Autobiographical Reflections, Revised Edition with Glossary

16. Life in America: From Harvard to LSU

[84], (54) Lines: 36 ——— 0.8pt P ——— Normal P PgEnds: T [84], (54) 16 Life in America From Harvard to LSU When I came to America in 1938, I had a part-time instructorship at Harvard. It had been secured through the offices especially of W. Y. (Bill) Elliot, Gottfried von Haberler, and Joseph von Schumpeter, with Arthur Holcombe, who was then chairman of the department, consenting to my appointment. This appointment , however, was strictly limited, and I still remember my first conversation with Holcombe. When I presented myself to him at Harvard, he told me with dry precision that Harvard was pleased to give me this opportunity for a year and that with the end of the year the opportunity was ended. The importance of the appointment was, in the first place, that by its means I could get the previously mentioned nonquota visa. Otherwise, I would have had to wait an indeterminate time until my turn came for an ordinary immigration visa. Second, of course, the start at Harvard was of the greatest value as a good address from which to look for a job elsewhere. During my first semester at Harvard I immediately commenced looking for a job. To that purpose, I wrote more than forty extensive letters to various universities and personalities making my desire for a job known over the country. The first immediate result was an appointment as instructor at Bennington College in Vermont for the spring term of 1939 [which involved commuting back and forth from Cambridge]. Bennington presented an entirely new experience to me, which at the time I could absorb only partially because my background knowledge of American society was still rather defective. Still, I understood that I did not want to stay in spite of a very tempting 84 life in america: from harvard to lsu [85], (55) Lines: 374 t ——— 0.0pt PgV ——— Normal Pag PgEnds: TEX [85], (55) offer of an assistant professorship with a salary of $5,000 for the next year. My reason for rejecting the offer and looking for something else was the environment on the East Coast. In Bennington specifically I noticed the very strong leftist element, with a few outspoken Communists among the faculty and still more among the students. This environment was no more to my taste than the National Socialist environment that I just had left. More generally, I noticed that the institutions on the East Coast were overrun by refugees from Central Europe, and if I stayed in the East inevitably my status would be that of a member of the refugee group. That was not exactly to my taste either, because I had firmly decided that once I had been thrown out of Austria by the National Socialists I wanted to make the break complete and from now on be an American. This aim, however, I could hardly achieve if I was stigmatized as a member of a refugee group. Moreover, I wanted to become a political scientist. For that purpose I had to familiarize myself with American government through teaching it; and it was impossible for a foreigner to find a teaching position in American government at any of the major Eastern institutions. So I accepted an offer from the University of Alabama. There I would come into an environment definitely free of refugees, so that adjustment and introduction to American society would at least not be externally handicapped from the beginning. Besides, I got my chance there to teach American government, and the department under the chairmanship of Roscoe Martin was more than sufficient to keep me busy for some time to come acquiring new knowledge concerning American institutions. The situation was poorly paid: I believe $2,500 for the year, roughly half of what Bennington had offered. But the general effect of adjusting myself to the new environment was indeed achieved thanks to the truly gracious reception by southerners who somewhat condescendingly enjoyed protecting an innocent from Europe. I especially want to remember Mildred Martin, the wife of the chairman, who formed a perfect friendship with my wife and helped us considerably in giving us all sorts of advice that prevented us from hurting feelings through untoward remarks. During my two and one-half years as an assistant professor at Alabama I worked myself into American government, the Constitution , and even a certain amount of public administration. At 85 autobiographical...