Memorandum from Carlisle H. Humelsine to James Webb
6/23/1950
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This memorandum from Carlisle H. Humelsine to James Webb describes a psychological profile of homosexuals to support their removal from the State Department.
In the late 1940s, the United States was at the center of a changing political landscape. During the 1950s, queer and gender nonconforming persons were being flushed out of the federal workforce and the military. The idea was to keep America and American values protected amid a Cold War and growing anxiety about external threats, real and imagined. The discussion about homosexuality became more defined and targeted.
The prevailing thought at this time was that homosexuality was a danger to democracy. In addition to being unreliable, fickle, reclusive, and depressed, being queer also meant that the person could be a communist, or susceptible to communist recruiters, and therefore, anti- or un-American.
In the late 1940s, the United States was at the center of a changing political landscape. During the 1950s, queer and gender nonconforming persons were being flushed out of the federal workforce and the military. The idea was to keep America and American values protected amid a Cold War and growing anxiety about external threats, real and imagined. The discussion about homosexuality became more defined and targeted.
The prevailing thought at this time was that homosexuality was a danger to democracy. In addition to being unreliable, fickle, reclusive, and depressed, being queer also meant that the person could be a communist, or susceptible to communist recruiters, and therefore, anti- or un-American.
This primary source comes from the Collection HST-CF: Confidential Files (Truman Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 54538190
Full Citation: Memorandum from Carlisle H. Humelsine to James Webb; 6/23/1950; Sex Perversion [investigations of Federal employees]; Confidential Subject Files, 1945 - 1953; Collection HST-CF: Confidential Files (Truman Administration); Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/memorandum-from-humelsine-to-webb, June 5, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
