The Army-McCarthy 1953-1954 Communist Witch Hunt

    In the early 1950s the United States political scene was dominated by a fear of communist expansion and influence.  This fear was exploited by many a politician, the foremost was Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.
    In 1953 the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as spies focused further investigation on Fort Monmouth.  Julius Rosenberg had worked as a radar inspector at Fort Monmouth in 1942-43.   Radar advances were looked upon as a strategic defense advantage and any leaks of new technology or radar systems under development would not be the best interest of the United States.
    As the home of Army radar development Camp Evans was in the middle of this issue.

Senator Joe McCarthy visited Camp Evans in 1952.
These photos, on file at the National Archives are from that visit.

Click on photo for larger image October 20, 1953 In the Camp Evans Administration building (9001), the former Marconi Wireless Station Staff Hotel. Photo SC445821 on file at the National Archives

Click on photo for larger image Leaving the Camp Evans Administration building (9001), the former Marconi Wireless Station Staff Hotel. Note security fence.  Photo SC445822 on file at the National Archives

Was Camp Evans the home of a Communist Spy ring??

What was 'The Leper Colony'...

What happened on October 20, 1953, when McCarthy, Lawler Roy Cohn, Secretary of the Army Stevens, other congressmen and Army personnel visited Camp Evans??
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (left) with Fort Monmouth Commander Major General Kirke B. Lawton

The McCarthy Era, 1950-1954

Julius Rosenberg was believed to have stolen radar and proximity fuse information from Fort Monmouth during his work as a electrical engineer there between 1940 and 1945 (Ewald 1984 Pg. 20; U.S. Senate 1954:I:19-20).  Found guilty of treason, the Rosenbergs were finally executed on June 19, 1953, after numerous appeals.

In October 1953, McCarthy issued the claim that Julius Rosenberg had set up a wartime spy ring at Fort Monmouth that might still be in operation (Ewald 1984:93).  Fort Monmouth was then known as the “house of spies”.  As proof, McCarthy produced an East German defector who claimed to have seen microfilmed top-secret radar manuals in an East German electronics lab.  The Army, assisted by the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, insisted that there was no ring then in operation and that all radar books in East Germany were due to war-time lend-lease agreements, when the United States shared its radar secrets with the Soviets (Raines 1996 Pg. 343).

The claims and counter-claims led to subcommittee hearings from October through December of 1953 on the subject of “Army Signal Corps Subversion and Espionage” at Fort Monmouth.  First held at the Foley Square Federal Building in New York City (the site of the Rosenberg trial), the proceedings were finally moved to the Capitol Building in Washington (Ewald 1984:156; U.S. Senate 1954:I:13).  Among the many witnesses called to testify, the most prominent were Aaron Coleman, Carl Greenblum, and
Joseph Levitsky, all former researchers at the Evans radar laboratories.  Back in 1946, Coleman, a radar officer, had been caught outside the lab with classified materials, while both Greenblum and Levitsky had once carpooled with Julius Rosenberg (Ewald 1984:94; U.S. Senate 1954:II:69-73, 77-81, 93, 110).  During the War, a draftsman, George Brown, had reported information leading to the uncovering of a communist cell at Camp Evans (George L. Brown, personal communication 1999).

While the subcommittee hearings were going on in New York, the Army was doing all it could to placate McCarthy without giving him any of the Fort Monmouth personnel files compiled by the FBI.  Secretary of the Army, Robert Stevens, with Eisenhower’s approval, insisted on the confidentiality of those files, while McCarthy insisted just as strongly on their release.  While this tug of war was going on at the highest levels, General Kirke Lawton, commander of Fort Monmouth, began cooperating with McCarthy, even to the extent of suspending certain civilian employees during the hearings; 10 were suspended in mid-October, and that number had risen
to 33 by November, although some of these were soon reinstated (Ewald 1984:90, 99, 123, 130).  Mr. Bernard Martin, Mr. H. Kaplan, and Mr. William J. Jones were among those suspended and they speak about their experience in interviews.  Those persons under suspicion, but not suspended, were detailed to a series of World War II barracks, unofficially referred to as ‘the leper colony’, located along Watson Avenue, west of the other Monmouth Boulevard.  There they were forced to work in isolation, without access to classified materials (Sam Stine, personal communication 1995).

