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Red Lion, PA: Anti-Communist League of York County, [1961]. An event poster for a July 4th anti-Communism film festival organized by the newly-formed Anti-Communist League of York County in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. The event occurred in 1961 and was part of a broader program of patriotic activities organized by the Red Lion Junior Chamber of Congress.

According to the poster, nine films of varying lengths were shown continuously from 12 noon until 9:30pm with a special showing of the controversial documentary Operation Abolition following fireworks. Operation Abolition dealt with student demonstrations in San Francisco during HUAC testimony in 1960 and was criticized for portraying the protests as Communist-inspired. The movies were marketed as a series by the National Education Program in Searcy, Arkansas, and rented to anti-Communist groups such as the Anti-Communist League of York County. A contemporary newspaper article estimates that 350 individuals attended the screenings. The group also distributed a thousand pieces of literature from Liberty Lobby, Christian Crusade, the Cinema Educational Guild, and the Freedom Builders of America.

The Anti-Communist League of York County was founded in 1961 by a 29-year-old carpenter Gene Engles and was similar in worldview to the John Birch Society. In 1962, the group distributed a pamphlet that in part referred to the famous chemist and peace activist, Linus Pauling, as a communist. The perennially litigious Pauling sued the group for $100,000, which was settled out of court two years later for $2,000.

Offset printed in black & red on thick cream stock (22” x 14”). Some wear and creasing, but a well-preserved copy. Not found by us in OCLC.

Reference: “League Aims to Spread Rightist Views in Schools.” York Gazette and Daily, July 5, 1961 [in] FOIA: CACC-Fred Schwarz-HQ-4. Item #10188

Price: $250.00