Wisconsin History Day By Day

Related Web Sites:
The Censure of Joseph McCarthy

Teaching History: Joseph McCarthy

American History 102


Read More About It

"The Progressive Legacy, 1945-1995" (videorecording) by UW-Stevens Point

"McCarthy and the Fear of Communisim in American History" by Karen Zeinert

"Freedom in Jeopardy: The Story of McCarthy Years" by Burt Hirschfeld

"Joseph McCarthy and the Cold War" by Victoria Sherrow


Vocabulary:

censored
Communists
condemned
contemptuous


Interesting Fact:

McCarthy was born in Grand Chute, Wis., and graduated from Marquette University.


Study Questions:

  • The word McCarthyism is named after Joseph McCarthy. What does it mean?
  • How is McCarthy viewed by today's historians?
  • What happened to McCarthy after he was censured by the Senate?


    Search these newspaper databases for additional stories about Joseph McCarthy:

  • Wisconsin State Journal/The Capital Times
  • Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  • BadgerLink Wisconsin Newsstand
  • Wisconsin Historical Society


    U.S. historical events that occurred on December 1:

    1913: The country's first service station for automobiles is opened in Pittsburgh.
    1955: Rosa Parks, a black woman, refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man.
    1998: Exxon buys Mobil for $73.7 billion.



    • December 1

    December 1, 1954: Sen. Joseph McCarthy was censored by a special Senate committee. McCarthy's actions during his hunt for Communists finally caused him to lose supporters. The Senate condemned him in 1954 for "contemptuous" conduct toward a Senate subcommittee and for his abuse of the committee that recommended he be censured.

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