Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Fellowship Lesson 2008
Krista Ruud
Champaign County Archives
Abstract: Students will use local and national primary and secondary resources to understand why there was a fear of Communism in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, what about Communism Americans feared, and how Americans responded. At the end of the unit students will create an informational pamphlet detailing the evils (or positive aspects) of Communism.
Essential Questions:
§ What was Communism? the Cold War?
§ Why were Americans so fearful of Communism?
§ What might Communists do in America?
§ How did Americans respond to the threat of Communism?
§ What was the real nature of the Communist threat during the Cold War?
Age Group: Middle School
Duration: This unit will take 8-10 days, though some lessons may be combined or extended depending on the classroom situation.
Assessment: Throughout the unit there will be some informal assessment as well as formal assessment. The unit ends with a final project.
*Students can recreate some of the worksheets on notebook paper, instead of individuals or groups each having a copied worksheet. This may save paper and time.
Setting the Purpose: The Cold War was a unique time in American history. For about forty-five years America feared Communism and worked to eliminate (or at least contain) it. Also, although the nation prepared for war, no actual fighting took place with the Soviet Union. Many Americans learned to loathe Communists, and those who did not dislike Communists usually had to hide their sympathies. Students today were born after the collapse of the Soviet Union and find it difficult to understand and connect with the intense panic that transformed the lives of many Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. This lesson will allow students to view resources from the time and become award of how Americans felt during the era and how they reacted.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson Summary
Lesson 1 - Introduction to Communism:
Students will first define terms (Communism, Democracy, Cold War, Containment) they will commonly use in this unit and use a world map to locate Communist and Democratic nations through 1960.
Lesson 2 - The Fear of Communism:
Students will first brainstorm why they think Americans were fearful of Communism and what they did because of the fear. Then students will read parts of a pamphlet on Communism and record what they discover.
Lesson 3 - Champaign County Response to Communism:
In groups students will view 4 local primary documents about Communism and citizens’ reactions to it in Champaign County. There are 3 different sets of local primary documents so different groups will be analyzing different documents. Groups will then create a 4-square chart summarizing each primary document in three bullet points and share their findings with their classmates.
Lesson 4 - The Defector of Champaign County:
Was there really a reason to fear Communists? In this lesson students will read about a University of Illinois graduate who defected to the Soviet Union in 1960. While learning about William H. Martin, students will create a story chart to explain what happened.
Lesson 5 - And Now We Know…:
After gaining a basic knowledge of Communism and understanding the dread it created in Americans, students will create their own informational pamphlet detailing the evils of Communism. And for those students who are radicals, they may create an informational pamphlet detailing why Communism was really a good institution.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson 1 - Introduction to Communism
Length: 1 class period
Set-up: Individual work
Procedures:
§ Introduce the unit to the students. Give students a brief overview of how the Cold War began, emphasizing that the United States and the Soviet Union really did not like each other and there was a continual threat of nuclear war. You may want to point out that each assignment/assessment students do, whether in groups or individually, will help them complete the final unit project.
§ Hand out the Definition Chart (1 per student). Go over the definitions with students then allow them time to create their own sentences and pictures for each word. This will provide background information for students and also help them understand some words that they will frequently encounter in the unit.
§ Now, if possible, view a large Cold War era world map as a class or find a copy of a Cold War era world map.
o If using one large map for the entire class… identify the nations that were Democratic and those that were Communist. Sticky notes or wet erase markers on an overhead can allow the teacher or students to mark the areas.
o If using a Cold War era world map copied for each student… students should each have two colored pencils/markers (preferably red and blue, but any two different colors will do). Have students color Communist nations one color (red) and Democratic nations/US Allies another color (blue). Non-aligned nations may be kept white. You may have students look in book resources on their own or you may provide a master copy for students to use. The following websites can be used as keys:
§ http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/coldwar1.htm
§ http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/communis.htm
§ In the last few minutes of class discuss with students
o What was the Cold War? Communism? Democracy? Containment?
o In what areas of the world did Communist nations exist? Democratic nations?
Assessment: Students will have completed the Definition Chart. Students may either keep this or the teacher can collect and keep the work. It will be helpful later in the unit.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson 2 - The Fear of Communism
Length: 1 class period
Set-up: Group work
Procedures:
§ Review with students what was learned in the prior lesson (definitions and locations of Communism/Democracy).
§ Students should brainstorm
o Why did Americans think Communism was bad?
o Why were Americans afraid of Communism?
o What did Americans do because of the fear?
§ Responses should be recorded on the board or overhead.
§ Now hand out the pamphlet entitled What everyone should know about Communism and the Pamphlet Response Sheet.
Groups should look through the pamphlet and record at least 10 pieces of information on the response sheet.
§ With a few minutes left in class have students share what they learned from the document. How does it compare with the brainstorm list on the board? What biases might the authors of the pamphlet have had when creating it?
National Primary Sources: What everyone should know about Communism was an informational pamphlet published nationally in 1962. This document gives insight as to what the government wanted Americans to believe about Communism and what was expected from American citizens.
Assessment:
§ Students will have informally provided what they know (or don’t know) about the Cold War.
§ Students will have analyzed a national primary source and categorized information.
§ Students will have compared and contrasted their knowledge before viewing the pamphlet and their knowledge after viewing the pamphlet.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson 3 - Champaign County Response to Communism
Length: 2-3 class periods
Set-up: Group work (same or different from the previous day)
Procedures:
§ Review previous unit work at the beginning of class (definitions, where Communist nations were located, why Americans feared Communism, etc).
