To sabotage American production of the atomic weapon." It is a process of development. An organic process is never ‘wholly A’ or ‘wholly not-A’. For a number of years, cells have existed among librarians, and the Communist influence has not been small in the American Library Association. In certain areas there were honorable exceptions to this rule. In 1933, the very year in which the Open Letter to the Party counseled such infiltration, a special committee of the Progressive Education Association issued A Call to the Teachers of the Nation. So it is in this case. As I have stated on several occasions, specifically in my book The Cry Is Peace, the use of the names of outstanding scientists was of great value to the conspiracy in persuading lesser men in this field to engage in espionage as well as infiltration. We have the anomalous situation in the United States that we send the Rosenbergs to the electric chair but heap honors on those who helped to breed the Rosenbergs. The spiritual challenge, presumably, was in the current arrests and liquidations of philosophers, historians, and professors accused of 'rotten liberalism' in their thinking." There are several objectives in this maneuver other than the effect the books themselves (apparently non-Communist in character but many slanted in a Communist direction) will have on the students. Neither Dr. Harlow Shapley of Harvard, to whom the open letter was addressed, nor Dr. Brameld, who was one of those to whom its inquiries were directed, could or would answer it. It was through that organization that atomic secrets were stolen from the radiation laboratory at the University of California and from the Manhattan Engineering District. They are all mentioned in "Communism in the Colleges," J. In 1949, Professor Wilson was the author, along with Richard Carlton Snyder, of a "textbook" which enjoyed unusual popularity in the government and political science departments of many universities. Holyoke and Bryn Mawr also were represented, and of course, Hunter College in New York. That this should be the test is illustrated by the responses of Dr. Bernard J. Stern of Columbia University before the Sub-Committee on Internal Security. For some of these men are often bound up in a pragmatic and materialistic philosophy akin to that which forms the basis of Communism. His pamphlet, American Education Under Fire, which will be analyzed later, was written with the cooperation of Dr. Brameld, who has been a consistent member of Communist fronts for the past twenty years. A photostat of the discussion is in my possession). (The Report of the Royal Commission, June 27, 1946, Ottawa, p.70). The irony is that Communism supposedly attempts to enhance civility within society, but removes all notions of Absolute Morality, the very cornerstone of civility. Brameld was an outstanding supporter and sponsor of the Communist created American League Against War and Fascism, denounced by the Attorney General of that time as set up to advance the interests of Soviet Russia. Smith College: Dorothy Douglas (retired after many years as full professor), S. Ralph Harlow, Mervin Jules, Oliver Larkin. . Smith College: Dorothy Douglas (retired after many years as full professor), S. Ralph Harlow, Mervin Jules, Oliver Larkin. It was, he said, by linking the schools up "with socialist or communist agitators." The Soviet fifth column is keenly aware of the value of prestige, of getting its concealed members recognized as "authorities." At the very time when the Town Club education committee was preparing its report, Professor Irving Goldman of Sarah Lawrence College was appearing before the Senate Internal Sub-Committee, where it was brought out that he has been a member of the Communist Party and of Red cells at Columbia University and Brooklyn College. Joliot-Curie boasted that scientific workers in the United States had been affected by Communist propaganda, making this statement in a broadcast over the Moscow radio on March 24, 1950. The whole structure of our legal procedure would be destroyed, and the courts and Congress made powerless. None of us is sure of anything. An entire syllabus which would inevitably lead a student either to embrace Marxism-Leninism or to be sympathetic to the Communist line, can be drawn up without one notably or openly Stalinite reference in it. This should be sharply noted, for it is what can be observed in scores of other cases. Under the super-military discipline of the Communist conspiracy, "good faith" in this case is impossible. Libraries—Red Target To cite another instance, Professor John J. DeBoer of the University of Illinois was one of the outstanding panel speakers at the seditious Waldorf-Astoria "peace" conference. Government Control of Education. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has come under increasing scrutiny the past few years because of its questionable trade practices and growing monopolies in technology, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and even professional sports. Miss Strong, one of the most notorious of pro-Soviet propagandists, did not get to decide the question eventually; the Soviet dictatorship threw her out of her "paradise" with the accusation that she was a "spy." Beyond all this, the Communists on the faculty have the loud support of specific organizations in the community which other concealed Communists infiltrate and control. The school and college libraries are other targets of the Reds. Both Nelson and Scherer are veteran Soviet espionage agents. Nor do the Reds hesitate to resort to whispering campaigns against the character of an opponent, which frequently terrorize non-Communist teachers or professors. Lecturers and program directors