A Matter of Loyalty #371: Stella Hanau Papers

Published March 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM MDT

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Transcript of the Loyalty Board’s hearing for Stella Hanau, November 19, 1948. Box 2, Stella Hanau papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Stella Hanau’s membership card for The Bookshop Association, March 12, 1948. Box 2, Stella Hanau papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Joseph M. Proskauer’s affidavit attesting to Stella Hanau’s character, November 10, 1948. Box 2, Stella Hanau papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Letter from the Department of Commerce Loyalty Board to Stella Hanau regarding charges of disloyalty to the U.S. government, September 14, 1948. Box 2, Stella Hanau papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Following World War II, relations between Russia and the U.S. soured. Concern mounted that Russia was spying on the U.S. Fear of communist infiltration in the American government grew. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order establishing a loyalty program. The federal government set about examining the loyalty of over three million government employees.

One of those millions of employees investigated was Stella Hanau. Hanau was employed as an editor in the U.S. Department of Commerce. She was summonsed before the Loyalty Board. They accused her of holding meetings in her apartment of a subversive nature and of associating with members of the Communist party. They questioned her membership in a cooperative bookshop. Hanau had to rely on old friends to vouch for her loyalty to the United States. After several meetings with the Loyalty Board, she was cleared of all charges.

Read the transcript of her hearings before the Loyalty Board in the Stella Hanau papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.

For more information, visit the American Heritage Center site.