Hunting for a Witch: Political Repression at post-WWII University of Utah
Abstract
Joseph Lanning Utah State University Hunting for a Witch: Political Repression at post-WWII University of Utah There is no shortage of excellent works investigating the devastating effects of repressive McCarthyism within Cold War-era American universities. David Gardner's The California Oath Controversy and Ellen Schrecker's No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism & the Universities stand out among the rest, respectively exploring the political and ideological elements of the witch hunts. Entirely missing from the historiography, however, is an account and/or analysis of repression within Utah universities, a fact likely stemming from both the institutions' smaller academic stature than Cal Berkeley, University of Washington, and other hotspots for post-WWII violations of academic freedom, as well as that only one faculty member was terminated. What makes Utah significant to the discussion on post-WWII repression in American universities is that the school's president from 1946-1964, Albert Ray Olpin, is frequently heralded as a champion of academic freedom. It is rumored he assured the university's faculty that he would resign as president before allowing loyalty oaths to be forced upon them. Unfortunately, not only does no evidence exist that confirms this bold statement, but his involvement in the termination of an alleged subversive professor demands a reconsideration of his zeal for academic freedom. Using the 1949 firing of assistant professor James Toman from the University of Utah as a case study, my presentation aims to further contextualize the aggressive anti-Communism that swept the nation and invaded our universities. As I will show, Toman was identified as a potential Communist (no proof was ever brought against him) and dismissed with no opportunity to defend himself. This unfair treatment of a non-tenured professor closely resembles other such firings of academics accused of being communist in American universities between 1949-1950, making the university's treatment of Toman worthy of the historiography.
Hunting for a Witch: Political Repression at post-WWII University of Utah
Joseph Lanning Utah State University Hunting for a Witch: Political Repression at post-WWII University of Utah There is no shortage of excellent works investigating the devastating effects of repressive McCarthyism within Cold War-era American universities. David Gardner's The California Oath Controversy and Ellen Schrecker's No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism & the Universities stand out among the rest, respectively exploring the political and ideological elements of the witch hunts. Entirely missing from the historiography, however, is an account and/or analysis of repression within Utah universities, a fact likely stemming from both the institutions' smaller academic stature than Cal Berkeley, University of Washington, and other hotspots for post-WWII violations of academic freedom, as well as that only one faculty member was terminated. What makes Utah significant to the discussion on post-WWII repression in American universities is that the school's president from 1946-1964, Albert Ray Olpin, is frequently heralded as a champion of academic freedom. It is rumored he assured the university's faculty that he would resign as president before allowing loyalty oaths to be forced upon them. Unfortunately, not only does no evidence exist that confirms this bold statement, but his involvement in the termination of an alleged subversive professor demands a reconsideration of his zeal for academic freedom. Using the 1949 firing of assistant professor James Toman from the University of Utah as a case study, my presentation aims to further contextualize the aggressive anti-Communism that swept the nation and invaded our universities. As I will show, Toman was identified as a potential Communist (no proof was ever brought against him) and dismissed with no opportunity to defend himself. This unfair treatment of a non-tenured professor closely resembles other such firings of academics accused of being communist in American universities between 1949-1950, making the university's treatment of Toman worthy of the historiography.