Harvey Matusow
Encyclopedia
Harvey Matusow (October 3, 1926 – January 17, 2002) was a U.S.
Communist who protected himself from HUAC by providing evidence against his former left-wing colleagues. His false accusations led to his own perjury
conviction and to being blacklist
ed. His McCarthy era
activities overshadowed his later work as an artist, actor and producer.
(by Clifford Odets
) and The Cradle Will Rock
(by Marc Blitzstein
).
ed, Matusow agreed to go provide HUAC information about other comrades. He also became editor of the right-wing magazine Counterattack
and worked as a campaign aide to Joseph McCarthy
. While working as an informant, Matusow provided information against folksingers (such as Pete Seeger
) and once reported that 126 Communists worked in the Sunday Department of the New York Times even though the total number of employees was 100. Matusow claimed that he had known Clinton Jencks of the Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers Union to be a member of the American Communist Party; this resulted in Jencks being sent to prison for perjury, even though, as a union official, Jencks was required to sign a non-Communist affidavit under the Taft-Hartley Labor Relations Act.
Pete Seeger's band the Weavers
went from a hit record with "Wimoweh
" to being blacklisted and finding no work. Seeger later almost went to prison over his testimonies in the HUAC related witch-hunts but eventually forgave Matusow for his youthful mistakes and noted that Matusow never did more than cost Seeger a few jobs.
had encouraged him to lie. Because of the book, Matusow was found guilty of perjury, jailed for nearly three years, and ultimately blacklisted.
. In 1966, he established the London Film Makers Cooperative and worked with the composer Annea Lockwood
who appeared on record under the name Anna Lockwood. In 1972, he produced a festival of contemporary music called the International Carnival of Experimental Sound. The event's highlights included performances by Charlotte Moorman
(in the Roundhouse and in the Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh) and John Cage
's HPSCHD, for eight harpsichords and projections of the American space program
. A train was hired to take participants and public to Edinburgh, to link with the Edinburgh festival; Charlotte Moorman performed Nam June Paik
's TV Bra in the Richard Demarco Gallery.
. Working with the Magic Mouse Theatre, he developed a clown persona named Cockyboo for stage and television. Matusow began Magic Mouse as a radio show in Tucson, Arizona, and slowly it grew into a traveling theater troupe, and in 1979, became the TV program Magic Mouse Magazine. This led to the creation of The Babysitter's Magic Mouse Storybook, a self-published book done in collaboration with Hilda Terry, creator of the popular newspaper strip Teena. "Some people wanted to revive the Magic Mouse stories," says Terry, "and he wanted me to illustrate them with my teenagers, from when young girls were more innocent. Teena started as a babysitter during WW2."
, to start the state's first Public-access television
cable TV program. For a time in the 1980s (after his conversion to Mormonism), he was known as Job Matusow and lived with his wife Emily in Warwick, Massachusetts
. During this time, Job and Emily sparked controversy when they allowed members of the Unification Church
to live on their land. He made chimes out of melted ammunition and bomb shells during this time and also became involved in collecting clothes for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota.
, to run the town's Public-access Television studio. He died in New Hampshire
from complications from a car accident.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Communist who protected himself from HUAC by providing evidence against his former left-wing colleagues. His false accusations led to his own perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
conviction and to being blacklist
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed. His McCarthy era
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
activities overshadowed his later work as an artist, actor and producer.
Early career
Matusow was a member of the American Communist Party and worked as a journalist and a stage and radio actor. He appeared in the leftist plays Waiting for LeftyWaiting for Lefty
Waiting for Lefty is a 1935 play by American playwright Clifford Odets. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by the meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor strike. The framing situation utilizes the audience as part of the meeting.While this was not the...
(by Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...
) and The Cradle Will Rock
The Cradle Will Rock
The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 musical by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The show was recorded and released on seven 78-rpm discs in 1938, making it the first cast album recording.The musical is a...
(by Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
).
