Witch-hunting Texan makes a curtain call

Martin Dies, fire-breathing founder of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), came out of retirement on Apr. 26, 1952 to run for Texas’ new at-large congressional seat. After graduating from law school in 1922, Dies joined the family law firm in Orange. During two recent terms as an East Texas congressman, his father had opposed U.S. involvement in the First World War. Following in…