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Hazel Scott was the gorgeous face of jazz at the mid-century; the most glamorous, well-known Black woman in America, making more than $100,000 per year, draped in custom-designed jewelry and furs. Her remarkable career is preserved in the Library s Music Division.
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On a rainy September morning in 1950, jazz pianist Hazel Scott stood in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee hoping to clear her name.
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Red Channels had accused Scott â along with 150 other cultural figures â of communist sympathies. Failure to respond would be seen as an admission of guilt. But her appearance at HUAC had a greater purpose than personal exoneration. She believed she had a responsibility to stem the tide of paranoia that gained momentum by the day.
She told the committee s members, Mudslinging and unverified charges are just the wrong ways to handle this problem. With the same poise she brought to the stage as a musician, she testified that what happens to me happens to others, and it is part of a pattern which could spread and really damage our national morale and security.