brought into the school system there included Dr. Bernard F. Riess of Hunter College, whose pro-Communist record filled pages of Congressional hearings, and Dr. Bert Loewenberg of Sarah Lawrence College, sponsor and panel speaker at the notorious Waldorf-Astoria "peace" conference. Educ Forum, 34, 4, 471-8, May '70. Even such well-known Marxist-Leninists as James S. Allen and Herbert Aptheker are listed on high school and college libraries reading lists. Education; Sociology; Psychotherapy; Philosophy; Contact; The Philosophy of Communism. Dr. J. Conspicuous among his pro-Red acts are his sponsorship of the "open" Communist Party School, the Jefferson School of Social Science. only in the Soviet Union has this basic cause of war been removed . Dr. Harry F. Ward, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, is reported to be a member of sixty Communist fronts. In the spring of 1932, he met with a select group, called together by the veteran Communist, A. At the same time, he has been prominent in advocating recognition of Red China and in urging "negotiations" of a general character with Soviet Russia, going to the extent of issuing pamphlets on a nation-wide scale in support of these pro-Soviet proposals. Since the connection of the 4ASW with the World Federation and with the Canadian group was brought out in official documents in the United States and Canada, it is an eloquent fact that Professor Mather and his organization of scientists did not condemn the Canadian Soviet spies and did not demur against the "siren call to treason," the House Committee on Un-American Activities terms Joliot-Curie's broadcast. Brameld made no objection to any such seditious statements, although opportunity was given to him to do so. The reader can readily see that if this were not the law, witnesses could defy courts and Congress on behalf of criminals of any kind, specifically where conspiracies were involved. (The Report of the Royal Commission, June 27, 1946, Ottawa, p.70). The House Committee states: "In view of the key role played by scientific specialists, especially atomic scientists, in the defense program of democratic nations today, it is small wonder that the Communists have chosen this group as a major target of the subversive 'peace' movement." . Everything of a "cultural character" is there blended together. Paul W. Shafer of Michigan in the House of Representatives, March 21, 1952). Stern's record of consistent aid to the conspiracy over twenty years makes it unnecessary to prove legally that he is a Communist. to support the peace policies of the Soviet Union . This goes far beyond the outspoken cry of "McCarthyite"; it extends into sly and organized gossip, reflecting on the work, the morals, and the integrity of the person under attack because of his patriotic position. But he refused to answer, on the grounds that it would tend to incriminate him, the question whether he had been a member of the Party several years before. The importance of this penetration was emphasized by William Z. Paul W. Shafer of Michigan in the House of Representatives, March 21, 1952). Dr. Dorothy Douglas, until 1952 full professor at Smith College with great influence upon the students, furnishes a case illustrating the relationship of certain educators to Party finances. But when we consider the comparatively modest remuneration they receive for the important services they perform, we can pay a tribute to their devotion to the United States. Socialism is best defined in contrast with capitalism, as socialismhas arisen both as a critical challenge to capitalism, and as aproposal for overcoming and replacing it. Following up this thought of illegality which he defended, Brameld proceeded to declare that, consistent with Marxist strategy, teachers who wish to conduct their activity "within the school and without in behalf of the collectivist ideal must influence their students, subtly if necessary, frankly if possible, toward accepting the same position." The results are disastrous." (Daily Worker, Feb. 6, 1941, p. 4). Among the entertainers and speakers brought into Scarsdale, either to perform before the school children or to speak at PTA meetings and other community organization affairs, were: Paul Draper, the dancer, member of fifteen Communist fronts; Lisa Sergio, also with a Communist front record; Pearl Primus, who was built up as a dancer by the Communists; and Louis Dolivet, notorious Stalinist agent. From all this, the Sub-Committee concludes: "For these reasons, the Sub-Committee considered the claim of privilege, particularly on the question of Communist membership, extremely significant in the determination of those who were Communists." The Red infiltrators are there counseled to perform their task in such a way as not to be "exposed" and dislodged from their positions. The Report of the Royal Commission, which is based on documents taken by Igor Gouzenko from the military espionage department of the Soviet Embassy at Ottawa, declares direct Communist control of the Canadian organization of scientific workers was a means by which espionage was furthered. Following up this thought of illegality which he defended, Brameld proceeded to declare that, consistent with Marxist strategy, teachers who wish to conduct their activity "within the school and without in behalf of the collectivist ideal must influence their students, subtly if necessary, frankly if possible, toward accepting the same position." Under Stalin, perhaps the most notorious Communist, around 40 million Russian citizens were murdered for "the good of the state.". To speak of communist philosophy would be like speaking of communist religion, or communist political economy. Fifth, the "smear" tactic, which