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 (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

(and later Supreme Court justice) Tom C. Clark. 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 transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

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

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

and the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

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), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

'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 the postwar Nuremberg Trials as well a ...

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 gro ...

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 the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...

. 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 Tom C. Clark 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, c ...

, 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 across the ...

Howard Selsam Howard Selsam (born Howard Brillinger Selsam; 28 June 1903 – 7 September 1970) was an American Marxism, Marxist philosopher. Background Howard Brillinger Selsam was born on 28 June 1903 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. H ...

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 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-Africanism ...

, and Edward Barsky of the

Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee (JAFRC) was a nonprofit organization to provide humanitarian aid to refugees of the Spanish Civil War. History In 1941, the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee was formed by Lincoln Battalion veterans of ...

—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 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 a ...

of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

, 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 organizatio ...

, 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 Li ...

, 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 Marxism–Leninism and through active participation ...

, Harrison L. Harley of the

Samuel Adams School for Social Studies Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

, 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. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

Executive Order 9835 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, designed ...

. EO 9835 established the first Federal Employee Loyalty Program designed to root out

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

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 dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

(HUAC) members, as designated by committee Chairman

J. Parnell Thomas John Parnell Thomas (January 16, 1895 – November 19, 1970) was a stockbroker and politician. He was elected to seven terms as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey as a Republican. He was later a convicted criminal who served nine months in fe ...

. Those he named initially were

John McDowell John Henry McDowell, FBA (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, ...

, 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 Tom C. Clark within a few days. It appeared in the ''Federal Register'' on March 20, 1948. Executive Order 10450, issued by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

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 forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

could not join or associate with any group on the list under threat of discharge from military service.Defense Department Form 98, Revision 1 June 1959

List as of 1959

Abraham Lincoln Brigade The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internation ...

April 29, 1953 * Abraham Lincoln School 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 American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born was the successor group to the National Council for the Protection of the Foreign Born and its successor, seen by the US federal government as subversive for "protecting foreign Communists who c ...

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 *

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''. I ...

* 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 ...

* 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 African Women *

Dai Nippon Butoku Kai ''Dai Nippon Butoku Kai'' (DNBK, ja, 大日本武徳会, en, "Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society") was a martial arts organization with strong ties to WWII-era Japanese government, originally established in 1895 in Kyoto. Following the end of ...

* 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 (german: Amerikadeutscher Bund; Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FoN ...

* 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), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

* Japanese Association of America * Jeanette Rankin Brigade * Jewish Community of Cortlandt * Jewish Culture Society *

Jewish People's Committee Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

* Johnsonites *

Knights of the White Camelia The Knights of the White Camelia was an American political terrorist organization that operated in the Southern United States in the late 19th century. Similar to and associated with the Ku Klux Klan, it supported white supremacy and opposed free ...

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 Marxism–Leninism and through active participation ...

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 " fell ...

* Mario Morgantini Circle * Michigan Council for Peace * Michigan School of Social Science * Nanka Teikoku Gunyudan *

National Negro Congress The National Negro Congress (NNC) (1936–ca. 1946) was an American organization formed in 1936 at Howard University as a broadly based organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it was the successor to the League of Struggle for N ...

* Nationalist Action League * Oklahoma League for Political Education * Peace Information Center *

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 repatriation of African Americans to the African continent, especially Liberia. They were affili ...

* People's Educational and Press Association of Texas *

People's Rights Party The People's Rights Party (Russian: Партия Народного Права), was a radical constitutionalist political party established in Tsarist Russia in 1893. The group's political leader was the agrarian populist Mark Natanson and its i ...

* Revolutionary Workers League * Russian American Society * Silver Shirt Legion of America *

Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade The Abraham Lincoln Brigade ( es, Brigada Abraham Lincoln), officially the XV International Brigade (''XV Brigada Internacional''), was a mixed brigade that fought for the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War as a part of the Internatio ...

* Virginia League for People's Education * Youth Communist League

Abolition

The list went through several revisions until President Richard M. Nixon 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 and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(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.

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