HUAC
To prevent himself being blacklistBlacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
ed, Matusow agreed to go provide HUAC information about other comrades. He also became editor of the right-wing magazine Counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
and worked as a campaign aide to Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
. While working as an informant, Matusow provided information against folksingers (such as Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
) and once reported that 126 Communists worked in the Sunday Department of the New York Times even though the total number of employees was 100. Matusow claimed that he had known Clinton Jencks of the Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers Union to be a member of the American Communist Party; this resulted in Jencks being sent to prison for perjury, even though, as a union official, Jencks was required to sign a non-Communist affidavit under the Taft-Hartley Labor Relations Act.
Pete Seeger's band the Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
went from a hit record with "Wimoweh
The Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
" to being blacklisted and finding no work. Seeger later almost went to prison over his testimonies in the HUAC related witch-hunts but eventually forgave Matusow for his youthful mistakes and noted that Matusow never did more than cost Seeger a few jobs.
False Witness
In 1955, he came clean with a book, False Witness, in which he discloses that he was an FBI agent and was paid to lie about members of the American Communist Party. He also claimed in the book that McCarthy and Roy CohnRoy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
had encouraged him to lie. Because of the book, Matusow was found guilty of perjury, jailed for nearly three years, and ultimately blacklisted.
Expatriate producer
Unable to find work in the United States, he moved to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 1966, he established the London Film Makers Cooperative and worked with the composer Annea Lockwood
Annea Lockwood
Annea Lockwood is a New Zealand born American composer. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her work often involves recordings of natural found sounds...
who appeared on record under the name Anna Lockwood. In 1972, he produced a festival of contemporary music called the International Carnival of Experimental Sound. The event's highlights included performances by Charlotte Moorman
Charlotte Moorman
Madeline Charlotte Moorman Garside was an American cellist and performance artist.She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She studied cello from age ten and won a scholarship to Centenary College where she took her B.A. in music in 1955. She received her M.A...
(in the Roundhouse and in the Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh) and John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
's HPSCHD, for eight harpsichords and projections of the American space program
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. A train was hired to take participants and public to Edinburgh, to link with the Edinburgh festival; Charlotte Moorman performed Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....
's TV Bra in the Richard Demarco Gallery.
International Society for the Abolition of Data Processing Machines
Matusow founded the International Society for the Abolition of Data Processing Machines, which claimed 1500 members in 1969, stating that "The computer has a healthy and conservative function in mathematics and other sciences", but "when the uses involve business or government, and the individual is tyrannized, then we make our stand."Magic Mouse
Matusow returned to the United States in 1973, eventually settling in Tucson, ArizonaTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. Working with the Magic Mouse Theatre, he developed a clown persona named Cockyboo for stage and television. Matusow began Magic Mouse as a radio show in Tucson, Arizona, and slowly it grew into a traveling theater troupe, and in 1979, became the TV program Magic Mouse Magazine. This led to the creation of The Babysitter's Magic Mouse Storybook, a self-published book done in collaboration with Hilda Terry, creator of the popular newspaper strip Teena. "Some people wanted to revive the Magic Mouse stories," says Terry, "and he wanted me to illustrate them with my teenagers, from when young girls were more innocent. Teena started as a babysitter during WW2."
Conversion
Later, Matusow converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved to Glenwood, UtahGlenwood, Utah
Glenwood is a town in Sevier County, Utah, United States. The population was 437 at the 2000 census.- History :Glenwood was established in 1863 by Mormon pioneers. It was named for an early pioneer, Robert Wilson Glenn...
, to start the state's first Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV program. For a time in the 1980s (after his conversion to Mormonism), he was known as Job Matusow and lived with his wife Emily in Warwick, Massachusetts
Warwick, Massachusetts
Warwick is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 750 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
. During this time, Job and Emily sparked controversy when they allowed members of the Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
to live on their land. He made chimes out of melted ammunition and bomb shells during this time and also became involved in collecting clothes for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota.
Later life
In 2001, Matusow moved to Claremont, New HampshireClaremont, New Hampshire
There were 5,685 households out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had...
, to run the town's Public-access Television studio. He died in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
from complications from a car accident.
External links
- Further biographical information
- Voice from the Whirlwind: Footnotes from the Book of Job by Stefene Russell Brief biography of Matusow with MP3s of his album War Between Fats and Thins.