Red Alert!: The National Education Association Confronts the “Red Scare” in American Public Schools, 1947–1954

Red Alert!: The National Education Association Confronts the "Red Scare" in American Public Schools, 1947-1954 Stuart J. Foster Typically referred to as the "red scare" or "McCarthy" era, the period from 1947 to 1954 was characterized by an ideological conflict which consumed all aspects of American culture.1 As prominent historians have argued, a salient feature of the time was the reflexive tendency of many individuals , organizations, and institutions to embrace the prevailing Zeitgeist that a serious internal threat to the United States existed.2 As a result, American society was propelled into a period of fervent anti-communism which produced one of the most severe episodes of political repression the United States has ever experienced.3 Public education was not exempt from this mounting tide of repression. Significantly, although several historians have portrayed the "red scare's" dramatic impact on American schooling,4 the organized teaching profession's response to "red scare" attack has escaped serious historical scrutiny. The National Education Association (NEA), however, warrants special attention for many reasons, two of which appear salient. First, at mid-century the NEA boasted the world's largest teaching organization and claimed a membership in excess of 450,000 educators.5 As an organization the NEA reached into every facet of public education and touched upon concerns and issues encountered by educators at local, state, and national levels. Attention to the policies and actions of the NEA during the "red scare" era, therefore, enriches historical understanding of this vital period in postwar American education. Second, by the establishment, in 1941, of the National Commission for the Defense of Democracy Through Education, the NEA created the only educational agency explicitly and expressly charged to protect and to defend pubic school teachers from unjust attack. Close examination of the work of the Defense Commission, as it was commonly known, offers a broad and detailed perspective on the impact of the "red scare" on American public education and the effectiveness of the NEA's response to it. Public Schools Under Attack Historically, public schools and public school teachers have been obvious targets for "red scare" attacks.6 With the emergence of anti-communist sentiment and superpatriotic zeal in the years following World War II, their vulnerability dramatically increased. In 1890, high school enrollment in the United States was estimated at 200,000; by the early 1940s, the figure approached seven million.7 Schools became one of the few public institutions that affected the lives of nearly every citizen. They existed in every community and were a public institution that, in the words of historian Diane Ravitch, were conveniently "get-at-able."8 Schools became embroiled in bitter socio-political clashes precisely because they wrestled with many of the issues that divided the country in the postwar era. Supporters of federal aid to education, racial integration of schools, modern or "progressive" teaching methods, UNESCO,9 and a liberal academic philosophy stood in stark contrast to those who argued for the sovereignty of states' rights, racially segregated schools, a "traditional" and disciplined educational environment, and a strongly nationalistic approach to world affairs. Accordingly, by the late 1940s, American education became a battleground on which strikingly divisive clashes of culture and ideology were fought out. Attacks on public education, principally led by individuals and groups from the political right, proved intensely destructive and impacted educational policy and practice in school districts throughout the United States. That the NEA should leap to the defense of teachers in this politically charged atmosphere was somewhat inevitable. With considerable foresight, as early as 1941, NEA President Donald DuShane stressed to delegates at the Association's annual meeting in Boston that a "crisis" was developing in the United States. He argued that the NEA "must protect our schools from misunderstanding and unjust attack" and proposed the establishment of a special commission to assume this responsibility.10 Dushane's concerns were based upon recent historical experience. He, and others within the NEA, noted that during the period following World War I and throughout the Depression years, public education encountered vehement and destructive criticism. With justification , DuShane predicted that with the impeding likelihood of war, tax-based funding for education would be reduced...