Menand, Louis B., III, 1924-2008
Louis Menand III lecture, The Historical and Political Context for the McCarthy Era and the Scientific Community, [videorecording], 1976 January 19.
In this lecture, held at MIT on January 19, 1976, Louis Menand III discusses the historical and political contexts of the McCarthy era. Subjects include: The international makeup of the physics community in the 1940s and 1950s which received special attention; How Menand worked under Harry Truman in his executive office in the early 1950s, where he observed the negative effects of the Loyalty Program which Truman instated on many of his colleagues and friends; Menands appeal to Senator Herbert Lehman to curtail McCarthys power; The Manchester Union Leader pro-McCarthy editorials; How McCarthyism was no aberration in American history, though it is treated as such; The Smith Act passed in 1940 as part of Alien Registration Act; The Alger Hiss case; The McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 and the Subversive Activities Control Board which allowed for the detention of US citizens, among other things; The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 which strictly governed visa related travel and immigration to the US; The Communist Control Act of 1954. Menand begins his lecture by passing out a reading list of secondary sources dealing with American Civil Liberties and McCarthyism. At the end of his talk, he accepts questions from the audience.
Louis B. Menand III received an AB in 1944 from Middlebury College and a PhD in political science in 1952 from Syracuse University. He taught at Vassar College and at Dartmouth College, then served as dean of Bradford College from 1956-1966. After working as a consultant in Washington, DC, he came to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT he was assistant to the provost from 1968-1974, and special assistant to the provost, and senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science from 1974-1989. He also served as a consultant to the Office of Economic Opportunity, the US Office of Education, and the New York State Department of Education. His work focused on American politics and constitutional law.
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Hiss, Alger
McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957
Menand, Louis B., III, 1924-2008
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972
Anti-communist movements -- United States.
McCarthyism.
Science and ethics.
Science and state
World War, 1939-1945
Video recordings.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA