Call Number:

ACC2048

Repository:

Temple University Libraries Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

7.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1976-1983

Abstract:

Fred Richard Zimring received his Ed.D. from Teacher's College, Columbia University, in 1981. His dissertation was entitled Academic Freedom and the Cold War: The Dismissal of Barrows Dunham from Temple University, A Case Study. The dissertation is in the library's Templana Collection. Barrows Dunham (d. 1995) was emeritus professor of philosophy at Temple University. He earned his Master's and Doctoral degrees from Princeton University and went on to teaching at Temple University, becoming chair of the department of philosophy. In 1953 Barrows refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating him on charges of subversive activities and an alleged membership in the Communist Party. He was dismissed by Temple and his pension blocked, and he was charged with contempt of Congress. He took on part-time teaching jobs. He wrote a number of books and pamphlets including A Giant and Chains, Heroes and Heretics, Thinkers and Treasurers, and Ethics Dead and Alive. In 1955 a Federal District Court dismissed the charge of contempt, and in 1981 Temple University restored his pension and granted him the title of emeritus professor of philosophy.

The collection includes Zimring's in-depth doctoral research work related to the dismissal of Professor Dunham and the broader issue of political repression in higher education during the Cold War period of the 1940s and 1950s. There are edited transcripts of interviews with over 70 individuals, transcripts from the University's Loyalty Committee, and photocopies of FBI files, as well as correspondence, articles, news clippings, legal records, and newsletters.