William Gropper taught at the School of Art of the John Reed Club during the 1930s and exhibited his politically radical art alongside fellow club members Ben Shahn, Louis Ribak, Philip Evergood, Aaron Goodelman, Louis Lozowick, and Raphael Soyer. His works of this period and later, such as his U.S. Senators series, attacked what he perceived as the excesses of the American capitalist establishment. His leftist politics led him to be called before the House Un-American Activities Committe in 1953.