Alexander Pennes Papers (Committee for Medical Freedom
Records),
1946-1968
Processed by Julia Bazar
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
6120 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
URL: http://www.socallib.org/
© 2000
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All
rights reserved.
Register of the Alexander Pennes Papers (Committee for
Medical Freedom Records),
1946-1968
Collection number: MSS 048
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los
Angeles, California
Contact Information:
- Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
- 6120 South Vermont Avenue
- Los Angeles, CA, 90044
- Phone: (323) 759-6063
- Fax: (323) 759-2252
- Email: archives@socallib.org
- URL: http://www.socallib.org/
- Processed by:
- Julia Bazar
- Date Completed:
-
Nov. 2000
- Encoded by:
- Julia Bazar
© 2000 Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Alexander Pennes Papers (Committee for Medical
Freedom Records),
Date (inclusive): 1946-1968
Collection number: MSS 048
Creator:
Pennes, Alexander
Extent:
2 boxes, 1 half-box, 1 legal
half-box
1 ½ linear feet
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
Abstract: The majority of this collection concerns the
blacklisting of doctors and other medical professionals during the Cold
War/McCarthy Era, particularly the dismissal of three doctors by the Cedars of
Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in December 1951.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Provenance
Donated to the Library by Alexander and Rose Pennes in the
mid-1980s.
Access
The collection is available for research only at the Library's
facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday
through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library
indicating the nature of their research query prior to making a visit.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library
for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of any
portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed
only with the express written permission of the Library's director. It is not
necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission
for publication, it is as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Alexander Pennes Papers (Committee for
Medical Freedom Records), Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research, Los Angeles, California.
Biography
Blacklisting and the McCarthy Era
The Anti-Communist fervor of the Cold War Period and what is
commonly referred to as the McCarthy Era serves as a backdrop to this
collection. After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet
Union engaged in the ideological battle known as the Cold War. The
identification of communists and other radicals through the use of federal and
state legislative investigative committees and the punishment of those
identified through firing and blacklisting comprised a successful U.S. tactic.
The investigations spread from federal and other government employees to the
entertainment industry, the professions, labor unions, and the private sector.
The major players in these campaigns included, on the Federal level, Senator
Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). In
California major players included California State Assemblyman (later State
Senator) Nelson S. Dilworth, and State Senators Jack B. Tenney and Hugh M.
Burns. All three served on the Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American
Activities in California (1945) and first Tenney and later Burns chaired the
[California] Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. After
passing the Levering Act, which required loyalty oaths from all state
employees, the California Legislature made several attempts at passing
legislation that would have required lawyers, physicians and other
professionals to take loyalty oaths or lose the right to practice their
profession. In 1951 HUAC held hearings into the "Communist Activities Among
Professional Groups in the Los Angeles Area."
Biography
Alexander Pennes, M.D. was a prominent Los Angeles physician who was
dismissed from St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, California in September 1951,
and from Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles in December, as a result of
having his name mentioned in a House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
hearing. Two other physicians, Dr. Murray Abowitz and Dr. Richard W. Lippman,
were dismissed from Cedars of Lebanon the same day. Dr. Abowitz had consulted
on the case of a Smith Act defendant, and Dr. Lippman had refused to testify
before HUAC. The Committee for Medical Freedom was formed in January 1952 to
organize the protest of the Cedars' firings. Rose Pennes, Dr. Pennes' wife, was
the Executive Director of the Committee.
In October 1951, Pennes and other doctors were called before the
HUAC hearings being held in Los Angeles. Pennes received a certificate from
Citizens Committee to Preserve American Freedoms for his appearance before
HUAC. Pennes and his wife were actively involved in anti-HUAC organizations.
They were also involved in fighting Burns-Tenney and Burns-Chapel legislation
attempting to institute loyalty oaths for professionals in California. The
Bush-Tenney Bill, SB 1665, would have amended the state Business and
Professions code to require the signing of an oath to uphold the Constitution
and swearing that he or she did not belong, had not belonged within the last
five years, and would not join any organization or party that "advocates the
overthrow of the Government of the United States or the State of California by
force or violence or other unlawful means." Signing of the "affidavit" was
required for licensure, and lying about past affiliations or joining in the
future was made a felony.
Pennes was a progressive physician interested in social welfare and
the movements toward creating affordable health coverage. He was one of the
founding members of the short-lived (1946-1956) Community Medical Foundation, a
prepaid health insurance and group medical practice. The Foundation attracted
the attention of the California State Un-American Activities (Burns) Committee
in 1954. Pennes remained interested in social and civil rights issues.
Scope and Content
This collection contains minutes, correspondence, flyers, petitions,
hearing transcripts, testimony, articles, notes, newsletters, and clippings.
