Letter from the Civil Service Commission to the Truman Administration
ca. 10/12/1950
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Beginning in the late 1940s and continuing through the 1960s, thousands of gay employees were fired or forced to resign from the federal workforce because of their sexuality. Dubbed the Lavender Scare, this wave of repression was also bound up with anti-Communism and fueled by the power of congressional investigation.
In response to a Senate investigation into "homosexuals in the civil service," the Truman administration gathered information on the topic.
Henry Mitchell, Chair of the Civil Service Commission, sent this letter to Clive Palmer, Special Assistant to the Attorney General. Mitchell provided the Truman administration with numbers of federal employees believed to be homosexual according to FBI reports.
Mitchell reported that of the 341 individuals listed on FBI reports, 192 were federal employees. He informed the Justice Department that 17 of these were still employed by the federal government; 125 had been fired; and that data was incomplete on the remaining 50.
In response to a Senate investigation into "homosexuals in the civil service," the Truman administration gathered information on the topic.
Henry Mitchell, Chair of the Civil Service Commission, sent this letter to Clive Palmer, Special Assistant to the Attorney General. Mitchell provided the Truman administration with numbers of federal employees believed to be homosexual according to FBI reports.
Mitchell reported that of the 341 individuals listed on FBI reports, 192 were federal employees. He informed the Justice Department that 17 of these were still employed by the federal government; 125 had been fired; and that data was incomplete on the remaining 50.
This primary source comes from the Collection HST-CF: Confidential Files (Truman Administration).
National Archives Identifier: 54962905
Full Citation: Letter from Harry B. Mitchell, Chairman, Civil Service Commission to Clive Palmer, Special Assistant to the Attorney General; ca. 10/12/1950; 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/mitchell-palmer, June 5, 2023]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