the Communists have always used on a big scale, is brought to bear in various forms. Professor Wilson became one of the speakers at the conference held at Carnegie Hall on January 30, 1953, which took up the cudgels in defense of the subversives. W.S.] He has been on more Communist fronts than any other member of the academic profession. The reviewer is Ben W. Palmer, member of the Minneapolis bar, lecturer at the University of Minnesota, and member of the advisory editorial board of the American Bar Association Journal. Members of this committee included Dr. Sidney Hook of New York University, Dr. Jesse Newlon of Teachers College, and Dr. Goodwin Watson of the same institution. which attained great popularity in progressive education circles. Columbia University: Corliss Lamont, Robert Lynd, Dorothy Brewster, Bernhard J. Stern, Walter Rautenstrauch (now deceased), Clark H. Foreman. Socialism is an economic philosophy based on the need for regulations on capitalism. A cleric might run to the ecclesiastical court for protection against the king." The actuality is that the best way to support the school or college in question is to cleanse it completely of these subversive influences. At the request of the Communist League, an activist group they were members of, Marx and Engels together authored The Communist Manifesto. . Dr. Watson's thinking was in accord with his record of membership on numerous Communist fronts, including the vice-chairmanship of the committee on the Peekskill riots, which presented a distorted picture of the events, favorable to Howard Fast and Paul Robeson, Communists. Such has been the rule for educational standards both in Soviet Russia and under all the satellite regimes. But the Town Club report ignores Goldman's record, although he was one of the lecturers at the off-campus courses for Scarsdale teachers. Quite to the contrary, he immediately associated himself with Communist-created "peace" movements which were stimulated by Joliot-Curie's World Peace Congress. For some of these men are often bound up in a pragmatic and materialistic philosophy akin to that which forms the basis of Communism. They were among those, however, who signed an open letter to the conference, pointing out the plight of culture under the Soviet system which Brameld and his associates were praising so highly. Dr. J. The Report of the Royal Commission, which is based on documents taken by Igor Gouzenko from the military espionage department of the Soviet Embassy at Ottawa, declares direct Communist control of the Canadian organization of scientific workers was a means by which espionage was furthered. "But the second reality is this: That there is a strong, aggressive and growing minority among our educators who are committed to the Communist cause and who serve repeatedly on Communist front organizations. (Reference to all these events and discussions is contained in the speech of Hon. By such "cultural" work, the Soviet fifth column obtains an influence, directly or indirectly, over at least a portion of American youth. A complete absurdity. Copyright © 2002-2020 AllAboutPhilosophy.org, All Rights Reserved. This was the World Federation of Scientific Workers, cited by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as "another international Communist front organization." 2.) INDIVIDUALISM VS. SOCIALISM stresses welfare of society over and above the individual stresses complete freedom of man in pursuit of his own welfare Marxism theory: a stage of development 1. These, and other similar methods of attack, can be defeated by carefully bringing out the facts, basing every statement on the record in the case. B. Matthews, American Mercury, May, 1953). (Annual Report, House Committee on Un-American Activities, year 1951, Feb.17, 1952, 16, 17). They must affect the children's thinking, and they must mobilize other teachers. Dr. Henry Pratt Fairchild of New York University has been associated with forty of such organizations; Colston E. Warne of Amherst and Frederick L. Schuman of Williams College, with thirty, and that is the record also of Dr. Robert S. Lynd of Columbia. The list of those organizations and causes is then given, from the hearings and records of the House Committee, including his sponsorship of the seditious Waldorf-Astoria peace conference in 1949, his participation as speaker and vice-president at the Communist-created "American Continental Congress for Peace," his association with the Civil Rights Congress, and his joining in a number of statements on behalf of Communist leaders. The main goal of The Communist Manifesto was to focus on class struggle and motivate the common people to riot. (The Educational Reviewer, 112 E. 36th St., New York 16, N.Y., Oct.15, 1950). At the time of his appearance on the witness stand in 1952, he was editor of the Stalinite organ Science and Society, a quarterly publication for intellectuals. (The pro-Communist records of Warne and Dimock are given in various reports of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, including The Communist "Peace" Offensive, 1951; The Review of Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace, 1949. This association of the two tendencies was not surprising on the campus at Champaign, where the Soviet fifth column has made marked inroads into the adherence and thinking of a considerable section of the faculty. printed speech of Representative Paul W. Shafer of Michigan, March 21, 1952). The wide variety of Shapley's affiliations with Communist causes is again illustrated by his sponsorship of the Spanish Rescue Ship Mission, a Red-created group to aid the Communists in Spain, and which by degrees developed into the Joint Anti-Fascist Rescue Committee. It is