PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN - DOCUMENT SIGNED 07/16/1952 - HFSID 254912

RONALD REAGAN
As Secretary of the Motion Picture Industry Council, he signed these minutes of a 1952 meeting during which censorship and Communism in the motion picture industry were discussed.
Typed Document Signed: "Ronald Reagan" as Secretary, 5½ pages, 8½x11. No place, 1952 July 16. "Minutes of the Meeting of the Motion Picture Industry Council, held in the Board Room of the Association of Motion Picture Producers on July 16, 1952". The 32 delegates present at this meeting are listed on a separate page with their organization affiliation. In part: "At the request of the Chairman, Ronald Reagan reported upon his appearance as a keynote speaker at the annual convention of the American Newspaper Guild in Portland, Oregon. He stated that he had been pleased to hear the MPIC spoken of very highly when he was being introduced; that the meeting had provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the problems that the motion picture industry and the press have in common, such as the fight against censorship, and that he felt a more favorable slant toward the industry was being developed in newspaper circles...Mr. Lessing presented a report of a meeting of the Executive Committee on July 8th, covering aspects of American Legion relationships and other matters stemming from charges of Communism in the industry...The Council also reviewed a recommendation by the Executive Committee that it consider ways and means of clarifying the position of writers who were members of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization, listed by the Attorney General as a 'subversive organization.' Howard Green, Secretary of the SWG [Screen Writers' Guild], stated that SWG had written the Attorney General challenging the listing...." In 1949, Ronald Reagan was elected Chairman of the Motion Picture Industry Council which represented 35,000 members. He served on its Board of Directors for ten years. At the American Newspaper Guild Conference which he references, he received a certificate for "spearheading the fight against Communism in Hollywood." At the time Reagan was a "liberal" and a staunch union man (Screen Actors Guild President 1947-1960). He fought to keep Communists out of the union and Hollywood believing that they would use motion pictures as a medium for spreading their propaganda. File holes at left margin, paperclip impression in upper right blank margin of signature page. Fine condition.