Thomas Fagan Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles, 1989-1990
Processed by Julia Bazar
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
© 2000
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/
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All
rights reserved.
Register of the Thomas Fagan Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles, 1989-1990
Collection number: MSS 042
Southern California Library for Social Studies and ResearchLos Angeles, California
- 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:
- Dec. 2000
- Encoded by:
- Julia Bazar
© 2000 Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research. All rights reserved.
Title: Thomas Fagan Collection (Interviews):
Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date (inclusive): 1989-1990
Collection number: MSS 042
Creator:
Fagan, Thomas
Extent:
3 folders, 5 audio cassettes
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Abstract: Audio cassettes and documents from interviews
with Blacklisted Teachers by Thomas Fagan.
Language:
English.
Tapes and documents donated to library by Thomas Fagan.
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.
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.
[Identification of item], Thomas Fagan Collection (Interviews):
Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles, Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research, Los Angeles, California.
Historical Context: Blacklisting and the McCarthy Era
The individual collections within the Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles Collection share a common historical framework, the Anti-Communist
fervor of the Cold War Period and what is commonly referred to as the McCarthy
Era. 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. Of special note are the Levering (1952) and Dilworth
(1953) Acts. The Levering Act made refusal to fully cooperate with any state
committee grounds for firing a teacher and the Dilworth Act gave local school
boards investigating authority and also required that all teachers sign an oath
denying any Communist affiliation.
Thomas Fagan interviewed three prominent people involved with the
McCarthy Era blacklisting of Los Angeles teachers for an Oral History class
project at California State University Northridge in 1990.
This collection contains the original interview tapes, deed of gift,
description of interview, list of questions, and a detailed table of contents
for each interview. There are no transcripts of these interviews. The three
interviewees are blacklisted teachers Ruth Bishop and Florence Sloat, and
attorney John McTernan.
Arrangement
Files are arranged alphabetically by interviewee.
Related Material at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Title: Frances Robman Eisenberg: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1928-1995
Physical Description:
4 boxes and 1 oversize box
Title: Abraham Minkus Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1945-1983
Physical Description:
4 boxes
Title: Florence Sloat Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1959-1991
Physical Description:
1 box
Title: Greg Goldin Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted Teachers
in Los Angeles,
Date: 1977
Physical Description:
1 box, 15 audio cassettes
Title: Ellen Chase Verdries Collection (Interviews/Paper):
Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date: 1992-1996
Physical Description:
1 (half) box
Title: Jean Benson Wilkinson Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1953-1955
Physical Description:
1 folder
Title: Los Angeles Teachers Union Collection,
Date: 1933-1982
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Title: Dorothy Doyle Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted
Teachers In Los Angeles,
Date: 1986
Physical Description:
1 audio tape
Title: Clipping Collection: Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date: 1967-1982
Physical Description:
1 folder
A copy of the collection register is kept in the first box of the
collection (1/0).
Box-folder 1/1
Ruth Bishop [two cassettes], 1990
Box-folder 1/2
John McTernan [two cassettes], 1989
Box-folder 1/3
Florence Sloat [one cassette], 1990