Though the provenance of this collection is uncertain it appears to contain
materials created or collected by Dr. Alexander [Alex] Pennes, and his wife
Rose Pennes, including records of the Committee for Medical Freedom which was
formed to challenge the loyalty-based dismissals of Pennes, Abowitz, Lippman
and other physicians. Rose Pennes was Executive Director of the Committee and
Stella (Mrs. Dan) Rugetti served as chairman. The Committee organized letter
writing, petitions, and large informational and protest meetings (including one
featuring B.Z. Goldberg, columnist for the national Jewish newspaper,
The Day). Dr. Frank Weymouth of Stanford was also
prominent in the protests. Linus Pauling withdrew his name from the protest
meeting due to a technical problem. According to one source, Pauling later
arranged research projects with Dr. Lippman at the City of Hope Hospital.
The Committee for Medical Freedom and information on the Cedars of
Lebanon dismissals make up just under half of the material. The majority of the
rest concerns the response of Pennes ( and the medical community) to loyalty
oath legislation directed at doctors and other professionals (Burns-Tenney and
Burns-Chapel Bills), and the Los Angeles HUAC hearings, which focused on
professionals. Materials in the collection include copies of testimony from
several Dilworth (state) and HUAC hearings, materials from various anti-HUAC
groups including the Citizens Committee to Preserve American Freedoms, and
speeches, notes, correspondence by Alex Pennes, Frank Weymouth and others.
Other concerns ranged from the execution of the Rosenbergs to concerns
over Doctors Draft Bill and the treatment of military doctors who failed
loyalty challenges, and a variety of other medically related civil rights
issues.
There is one folder of information concerning the Community Medical
Foundation (1946-1956), a non-profit pre-paid insurance and group medical
practice, and the establishment of the pre-paid system.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 3 series:
1.
Committee for Medical Freedom/Cedars of Lebanon, Laws
,
2. HUAC Hearings and Protests, and
3. Articles And Clippings. One box of legal-sized
materials is found at the end of the collection (Box 4). Each folder is listed
within the appropriate series in the container list.
Seperated Material
Two copies of a poster-sized announcement of the BZ Goldberg meeting
have been added to the Poster Collection.
Related Material at the Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research
Title: Smith Act Collection,
Date: 1950s-1960
Physical Description:
5 boxes
Title: First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles Records,
Date: 1938-1981
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Title: Blacklisted Teachers of Los Angeles Collections,
Date: 1928-1996
Physical Description:
9 Collections
A copy of the collection register is kept in the first box of the
collection (1/0).
Series 1.
Committee for Medical Freedom/Cedars of Lebanon,
1947-1957, n.d.
Physical Description:
21 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series contains documents created by the committee including
minutes, correspondence, flyers, newsletters, and petitions. The committee's
main activity was fighting the dismissals of Drs. Alexander Pennes, Murray
Abowitz and. Richard W. Lippman from Cedars of Lebanon. Efforts included
letters, petition drives, and rallies. Several issues of the
Committee's newsletter Medical Freedom, flyers, action
sheets, and some membership and other administrative information are found in
the collection. Also included is correspondence about other blacklist cases
(Betty Seldon and Dr. Edward Barsky) addressed to the Committee.
Also included in this series is one folder of material on the
Community Medical Foundation (1946-1956), the non-profit pre-paid insurance and
group medical practice, of which Pennes was a founding member. The folder
includes some membership correspondence, donation information, the foundation's
state charter, and a letter announcing the laying down of the foundation. Also
included in this folder are the texts of Assembly Bills 800 and 1200, which
proposed the prepaid system.
Box-folder 1/4
Incoming and Third Party,
1952-1953
Box-folder 1/5
Literature Published by Other Organizations,
1952
Box-folder 1/6
Abowitz, Lippman, Pennes (includes other documents),
1947-1953, n.d.
Box-folder 1/7
B. Z. Goldberg,
1952, n.d.
Box-folder 1/8
Jewish Community Council,
1952-1953
Box-folder 1/9
Cedars of Lebanon Case and Background,
1952, n.d.
Box-folder 1/11
Medical Freedom Newsletter,
1952
Box-folder 1/12
Flyers and Action Sheets,
1952, n.d.
Box-folder 1/14
Signed: Los Angeles Jewish Community Council,
1952
Box-folder 1/15
Signed: Board of Trustees, Cedars of Lebanon Hospital,
1952
Box-folder 1/16
Executive Directors Files [Rose Pennes],
1952, n.d.
Box-folder 1/17
Fundraising and Membership Materials,
1952-1953
Box-folder 1/18
Materials from Other Organizations,
1952-1953
Box-folder 1/19
Committee for Reinstatement of Betty Selden,
1952-1953
Box-folder 1/20
Dr. Edward Barsky Case [New York],
1952
Box-folder 4/1
Community Medical Foundation (and AB 800 and AB1200),
1945-1957
Series 2.
Laws, HUAC Hearings And Protests,
1951-1968, n.d.
Physical Description:
23 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series includes correspondence, notes, speeches, testimony
and other documents pertaining to state laws proposing professional loyalty
oath acts, the HUAC hearings targeting doctors (and other professionals) in Los
Angeles, and the protests and other responses to these laws and hearings.
