ER and the Dies Committee

In November of 1939, Joseph Lash was called before the Dies Committee. The Dies Committee, a predecessor to the House Un-American Activities Committee, investigated organizations for supposed “un-American” actions, especially activities they deemed to be signs of communism. Lash, an officer of the American Student Union and member of the American Youth Congress, was called to answer questions regarding the possible communist infiltration of both organizations. Eleanor Roosevelt first met Lash during this time, and developed a friendship with him that lasted until her death in 1962. ER offered to testify before the Committee to answer any questions about American Youth Congress and Lash, as she felt they were wrongfully accused of communist ties. Her willingness to testify was met with some hostility from the chairman of the committee, Martin Dies, and from reporters who felt that the First Lady ought to distance herself from the AYC.

ER’s used her position and fame to defend the AYC before congress, despite having her offer refused. Lash himself described the scene in his 1971 book Eleanor and Franklin:

Other witnesses were being questioned when without advance notice Eleanor, dressed in green, entered the caucus room alone at 11:15. A southern gentleman, Mr. Starnes [Rep. from Alabama] stopped the questioning: “The chair takes note of the presence of the First Lady of the Land and invites her to come up here and sit with us.” … [ER] declined the invitation to sit with the investigators. “Oh, no thank you,” she replied smiling; “I just came to listen, “and sat down with those to be investigated.

The caucus room came alive. The press corps poured in and the moving-picture cameras were set up and focused, but the leisurely pace continued and it was not until four in the afternoon that the Youth Congress was called. Eleanor was still there…[s]he now moved up to a press table to hear better. (Lash, 599)

In an excerpt from her autobiography, ER explains her motives behind changing seats during the hearing:

If there is one thing I dislike it is intimidating people instead of trying to get the facts. At one point, when the questioning seemed to me to be particularly harsh, I asked to go over and sit at the press table. I took a pencil and a piece of paper, and the tone of the questions changed immediately. Just what the questioner thought I was going to do I do not know, but my action had the effect I desired. (ER, 209)

Joseph Lash came to be a trusted advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt, and was active in FDR’s 1940 presidential campaign. After ER’s death, Lash served as ER’s official biographer, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.