During the early years of the cold war, concerns about communist, radical, or left-wing faculty in American institutions of higher learning were widespread. Now available in paperback, this is the first extensive study of how academic administrators responded to these public concerns, the underlying issues, and what accounted for which faculty members became victims of the cold war on campus.Lewis looks closely at controversies on fifty-eighth colleges and universities during the period from 1946 to 1956. He finds that in general the cold war on campuses was fought out over issues of academic freedom rather than political ideology. In fact, only a handful of faculty were members of the Communist party, and there is nothing to suggest that even this minority was involved in conspiratorial activities, sabotage, or other activities that resulted in civil unrest. What then explains what happened on American campuses during this period?The central argument of Cold War on Campus is that political considerations were important in .determining who was picked out and labeled, and whose career was threatened; but after that, political considerations played hardly any role in how matters on campus developed and were resolved.
"This study covers the cases of 126 individuals at 58 colleges and universities who were investigated (and often dismissed) because of their private left-wing beliefs and activities... Lewis's documentary evidence is extensive... [T]he work is of enormous interest to students and faculty in education departments."
--G. E. Hein, Choice
"The most complete and intensive analysis of what [Lewis] defines as the Cold War or what might be described as the inquisitional onslaught by federal and state 'un-American' committees on the integrity and independence of the American professorate during 1946-56."
--Edward C. McDonagh, The American Journal of Education
"Lewis's work reinforces a fundamental point. Administrators at over one hundred institutions share responsibility for actions that helped strike a tragic blow to academic freedom and intellectual culture during the 1950s. They were participants in a campaign of political expedience and aggression-along with thousands of national leaders."
--David R. Homes, Journal of Higher Education
"Cold War on Campus demonstrates how the academic battleground shifted from place to place in the 1950s, and why this was so. Instead of slick political judgments, Mr. Lewis lets his evidence speak for itself. The result is far more compelling."
--David M. Oshinsky, "Academe"
"This study covers the cases of 126 individuals at 58 colleges and universities who were investigated (and often dismissed) because of their private left-wing beliefs and activities... Lewis's documentary evidence is extensive... [T]he work is of enormous interest to students and faculty in education departments."
--G. E. Hein, Choice
"The most complete and intensive analysis of what [Lewis] defines as the Cold War or what might be described as the inquisitional onslaught by federal and state 'un-American' committees on the integrity and independence of the American professorate during 1946-56."
--Edward C. McDonagh, The American Journal of Education
"Lewis's work reinforces a fundamental point. Administrators at over one hundred institutions share responsibility for actions that helped strike a tragic blow to academic freedom and intellectual culture during the 1950s. They were participants in a campaign of political expedience and aggression-along with thousands of national leaders."
--David R. Homes, Journal of Higher Education
"Cold War on Campus demonstrates how the academic battleground shifted from place to place in the 1950s, and why this was so. Instead of slick political judgments, Mr. Lewis lets his evidence speak for itself. The result is far more compelling."
--David M. Oshinsky, Academe
-This study covers the cases of 126 individuals at 58 colleges and universities who were investigated (and often dismissed) because of their private left-wing beliefs and activities... Lewis's documentary evidence is extensive... [T]he work is of enormous interest to students and faculty in education departments.-
--G. E. Hein, Choice
-The most complete and intensive analysis of what [Lewis] defines as the Cold War or what might be described as the inquisitional onslaught by federal and state 'un-American' committees on the integrity and independence of the American professorate during 1946-56.-
--Edward C. McDonagh, The American Journal of Education
-Lewis's work reinforces a fundamental point. Administrators at over one hundred institutions share responsibility for actions that helped strike a tragic blow to academic freedom and intellectual culture during the 1950s. They were participants in a campaign of political expedience and aggression-along with thousands of national leaders.-
--David R. Homes, Journal of Higher Education
-Cold War on Campus demonstrates how the academic battleground shifted from place to place in the 1950s, and why this was so. Instead of slick political judgments, Mr. Lewis lets his evidence speak for itself. The result is far more compelling.-
--David M. Oshinsky, Academe
