Mr, Donovan Praises
Oaths For Teachers;
Attacks NSL As Red
Dr. Lefkowitz and Roger Bald-
win At Social Studies Council
Attack Loyalty Oaths
Sponsors of loyalty
oaths and other instruments affecting academic freedom were both
denounced and defended at the closing session of the National Council
for the Social Studies in the Hotel Pennsylvania.
Following an attack
by Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz, chairman of the Teachers Guild on Charles R.
Walgreen, drug store owner, and William Randolph Hearst, as leading
advocates of the loyalty oaths, Herbert D. A. Donovan of James Madison
High School asked why Mr. Hearst and the American Legion were not
represented.
"I am perfectly
willing to concede that property has had considerable influence on
school boards, but I. am not willing to concede that it is not entitled
to that representation," he said.
When Roger N.
Baldwin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union, minimized the
influence of communism in the United States, Mr. Donovan retorted:
"There is a Red
menace. I think offhand of the National Student League. Its members are
in many classrooms, principally to create disturbances. They recite
speeches they couldn't have possibly written themselves."
He then charged
that the National Student League is being supported by the Communist
party. This assertion brought an immediate denial from Mr. Baldwin, who
also stressed the need for organization of the teaching profession "to
meet pressure groups."
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May 20, 2004
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