unfortunate that up to the present, this strong and aggressive minority has intimidated the overwhelming majority of educators with new cries of "fascism" and "McCarthyism," so that a considerable part of the vocal expression from educational circles has tended to favor the seditionists. Since 1948 and 1949 (the arrangement being made over a period of time) no Communist has had any vestige of membership. Lautner showed in detail how the Communist teachers were divided into small groups, as they were organized for underground Party work. The Red instructor has many other "non-Communist" sources to draw on-those leading figures in public life who always follow the Communist line and whom Stalin has designated as the "reserves" the conspiracy should call upon. In November, 1935, writing in the organ of the Dewey school, Social Frontiers, Brameld went farther along this line in his article on "Karl Marx and the American Teacher." First, the cry of "academic freedom" is raised. In this, the conspiracy has been very adroit. The "call" was the signal for a flood of discussions and articles in leading educational circles on the possibility and desirability of "socialism." This conforms with the explanation presented by John Lautner, former head of the State Control Commission of the New York Communist Party, before the Senate Sub-Committee on Internal Security on October 13, 1952. In the classroom, the Communist teacher or professor very rarely, if ever, teaches Marxism-Leninism openly. Of Dr. Linus C. Pauling, the House Committee on Un-American Activities reported on April 1, 1951: "His whole record given below indicates that Dr. Linus Carl Pauling is primarily engrossed in placing his scientific attainments at the service of a host of organizations which have in common their complete subservience to the Communist Party, USA, and the Soviet Union. As to the field of physical science, the United States excels so greatly in that area that it became the chief target of the fifth column's infiltration. More than that, when an anti-Communist organization, the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, called his attention to the character of this front, he replied with a sneer. by Louis F. Budenz Professor Wilson became one of the speakers at the conference held at Carnegie Hall on January 30, 1953, which took up the cudgels in defense of the subversives. The case of Dr. Douglas could be multiplied a number of times. Every Communist has surrendered his freedom to the Kremlin and the Party. There has been a flourishing and effective cell of at least thirty Communist professors there, with the usual much more extensive influence than even that number indicates. The letter asked "when the delegates from the Soviet Union appear at your conference, to make inquiry of them as to what happened to the purged artists, writers, and critics of the Soviet Union." There is no other explanation for their silent championship of the barbarities of the Kremlin. (This report, made under the name V. J. Jerome, was presented to the Fifteenth National Convention of the Communist Party in December, 1950, and first printed in Political Affairs for February, 1951. It was stressed that "Communist teachers are faced with a tremendous social responsibility." Pragmatism is not a Communist philosophy, but it serves as a convenient cover under which the Reds may operate and also under which they may win many allies in the educational field. This is the instruction which runs through all directives to the infiltrators of our schools and colleges: they must exercise their Communist influence "without exposing themselves." 6-8). His works in themselves are carefully prepared to lead the immature mind to a pro-Stalinite position, or at least to the point where he will be an easy victim of the Communist line. B. Matthews, after careful examination of the records, declares that since 1935 "the Communist Party has enlisted the support of at least thirty-five hundred professors—many of them as dues paying members, many others as fellow travelers, some as out-and-out espionage agents, some as adherents of the Party line in varying degrees, and some as the unwitting dupes of subversion." From Yale: Thomas I. Emerson, Fowler V. Harper, Halford E. Luccock, Dr. John Peters. However, it seems that men are intrinsically evil and need only an opportunity to express this inherent reality. Since one of these men mentioned, Virginius Frank Coe, has been conspicuous in refusing to answer questions concerning his Communist affiliations or activities, some consideration must be given to the claim of privilege under the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution. Education has been influenced by the philosophy of education, which hasoccurred more specifically than philosophy. Of Dr. Struik the House Committee on Un-American Activities reports in 1952, on the basis of testimony given by Herbert A. Philbrick, undercover agent for the FBI: "Among those Philbrick identified as being members of the professional section of the Communist Party was Dr. Dirk J. Struik, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. fi elds of philosophy of education (PE) and philosophy of science (PS): … educational ones about the place of science in the curriculum, and how learning science. The apparent contradiction in this stand has a logic of its own. At the very time when the Town Club education committee was preparing its report, Professor Irving Goldman of Sarah Lawrence College was appearing before the Senate Internal Sub-Committee, where it was brought out that he has been a member of the Communist Party and of Red cells at Columbia University and Brooklyn College. Sometimes there is a misrepresentation of