their membership lists were dissolved, partially also by government resolution. Thousands of Americans with progressive or radical political beliefs signed petitions for, or became members of, these groups without being aware of the Communist ties of the group. Many were later persecuted and suffered personal consequences during the

McCarthy era McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage in the United S ...

. Some others, though, were found through HUAC investigations and Venona cable intercepts, to be actively involved in Soviet sponsored espionage and related activities.

Biddle list

AGLOSO of 4 December 1947

On December 4, 1947, US Attorney General

released the "Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations" (AGLOSO). As reported by the ''New York Times'' on the same day, the list included groups from the Biddle List plus new groups plus eleven (11) school. Leaders of five groups—the Reverend William H. Melish of the

National Council of American-Soviet Friendship National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Martic Martntz of the

Armenian Progressive League of America Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

Howard Selsam Howard Selsam (born Howard Brillinger Selsam; 28 June 1903 – 7 September 1970) was an American Marxist philosopher. Background Howard Brillinger Selsam was born on 28 June 1903 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His parents were John T. Selsam, a g ...

of the

Jefferson School of Social Science The Jefferson School of Social Science was an adult education institution of the Communist Party USA located in New York City. The so-called "Jeff School" was launched in 1944 as a successor to the party's New York Workers School, albeit skewed mo ...

Max Yergan Max Yergan (July 19, 1892 – April 11, 1975) was an African-American activist notable for being a Baptist missionary for the YMCA, then a Communist working with Paul Robeson, and finally a staunch anti-Communist who complimented the government of ...

of the

Council on African Affairs The Council on African Affairs (CAA), until 1941 called the International Committee on African Affairs (ICAA), was a volunteer organization founded in 1937 in the United States. It emerged as the leading voice of anti-colonialism and Pan-Africanis ...

, and

Edward Barsky Edward K. "Eddie" Barsky (June 6, 1895 – February 11, 1975) was an American surgeon and political activist. Barsky is best remembered as the head of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, a Communist Party-sponsored organization which r ...

of the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee—denied the government's accusation. The next day, the ''New York Times'' reported a second batch of groups who rejected the government's accusation:

William Z. Foster William Z. Foster (born William Edward Foster; February 25, 1881 – September 1, 1961) was a radical American labor organizer and Communist politician, whose career included serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA from 1945 to ...

and

Eugene Dennis Francis Xavier Waldron (August 10, 1905 – January 31, 1961), best known by the pseudonym Eugene Dennis and Tim Ryan, was an American communist politician and union organizer, best remembered as the long-time leader of the Communist Party USA ...

of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

, an unnamed spokesperson for the

International Workers Order The International Workers Order (IWO) was an insurance, mutual benefit and fraternal organization founded in 1930 and disbanded in 1954 as the result of legal action undertaken by the state of New York in 1951 on the grounds that the organization ...

, an unnamed spokesperson for the

Civil Rights Congress The Civil Rights Congress (CRC) was a United States civil rights organization, formed in 1946 at a national conference for radicals and disbanded in 1956. It succeeded the International Labor Defense, the National Federation for Constitutional L ...

, an unnamed spokesperson for

American Youth for Democracy The Young Communist League USA (YCLUSA) is a communist youth organization in the United States. The stated aim of the League is the development of its members into Communists, through studying socialism and through active participation in the st ...

, Harrison L. Harley of the Samuel Adams School for Social Studies, and Walter Scott Neff of the Abraham Lincoln School.

Later history

The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was expanded by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

Executive Order 9835 President Harry S. Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the "Loyalty Order", on March 21, 1947. The order established the first general loyalty program in the United States, designed to root out communist influence ...

. EO 9835 established the first

Federal Employee Loyalty Program President Harry S. Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the "Loyalty Order", on March 21, 1947. The Executive order (United States), order established the first general loyalty program in the United States, designe ...

designed to root out

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

infiltration of the U.S. government. It allowed for organizations to be listed on the recommendation of certain members of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

(HUAC) members, as designated by committee Chairman

J. Parnell Thomas John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was an American stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican, serving from 1937 to 1950. Thomas later served nin ...

. Those he named initially were

John McDowell John Henry McDowell (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, anci ...

, a Pennsylvania Republican, Richard Vail, an Illinois Republican, and John Wood, a Georgia Democrat. They readied their first version of the list for Attorney General

within a few days. It appeared in the ''Federal Register'' on March 20, 1948.

Executive Order 10450 President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 on April 27, 1953. Effective May 27, 1953, it revoked President Truman's Executive Order 9835 of 1947 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board program. Instead, it charged the heads ...

, issued by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

in April 1953, expanded the Attorney General's List and added the proviso that members of the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

could not join or associate with any group on the list under threat of discharge from military service.

List as of 1959

Abraham Lincoln Brigade The XV International Brigade was one of the International Brigades formed to fight for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. History The XVth Brigade mustered at Albacete in January 1937. It consisted of English-speaking volunte ...

April 29, 1953 *

Abraham Lincoln School for Social Science The Abraham Lincoln School for Social Science in Chicago, Illinois was a "broad, nonpartisan school for workers, writers, and their sympathizers," aimed at the thousands of African-American workers who had migrated to Chicago from the American So ...