During this same period, Roy Cohn, special counsel for the subcommittee, was having his own feud with the Army, a feud that would eventually lead to the famous “Army vs. McCarthy” confrontation of 1954.  The feud began on 20 October 1953, when McCarthy, Cohn, Secretary of the Army Stevens, and other congressmen and Army personnel visited Camp Evans and walked up Avenue A, accompanied by the press, for a tour of the Evans radar laboratories (Ewald 1984:273-274; Sam Stine, personal communication 1995).  Outside one of the top security buildings (9400), the party was stopped by security; the Senator and their entourage did not have the proper badges.  Secretary Stevens made a spur of the moment decision; all elected officials of the U.S. government could enter, and all others had to remain outside.  This excluded a furious Cohn and he vowed before witnesses that he would get the Army for this affront (Ewald 1984:273-274).  Donald Swingle, who was there, was later told that Keith Schultes would have normally been in charge of security that day, but his friend Craig Crenshaw was substituting in his absence.  Mr. Crenshaw refused entrance of the persons without secret clearance.  He did not want to be a part of a security violation that could ruin his career (Donald Swingle personal communication 1997).  The project housed in Building 9400, a small concrete block structure, was under direct Pentagon control.  The Signal Corps simply provided space and as needed electronic expertise.  When interviewed, knowledgeable persons would only describe the project as having international significance, not knowing if the project has been declassified as of 1999.  In spite of McCarthy’s considerable digging for espionage in the Army Signal Corps and Camp Evans in 1953 and 1954, not one individual was ever-prosecuted (Reeves 1982 Pg. 526).

McCarthy’s allegations may have been true.  Two Fort Monmouth Scientists, Joel Barr and Al Sarant fled to the Soviet Union.  They may have been the Communist connection McCarthy was looking for.  Emerging evidence indicates McCarthy may have been closer to the truth of Communists in the military than was once believed (Raines 1998 Pg. 15).

From the hearing on 'Subversion and Espionage' the job description for Mr. Coleman, chief of the systems section of the Evans Signal laboratory reads: Mr. Colman is responsible for planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and programming the work of a large organizational segment engaged in the research, development, design, and construction of large-scale antiaircraft systems for employment by the Army all over the world.
    The urgent need for the centralized direction of large numbers of various anti-aircraft weapons, guided missiles, rockets, countermeasures for defense against atomic bombing attacks...  This organizational segment is also engaged in the design and development on new computers, displays, tracers, and similiar equipment required for completely integrated systems."  HEARINGS before the .... page 53.

On May 6, 2003 the long-sealed transcripts were released for public review.
The persons associated with Camp Evans, listed below, testified at the hearings.  Some have links to their testimony.

Sources of further info on this topic:
On the Infoage website, our library and our archive -

A 1998 interview of Louis Kalpan, a Camp Evans employee suspended during the investigations.

 The ghost of Sen. Joseph McCarthy haunts Camp Evans. By Fred Carl, The Coast Star, May 15, 2003, Page 9

 McCarthy's probe had a long-lasting impact on Wall Twp.'s Camp Evans.  By Fred Carl, May 22, 2003, The Coast Star, Page 15

McCarthy's communist hunt unraveled at Wall facility - The Asbury Park Press, November 10, 2003 by Fred Carl

Books, film and video in the Infoage library relating to Senator Joe McCarthy -

   
McCarthy and his Enemies.  By William F. Buckley Jr. and L. Brent Bozell - 1954

 
Who Killed Joe McCarthy?  By William Bragg Ewald Jr. - 1984

 
Men Against McCarthy.  By Richard M. Fried - 1979

A Conspiracy So Immense - The World of Joe McCarthy.  By David M. Oshinsky - 1983