facts, as when Dean Ernest 0. Some Educational Implications of Karl Marx's Communism. Corliss Lamont, most consistent of pro-Soviet propagandists, teaches philosophy at Columbia University, and his works on that subject are used in other colleges. "The Columbia History of the World" called Marx's writings "one of the most remarkable … That is so clear an explanation of Communist methods in the classroom, and so definite an exhortation to follow those methods, that it deserves careful re-reading. It adds: "Professor Morrison travels up and down the country on his Red missions." A chief Communist agency to advance espionage was the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians, known as FAECT. This conforms with the explanation presented by John Lautner, former head of the State Control Commission of the New York Communist Party, before the Senate Sub-Committee on Internal Security on October 13, 1952. As early as 1924, in lectures delivered at the Sverdlov University in Moscow, Stalin specified "cultural and educational organizations" as valuable allies in the Communist battle for world dictatorship. It is pointed out that the three purposes are: "'To exert any influence they have on the peoples and governments of non-Communist nations in a direction advantageous to the Soviet Union," and then "to maneuver these and other scientists into a position where they may render the following services: 1. At Princeton, N.J., we find Dr. John A. Mackay and Paul H. Lehmann at the Theological Seminary, and Dr. Irwin Panofsky and Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study. Orthodox communism of Macmurray’s day did accept 2) under the description of the philosophy of dialectical materialism. Under the name of Bennett Stevens, he taught at the Workers School, and under the same name he wrote Marxist-Leninist books. Philosophy of education is the branch of applied or practical philosophy concerned with the nature and aims of education and the philosophical problems arising from educational theory and practice. Langston Hughes, the Negro poet who had been a member of eighty-five Communist fronts, finally agreed before the Senate Permanent Investigations Committee headed by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy that none of his works written in his "pro-Communist period" should be read or studied. Considered as an economic system, socialism is best understood in contrast with capitalism.Capitalism designates an economic system with all of the following features: 1. Learning becomes largely a matter of doing w/ experience considered the only means of acquiring knowledge. When they refused to testify as to their Stalinite affiliations or espionage activities, they merely confirmed what had been known all along from their performance in the past. He knew individuals who have been exposed as espionage agents for Soviet Russia. Its program, adopted in the fall of 1933, to which Dr. Brameld necessarily subscribed, said in part: "The black cloud of imperialist war hangs over the world . In addition, a top secret memorandum circulated among security authorities, dated November, 1945, was made known by the then Congressman Richard M. Nixon in 1950, and this listed Maurice Halperin as a member of a Soviet espionage ring." In African culture the community always comesfirst. Those who are protecting the Reds often borrow Red methods, and so it is in this case. Among the entertainers and speakers brought into Scarsdale, either to perform before the school children or to speak at PTA meetings and other community organization affairs, were: Paul Draper, the dancer, member of fifteen Communist fronts; Lisa Sergio, also with a Communist front record; Pearl Primus, who was built up as a dancer by the Communists; and Louis Dolivet, notorious Stalinist agent. The state owns businesses on behalf of the workers, which, in effect, means the government owns a … They work under the directives of Communist functionaries who seek out ways to influence trustees of the college involved or members of the board of education. Many by-products beneficial to the conspiracy arise from this infiltration, since concealed Communists in education or their friends become sponsors of Communist fronts, aid in financing Communist causes, and sometimes play a part in influencing the attitudes of certain scientists, specific church circles, and government agencies. It encourages the formation of a proletarian state in order to overcome the class structures and alienation of labor that characterize capitalistic societies, and their legacy of imperialism and nationalism. Louis F. Budenz, American Legion Magazine, Nov. 1951). Building on that foundation, the Communist teacher or professor notes the pupil or student most susceptible to pro-Red ideas. His pamphlet, American Education Under Fire, which will be analyzed later, was written with the cooperation of Dr. Brameld, who has been a consistent member of Communist fronts for the past twenty years. (Report of Sub-Committee on Internal Security, United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subversive Influence in the Educational Process, pp. II. Pragmatism is not a Communist philosophy, but it serves as a convenient cover under which the Reds may operate and also under which they may win many allies in the educational field. (Activities of United States Citizens Employed by the United Nations, report of Senate Sub-Committee on Internal Security, Jan. 2, 1953, p.7; also see hearings and report of this Sub-Committee on the Institute of Pacific Relations). Anna Louise Strong had stated it to us. Its leading officers were Frederick Joliot-Curie of France and John Desmond Bernal of England, two notorious Communist scientists.