April 29, 1953 * Action Committee to Free Spain Now April 29, 1953 * Alabama People's Educational Association April 29, 1953 * American Association for Reconstruction in Yugoslavia April 29, 1953 * American Christian Nationalist Party April 29, 1953 * American Committee for European Worker's Relief April 29, 1953 * American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born April 29, 1953 * American Committee for the Settlement of Jews in Birobidzhan Inc September 28, 1953 * American Committee for Yugoslav Relief, Inc. April 29, 1953 * American Committee To Survey Labor Conditions in Europe July 15, 1953 * American Council for a Democratic Greece (formerly known as the Greek American Council; Greek American Committee for National Unity), April 29, 1953 * American Peace Crusade * American Polish League * American Women for Peace January 22, 1954 *

American Youth Congress The American Youth Congress (AYC) was an early youth voice organization composed of young people from across the United States who gathered to discuss the problems facing youth as a whole in the 1930s. At the time, United States citizens wer ...

April 29, 1953 *

Black Dragon Society The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan. History The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by martial artist Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor Mitsuru Tōyama's '' Gen'yōsha''. ...

* Cervantes Fraternal Society * Committee to Abolish Discrimination in Maryland * Committee to Aid the Fighting South * Committee to Defend the Rights and Freedom of Pittsburgh's Political Prisoners *

Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy The Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy (CDFEP) was an organization that was active in 1945–52 in opposing US support for the Kuomintang government in China. History The CDFEP was founded in August 1945, towards the end of World War I ...

April 29, 1953 * Committee for Constitutional and Political Freedom * Committee for the Defense of the Pittsburgh Six * Committee for Nationalist Action * Committee for the Negro in the Arts * Committee for Peace and Brotherhood Festival in Philadelphia * Committee for the Protection of the Bill of Rights * Committee for World Youth Friendship and Cultural Exchange * Committee to Defend Marie Richardson * Committee to Uphold the Bill of Rights * Congress of American Revolutionary Writers April 29, 1953 *

Congress of American Women The Congress of American Women was an American women's rights organization. It was founded in New York on International Women's Day, March 8, 1946, following the 1945 founding conference of the Women's International Democratic Federation in Paris, ...

April 29, 1953 * Congress of African Women *

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (DNBK, , ) was the largest martial arts organization in Japan with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto and had the biggest influence on Budo in modern Japan. The first president was Imperial Prin ...

* Daily Worker Press Club * Detroit Youth Assembly * Elsinore Progressive League * Families of the Baltimore Smith Act Victims * Federation of Greek Maritime Unions * Florida Press and Education League * Freedom Stage, Inc. *

Friends of the Soviet Union The International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world. It grew out ...

* Garibaldi American Fraternal Society *

German American Bund The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (, ''Amerikadeutscher Volksbund'', AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FONG, FDND in German) and ...

* Harlem Trade Union Council * Hellenic-American Brotherhood * Hungarian Brotherhood *

Independent Socialist League The Workers Party (WP) was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. It was founded in April 1940 by members of the Socialist Workers Party who opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland and Leon Trotsky's belief that the USSR under Jos ...

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

* Japanese Association of America * Jeannette Rankin Brigade * Jewish Community of Cortlandt * Jewish Culture Society * Jewish People's Committee * Johnsonites *

Knights of the White Camelia The Knights of the White Camelia was an American white supremacist organization that operated in the Southern United States in the late 19th century. Similar to and associated with the Ku Klux Klan, it opposed freedmen's rights. History The Kni ...

Labor Youth League The Young Communist League USA (YCLUSA) is a communist youth organization in the United States. The stated aim of the League is the development of its members into Communists, through studying socialism and through active participation in the st ...

League of American Writers The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1935. The group included Communist Party members, and so-called " fellow ...

* Mario Morgantini Circle * Michigan Council for Peace * Michigan School of Social Science * Nanka Teikoku Gunyudan * National Council of Americans of Croatian Descent April 29, 1953 *

National Negro Congress In African-American history, the National Negro Congress (NNC; 1936–ca. 1946) was an African-American organization formed in 1936 at Howard University as a broadly based coalition organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it ...

January 22, 1954 * Nationalist Action League *

Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico (, PNPR) was a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal was to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The Party's selection in 1930 of Pedro Albi ...

July 15, 1953 * Nature Friends of America April 29, 1953 * Oklahoma League for Political Education * Peace Information Center September 28, 1953 *

Peace Movement of Ethiopia The Peace Movement of Ethiopia was an African-American organization based in Chicago, Illinois. It was active in the 1930s and 1940s, and promoted the Back-to-Africa movement, repatriation of African Americans to the African continent, especially ...

April 29, 1953 * People's Educational and Press Association of Texas *

People's Rights Party The People's Rights Party, or Folk's Rights Party (Russian: Партия Народного Права), was a radical constitutionalism, constitutionalist political party established in Tsarist autocracy, Tsarist Russian Empire, Russia in 1893. T ...

April 4, 1955 * Revolutionary Workers League * Russian American Society * Silver Shirt Legion of America *

Sakurakai , was an ultranationalist secret society established by young officers within the Imperial Japanese Army in September 1930, with the goal of reorganizing the state along totalitarian militarist lines via a military coup d'état, if necessary. Its ...

April 29, 1953 * Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade * Virginia League for People's Education * Youth Communist League * Yugoslav Seaman's Club, Inc. January 22, 1954

Abolition

The list went through several revisions until President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

abolished it in 1974.

Impact

The list's impact was immediate but not all important. Its purpose was to provide a guide for the loyalty boards mandated by EO 9835. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) began using it immediately, but it was only one of many lists they used. The HUAC maintained its own list. Membership in an organization on any such list was reported to the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and loyalty boards. The list was quickly adopted by other public and private groups, which used it to discriminate without any notice, charges, or hearing.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Attorney General's List Of Subversive Organizations 1947 in the United States Anti-communism in the United States Industrial Workers of the World in the United States McCarthyism Political repression in the United States 1947 in American law 1947 documents

History

Creation

Biddle list

AGLOSO of 4 December 1947

Later history

List as of 1959

Abolition

Impact

See also

Footnotes