§ Inform students they will be viewing local primary documents and articles from the Cold War era. Their job is to fill out a Written Document Analysis Worksheet for each of the 4 articles they will view.
*There are 3 different sets of 4 documents each. Ideally different groups should have different sets of documents. However, the documents can be arranged as desired to fit the needs of the classroom.
**Due to the nature of the final project students will need work done as a part of the unit as a resource. Teachers may require each student in a group to complete all or some Analysis Worksheets for each document or the group can fill out Analysis Worksheet per document and results can be divided/shared later on.
o Set 1: “’Clock of Doom’ moves one minute closer to midnight;” Letter to Kennedy; “Communists must register;” National Security Committee Annual Report
o Set 2: “Hodge’s group asks state ban on Communism;” “County prepares for nuclear attach;” Letter to Cronkite; Bumper Emblems
o Set 3: “Six new laws asked on reds by commission;” “Small h-bomb war could bring ‘creeping suicide;’” List of Target Organizations of Communist Infiltration; It Can Happen Here
§ When students have analyzed all 4 documents in their set, groups should receive a blank sheet of white paper and have the 4-Square Chart example. Using the set-up example, students will organize/summarize the documents into a 4-Square Chart. *Optional: have students create an illustration to go in each square on the chart based on the document’s content.
§ One at a time groups should share the documents they had and what each document told them about Communism at the time. The 4-Square Charts can then be posted around the room for future reference.
Local Primary Sources: Students will view newspaper articles from the Champaign-Urbana Courier and the Champaign News-Gazette and documents kept by Mr. & Mrs. Elmer Martin of Urbana, Illinois.
Assessment: The local primary documents will first be analyzed using the Written Document Analysis Worksheet and then the information will be reorganized onto a 4-Square Chart.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson 4 - The Defector of Champaign County
Length: 2 class periods
Set-up: Group work (same or different from the previous days)
Procedures:
§ Review what students have learned in previous class periods
§ Explain to students that many Americans were afraid of spies, secret agents, and Communists in America. Most people were not Communists, but there was still a threat. Groups will now read through articles about a University of Illinois graduate and how Communism affected his life and how people responded to this. Students will need to understand the man’s story and fill out the Event Analysis Chart based on what they read in all the articles.
§ Each group will receive one copy of each article as well as an Event Analysis Chart form and work on reading the articles and filling out the chart.
William H. Martin Articles:
o Courier August 2, 1960: “Missing U.I. grad may be sought now in Cuba”
o Courier August 10, 1960: “Missing NSA men may aid Reds: Senator”
o Courier September 6, 1960: “Security agents are in Moscow”
o Courier September 15, 1960: “Defecting security clerks may have missing notes”
o Courier June 25, 1962: “U.S. aide not sorry he defected to Russia”
§ When groups are done (or mostly done) the class should discuss the story of William H. Martin. After the class has discussed the situation and the implications of the event (why he left, why people reacted as they did, why it was such a big deal that he left), the teacher can give students ‘the rest’ of the story. Information on what happened to William H. Martin later in life can be found on the following websites:
o http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-07-18/news/the-worst-internal-scandal-in-nsa-history-was-blamed-on-cold-war-defectors-homosexuality.php
o http://www.6901st.org/traitors.htm
o http://www.espionageinfo.com/Ne-Ns/NSA-United-States-National-Security-Agency.html
Local Primary Sources: Students will view newspaper articles from the Champaign-Urbana Courier about William H. Martin, a National Security Agency employee and University of Illinois graduate who defected to the Soviet Union and the height of the Cold War. Although the stories are about a local graduate, concern was felt on a national level and many of the Associated Press (AP) articles printed in the Courier were also printed in newspapers nation-wide.
Assessment: Students will have read articles about an American who defected to the Soviet Union and organized the information to create a logical story summary from the Event Analysis Chart about the greatest NSA scandal in American history.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
Lesson 5 - And Now We Know…
Length: 2-3 class periods
Set-up: Individual work
Procedures:
§ Review with students what they learned in the past days
o What was Communism? Democracy? the Cold War?
o Where were Communist nations located?
o Why were Americans so fearful of Communism?
o What might Communists do in America?
o How did Americans respond to the threat of Communism?
§ Pass out the Project Info & Rubric sheets to the students. Go over the directions of the project with them as well as the expectations. Students will then have time in class to work on making their own informational pamphlet detailing the evils (or pros) of Communism. Make sure students reference work they did in class while putting together the pamphlet.
Local Primary Sources: Students will use information from the local primary sources they viewed: newspaper articles from the Champaign-Urbana Courier and the Champaign News-Gazette about Communism and William H. Martin and documents kept by Mr. & Mrs. Elmer Martin of Urbana, Illinois.
National Primary Sources: Students will use information they gathered from the About Communism pamphlet as well as the Cold War era world map.
Assessment: Students will create their own informational pamphlet detailing the bad (or good) things about Communism. To do this, students will need to reference work done prior in the unit and think as though they lived in America in the early 1960s.
Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Communists?
List of Materials and Resources
Anti-Communist League Champaign Branch Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.
Bamford, James. Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
‘Clock of doom’ moves one minute closer to midnight. (1957, January 24) The Champaign-Urbana Courier.
Communist Party of the United States of America Vertical File. Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.
Communists must register. (1961, December 5) The Champaign-Urbana Courier.