Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 8.07 Politics and Government
Presentation #1 Title
His Lowest Hour: Michael Musmanno, Roy Harris, and the Issue of Communist Subversion in Pittsburgh
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Judge Michael A. Musmanno burst upon western Pennsylvania’s political scene in the late 1920s, winning a seat as an Assemblyman in the Pennsylvania legislature, from there he became a trial judge in Pittsburgh, eventually serving as an Associate Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A pro-labor liberal, Musmanno was a friend and ally of John L. Lewis, and waged a successful fight to outlaw Pennsylvania’s Coal and Iron Police system. However, Musmanno’s views were always tinged with a profound hatred for Communism. This was demonstrated when, as a freshman assemblyman, he introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1928 outlawing the party. However, owing to the other causes he espoused, Musmanno’s anti-Communism remained in the background. This changed after the close of the Second World War, when the Soviet Union ceased to be America’s war-time ally, and became her peace-time adversary. With this, in the early 1950s, Musmanno’s anti-Communism was fully rekindled, with Musmanno engaging in tactics that would have put witch hunters as Senators Joseph McCarthy and James McCarran to shame. A well-known instance of Musmanno’s behavior in this regard is his persecution of Pittsburgh Communist leader Steve Nelson. Less studied is his attempt to persecute the well-known American composer, Dr. Roy Harris, then working as composer-in-residence at Pittsburgh College for Women (now Chatham University), for alleged Communist sympathies. This paper will explore what happened, the implications it had for the principle actors involved, and for the city of Pittsburgh as a whole.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Richard P. Mulcahy is a Professor of History and Political Science with the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville. He is a Fellow of the Center for Northern Appalachian Studies at Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA
His Lowest Hour: Michael Musmanno, Roy Harris, and the Issue of Communist Subversion in Pittsburgh
Corbly Hall 333
Judge Michael A. Musmanno burst upon western Pennsylvania’s political scene in the late 1920s, winning a seat as an Assemblyman in the Pennsylvania legislature, from there he became a trial judge in Pittsburgh, eventually serving as an Associate Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A pro-labor liberal, Musmanno was a friend and ally of John L. Lewis, and waged a successful fight to outlaw Pennsylvania’s Coal and Iron Police system. However, Musmanno’s views were always tinged with a profound hatred for Communism. This was demonstrated when, as a freshman assemblyman, he introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1928 outlawing the party. However, owing to the other causes he espoused, Musmanno’s anti-Communism remained in the background. This changed after the close of the Second World War, when the Soviet Union ceased to be America’s war-time ally, and became her peace-time adversary. With this, in the early 1950s, Musmanno’s anti-Communism was fully rekindled, with Musmanno engaging in tactics that would have put witch hunters as Senators Joseph McCarthy and James McCarran to shame. A well-known instance of Musmanno’s behavior in this regard is his persecution of Pittsburgh Communist leader Steve Nelson. Less studied is his attempt to persecute the well-known American composer, Dr. Roy Harris, then working as composer-in-residence at Pittsburgh College for Women (now Chatham University), for alleged Communist sympathies. This paper will explore what happened, the implications it had for the principle actors involved, and for the city of Pittsburgh as a whole.
