American Youth for Democracy
1 media/Assault II - Pita and Kaplan 2003_thumb.jpg 2024-10-08T12:59:32-07:00 Queens College Special Collections and Archives e5d75124350046eec0e648a38e4b73292f02c4b0 46099 1 Panel from 2003 exhibit on McCarthyism curated by Dorothy Pita and Larry Kaplan. plain 2024-10-08T12:59:37-07:00 Queens College Special Collections and Archives e5d75124350046eec0e648a38e4b73292f02c4b0This page is referenced by:
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The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II had major domestic consequences. From the late 1940s through the mid 1950s, federal, state, and city officials launched a series of investigations of communist influence in the government, the military, Hollywood, and schools. The repression of civil liberties and the loss of jobs that followed came to be known as "the McCarthy period" after Senator Joseph McCarthy, who led the charge at the national level. Many institutions were affected, including the nation's universities and colleges. Queens College - with its liberal first president, Paul Klapper, activist student body, and independent faculty - became a focal point for hostile critics. The Borough of Queens had conservative political leaders, as well as right wing veterans' organizations, anti-communist church groups, and conservative newspapers. Some Queens residents had not wanted the college established to begin with. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, under director Jay Edgar Hoover, instigated the first assault on academic freedom at Queens College.
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In 1949, as anti-communist hysteria spread throughout the country, John J. Theobald, the choice of conservative groups in the borough, was named president of Queens College. He did not disappoint his supporters. Left wing student clubs could no longer be chartered on campus. Communist Party identified speakers, such as the popular novelist Howard Fast, were banned from campus. When student organizations invited a suspended New York City teacher to the college, they themselves were suspended along with the Queens College Student Council. As an added punishment, Theobald turned over the names and addresses of the suspended students. The local newspapers, further embarrassing and intimidating them. With the help of informers, the FBI started keeping files on these students, records that were used against them in later life.