The loyalty oath materials focus primarily on SB 1665 and the
various campaigns against it. They include a copy of the text of SB 1665 and
correspondence about SB 1665 and similar bills. The HUAC materials are more
extensive and include handwritten notes and speeches by Alex Pennes and Frank
Weymouth and unidentified materials. (The Pennes speech folder also includes
notes on other issues.) A folder of material on Reverend Stephen H. Fritchman,
of the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles and his HUAC experiences is
included in this series, as is correspondence and other material from the
Citizens Committee to Preserve American Freedoms, in which Alex and Rose Pennes
and Weymouth were all active, and materials from other anti-HUAC organizations.
The hearing reports and testimonies include two California State Senate
Investigating Committees on Education (Dilworth Committee) reports and
testimony from several HUAC proceedings. Of particular note is the testimony of
Dr. Louise Light Silver (Washington, DC, January 22, 1952) in which she names
other physicians, and several large excerpts from the October 1-3, 1952
hearings in Los Angeles. Also of note is the published reprint of the 1968
testimony of Dr. Quentin D. Young of the Medical Committee for Human Rights. A
legal-sized folder contains other testimony before HUAC as well as legislative
and legal reports. Legal-sized folders also contain information on the Citizens
Committee to Preserve American Freedoms and the National Committee to Abolish
the House Committee on Un-American Activities (NCAHUAC).
This series also includes materials on a variety of other civil
rights issues, collected by Pennes. These materials range from the execution of
the Rosenbergs to labor and peace concerns. Material includes information on
the protests against the blacklisting of doctors in the military and concerns
over the Doctors Draft Law, as well as a physicians' protest of the execution
of Wesley Robert Wells, and information on the blacklisting of teachers, labor
leaders, and others. Two items refer to the film,
Salt of the Earth. A legal-sized folder contains
information on the Carl Braden/Frank Wilkinson Case.
Box-folder 1/21
Burns-Tenney Bill and Burns-Chapel Bills (SB 1665),
1951, 1955
Box-folder 4/2
Hearings, Bills, Legislative Information,
1952-1961, n.d.
Box-folder 2/1
Alex Pennes and HUAC Protest [Includes Speech Notes],
1952, n.d.
Box-folder 4/3
Certificate to A. Pennes for HUAC Testimony,
n.d.
Box-folder 2/2
HUAC Letters and Article [Frank Weymouth and unknown],
n.d.
Box-folder 2/3
Reverend Stephen H. Fritchman,
1951
Box , Box-folder 2/4, 4/4
Citizens Committee to Preserve American Freedoms [Rose
and Alex Pennes]
Box-folder 4/5
National Committee to Abolish the House Committee on
Un-American Activities (NCAHUAC),
1963-1967
Box-folder 2/5
Anti-HUAC Organizations,
1951-1953, n.d
Box-folder 2/6-2/7
California State Legislature - Senate Investigating
Committee on Education [Dilworth]
Box-folder 2/6
10th Report:
The 1951 Hearings, 1952
Box-folder 2/7
11th Report:
Opposition to Loyalty, 1953
Box-folder 2/8
Testimony of Dr. Louise Light Silver [Washington,
DC],
Jan. 22, 1952
Box-folder 2/9-2/11
Communist Activities Among Professional Groups in Los
Angeles Area
Box-folder 2/9
(Part 3),
Sept. 30, Oct. 1 & 2,
1952
Box-folder 2/10
[p.329-408],
Oct. 2, 1952
Box-folder 2/11
[p.495-636],
Oct. 3, 1952
Box-folder 2/12
Testimony of Sol Kaplan [Los Angeles],
April 8, 1953
Box-folder 2/13
Medical Committee for Human Rights Confronts HUAC:
Testimony of Dr. Quentin D. Young,
Oct 3-4, 1968
Box-folder 2/14
Los Angeles County Medical Association - Doctor's
Draft Law/Loyalty Checks,
1953-1954
Box-folder 2/15
Wesley Robert Wells Case [Doctors Appeal Death Row
Case],
1954, n.d.
Box-folder 4/6
Carl Braden/Frank Wilkinson Case,
1956, n.d.
Box-folder 3/1
Civil Liberties Issues [includes Rosenbergs],
1952-1968, n.d.
Series 3.
Articles and Clippings,
1951-1968, n.d.
Physical Description:
5 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series is made up of clippings and various articles, reprints
and flyers. The clippings are divided into material on the Cedars of Lebanon
Case, on the blacklisting of teachers in Los Angeles and elsewhere, and on the
HUAC hearings and other issues. The folder of Reprints, Articles and Flyers
includes a history of test oaths and various other materials dealing with
blacklisting and HUAC. A legal-sized folder contains miscellaneous periodicals
including an article on
Race Stereotypes in Education by
Richard Slobodin, three issues of
Now is the Time for DECISION published by the
California Emergency Defense Committee (1952), two issues of the American Civil
Liberties Union, Southern California Branch's
The Open Forum (1952), four issues of
I.F. Stone's Weekly (1959-1963), two issues of
Variety (1952) and one issue of the
Hollywood Review (1954).
Box-folder 3/2
Reprints, Articles, Flyers,
1951-1968, n.d.
Box-folder 3/4
Teachers (L.A. and others),
1952-1953
Box-folder 4/7
Press Release, Articles, Misc. Periodicals,
1951-1963
