Courtney E. Owens

Courtney E. Owens (1924–2014), AKA Courtney Owens, was a 20th-century American civil servant, best known as chief investigator for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) from 1954 to 1957.

Background Courtney Elwell Owens was born on January 5, 1924, in Washington, DC. His superior was senior investigator Louis J. Russell and colleague Donald T. Appell, all of whose names regularly appear in congressional hearings, e.g., the August 28, 1950, testimony of Lee Pressman. From 1954 to 1957, he serve as HUAC's chief investigator.

In 1957, Owens moved with his family to Southern California. In 1959, he started work with Townsend Engineering in nearby Santa Ana, California, and led marketing and sales of its "Identi-Kit," a visual identification system for law enforcement. He retired in 1982.

Personal life and death Owens married and had three children.

Courtney Owns died age 99 on November 18, 2014, at his home in Laguna Niguel, California.

Legacy Owens appears in many books regarding HUAC investigations, including: 1997: Whittaker Chambers: A Biography 2010: I Was a Communist for the FBI: The Unhappy Life and Times of Matt Cvetic 2011: Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success 2019: Professor Berman: The Last Lecture of Minnesota's Greatest Public Historian