Suggested Research Topics - The Effects of McCarthyism on the University of Michigan
In 1954, three University of Michigan professors were asked to testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee regarding their alleged affiliations with the Communist Party. Their responses to the committee and the subsequent reaction of the University constitutes an episode of higher education under attack by forces of conformity.
The University Administration was involved in debates over the issue of academic freedom even prior to the incident involving the three professors. What was its stance? Did its stance change after the incident? After the three professors testified, what steps were taken by the University administration and the faculty to investigate the loyalty of the three? What were the major issues around which university committee investigations of them centered? What factors influenced the final decisions made by the university president and board of regents concerning the status of each of the professors? How did the reaction to the incident by the University of Michigan compare to that by other universities around the country?
Examples of Primary Source Collections and Other Resources:
- Ellen W. Schrecker, No Ivory Tower McCarthyism and the Universities
- David Caute, The Great Fear
- Walter Gellhorn, ed. The States and Subversion
- University of Michigan. President, Proceedings, 1954, of the Special Advisory Committee to the President on the suspensions of Drs . H. Chandler Davis, Mark Nickerson, and Clement Markert
- University of Michigan. Senate. Records
- University of Michigan. Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs. Records
- University of Michigan. Board of Regents Proceedings.
- American Association of University Professors. University of Michigan Chapter. Records
- Harlan Hatcher Papers (skimpy at best)
- Marvin Niehuss Papers
- AAUP Bulletin (1954-1960) (use for tracking censure issue)
- Michigan Alumnus (June, October, November, 1954) (use for alumni reactions)
- Ann Arbor News
- United States House of Representatives, Subcommittee of the Committee on un-American Activities, Investigation of Communist Activities In The State of Michigan, 83rd Congress, 2d Session, Part 6.
- Oral Interviews
In an effort to encourage creative thinking about possible research topics for students unfamiliar with archives and their inevitable complexities, archivists and student employees of the Bentley Historical Library have authored "suggested research topics ." The purpose of these is not to define a topic but rather to stimulate thinking about a topic where the holdings of the Bentley Library are particularly strong.