Courtney E. Owens (1924–2014), AKA Courtney Owens, was a 20th-century American civil servant, best known as chief investigator for 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) from 1954 to 1957.

Background

Courtney Elwell Owens was born on January 5, 1924, in Washington, DC.

Career

Owens served in the US Navy during World War II from January 1943 to August 1946, discharged from the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serves ...

. He then obtained a degree from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. In March 1947, Owens started work as an investigator for the

(HUAC). Cases included the

Hiss Hiss or Hissing may refer to: * Hiss (electromagnetic), a wave generated in the plasma of the Earth's ionosphere or magnetosphere * Hiss (surname) * ''Hissing'' (manhwa), a Korean manhwa series by Kang EunYoung * Noise (electronics) or electroni ...

Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

Case, e.g., investigating witness and alleged Soviet spy

Julian Wadleigh Julian Wadleigh (1904–1994) was an American economist and a Department of State official in the 1930s and 1940s. He was a key witness in the Alger Hiss trials. Background Henry Julian Wadleigh was born in 1904. He went to an English "public" s ...

. His superior was senior investigator

Louis J. Russell Louis James Russell (December 16, 1911 – July 2, 1973) was an American special agent and investigator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the House Un-American Activities Committee, and a private detective agency involved in the Wat ...

and colleague Donald T. Appell, all of whose names regularly appear in congressional hearings, e.g., the August 28, 1950, testimony of

Lee Pressman Lee Pressman (July 1, 1906 – November 20, 1969) was a labor attorney and earlier a US government functionary, publicly alleged in 1948 to have been a spy for Soviet intelligence during the mid-1930s (as a member of the Ware Group), following hi ...

. From 1954 to 1957, he serve as HUAC's chief investigator. Occasionally, his name appeared in the news, along with colleagues such as Russell. In 1957, Owens moved with his family to Southern California. In 1959, he started work with Townsend Engineering in nearby

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

, and led marketing and sales of its "Identi-Kit," a visual identification system for law enforcement. He retired in 1982.

Personal life and death

Owens married and had three children. Courtney Owns died age 99 on November 18, 2014, at his home in

Laguna Niguel, California Laguna Niguel () is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon") and "Niguili" (the name of a Native American village once located near Aliso Creek). As of ...

Legacy

Owens appears in many books regarding HUAC investigations, including: * 1997: ''

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...

: A Biography'' * 2010: ''I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of

Matt Cvetic Matthew Cvetic (March 4, 1909 – July 26, 1962) was a Pittsburgh native who was a spy and informant working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation inside the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) during the 1940s. He told his story in a ...

'' * 2011: ''

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

: The Catastrophe of Success'' * 2019: ''Professor Berman: The Last Lecture of Minnesota's Greatest Public Historian''

References

External links

Congressional Record

Find A Grave
1924 births 2014 deaths Detectives People from Washington, D.C. United States Navy personnel of World War II Tulane University alumni {{US-gov-bio-stub