Comic artist Al Capp visits LA, House panel questions Red official, September 3, 1958

A panel from Al Capp's "Li'l Abner," April 25, 1943.

During a visit to Los Angeles, "Li'l Abner" cartoonist Al Capp says he once again has the freedom to satirize American institutions "lovingly and savagely," after being limited during what The Times calls the "postwar period of international jitters." Dorothy Healey, head of the local Communist Party, appears before a closed hearing of the House Un-American Activities Subcommittee. The House panel is trying to draft new measures after Supreme Court decisions in the Nelson and Yates cases. And registration of elementary school students at L.A. Unified is expected to set a record--thanks to the postwar baby boom.

Comments

[Arye Michael Bender]

Even in the late forties and fifties, where racism was part of the accepted fabric on White American life, Al Capp was accused of racism and anti-semiticism.

Was too young to know if it was actually true, but I remember it being discussed by the adults around me.