The Life and Times of Joe McCarthy - A Biography.   By  Thomas C. Reeves - 1982

Senator Joe McCarthy.  By Richard H. Rovere - 1959

The Autobiography of Roy Cohen.  By  Sidney Zion -  1988

The Fight for America.  By Senator Joe McCarthy - 1952

When Even Angels Wept - A Story Without A Hero.  By Lately Thomas - 1973

Red Listed - Haunted By The Washington Witch Hunt.  By Selma R. Williams - 1993

McCarthy - The Man, The Senator, The "ism".  By  Anderson and May - 1952

POINT of ORDER - A Profile of Senator Joe McCarthy by Robert P. Ingalls - 1981

McCarthy by Roy Cohen - 1968

Joe MUST Go by Leroy Gore - 1954.

Point Of Order.  A NTSC VHS video of the 1952 Army-McCarthy Hearins  - 1998
   Senator McCarthy can be heard to say:  " If you only knew what is happening in our secret radar facility...". 

A short film clip (no sound)  of Senator Joe McCarthy  at Camp Evans - 1952.  Copied to NTSC VHS from National Archives Film

THE REDHUNTER - by William F. Buckley Jr.  Fiction - 1999 - Audio book on cassette

Reds in America.  By R. M Whitney - 1924.
    This 1924 book shows the fear of Communist subversion existed long before Senator McCarthy whipped it into a national frenzy.

In the Infoage Archive verticle files -

“Fort Monmouth and McCarthy: The Victims Remembered.” by David Oshinsky, NJ History 100, ½ (1982): 1-13.  On file, CECOM    Historical Research Collection., 1982
    An account of the damage to careers and lives caused by the Senator Joe McCarthy accusations as told by Camp Evans personnel.

“The Cold War Comes to Fort Monmouth – Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and the Search for Spies in the Signal Corps”, by Raines, Rebecca R.., Army History – The Professional Bulletin of Army History, PB-20-98-2 (No. 44), Spring 1998, Washington, D.C.  On file: CECOM Command Historian Collection, Infoage

"Three weeks in October: When McCarthyism ran wild at Fort Monmouth"., By Erlinda Villamor, Asbury Park Press, Section C, October 2, 1983
        An article on Ira J. Katchen the lawyer who represented a number of the 'suspected spies' at the Army-McCarthy hearings.

HEARINGS BEFORE THE PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, UNITED STATES SENATE, EIGHTY-THIRD CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION., PURSUANT TO S. Res. 40,. Part 1: OCTOBER 22, NVEMBER 24, 25, AND DECEMBER 8, 1953., United States Covernment Printing Office, Washington: 1954
    The actual hearing testimony...Evans Signal Laboratory on pages 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 38, 42, 51-53, 62-64.

“The Cold War Comes to Fort Monmouth – Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and the Search for Spies in the Signal Corps”, by Raines, Rebecca R.., Army History – The Professional Bulletin of Army History, PB-20-98-2 (No. 44), Spring 1998, Washington, D.C.  On file: CECOM Command Historian Collection, Infoage

"Fort Monmouth had Red scare - Author describes reign of fear"., by Sherry Figdore., Asbury Park Press, March 22, 1994

"Big Role in Soviet Computers Laid to Rosenberg Associate"., The New York Times., Monday September 19, 1983
            A story of how the missing signal corps engineers may have assisited Soviet engineering

"McCarthy's 1953 Witch Hunt A Dark Cloud in Fort History"., by John Curley,  Asbury Park Sunday Press, page 40. May 14, 1967

Reference: No date...
The Star Ledger, Monday Sept 19, 19??, " 'Missing' pal of atomic spy tied to Soviet".

Additional sources - not on file at Camp Evans - Infoage -

The Army-McCarthy Hearings -- C-SPAN
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 158934 - 08/25/2000 - 3:00 - $90.00

Page updated October 20, 2004   Page  created November 24, 2000