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Grades: 11th-12th
The Red Scare: Spies Among Us?
Julius and Ether Rosenberg, members of the Communist Party living in the U.S., were convicted of passing secrets to the Soviet Union in 1945 and sentenced to death. Controversy surrounded the case, as many claimed the decision was the result of Cold War hysteria, not facts. In this program, students examine primary documents from persons both inside and outside of the Intelligence Community, as well as stepping into President Eisenhower’s position to decide whether or not to grant executive clemency to the Rosenbergs.
Related Primary Sources
- Appeal to Eisenhower to Commute the Rosenbergs’ Death Sentences (1953)
- C. D. Jackson Urges the Justice Department to Seek Information from the Rosenbergs Before Their Execution (1953)
- Columbia University Professor Clyde R. Miller Urges Eisenhower to Grant Clemency to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)
- Copy of Telegram and note for President Eisenhower
- Draft Presidential Statement Rejecting Clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)
- Eisenhower Denies Executive Clemency to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)
- Eisenhower Explains His Reasons for Resisting Clemency for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)
- Eisenhower Tells a Concerned Citizen That the Rosenberg Espionage Case Has Deeply Disturbed Him (1953)
- Ethel Rosenberg Appeals Directly to Eisenhower for Clemency Days Before Her Execution (1953)
- Federal Prison Director Reports on Interviews with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Weeks Before Their Execution (1953)
- Flyer for a clemency rally
- John Foster Dulles and Attorney General Herbert Brownell Discuss the Rosenberg Case and Possible Supreme Court Intervention (1953)
- John Foster Dulles Warns Attorney General Herbert Brownell About European Concerns Over the Rosenberg Case (1953)
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Submit an Application for Executive Clemency (1953)
- Letter from Herbert Brownell to President Eisenhower
- Michael Rosenberg Appeals to Eisenhower to Meet with Him Days Before His Parents’ Execution (1953)
- Overseas Reaction to Rosenberg Case
- Psychological Strategy Board Considers Using a Prisoner Exchange Proposal to Undermine Soviet Propaganda (1953)
- Psychological Strategy Board Warns That the Rosenberg Clemency Decision Could Carry Over into the Eisenhower Administration (1953)
- Rosenberg Children Appeal to Eisenhower to Spare Their Parents from Execution (1953)
- Secretary of State John Foster Dulles Discusses Justice Douglas’s Stay of Execution in the Rosenberg Case with Allen Dulles (1953)
- Sophie Rosenberg Appeals to Mamie Eisenhower for Mercy for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1953)
- State Department Reports on International Reactions and Growing Calls for Clemency in the Rosenberg Case (1953)
- White House Prepares for Pope Pius XII’s Appeal to Eisenhower for Clemency in the Rosenberg Case (1953)
- White House Reviews Public Reaction to Eisenhower’s Denial of Clemency in the Rosenberg Case (1953)
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