Academic and Political Freedom at Washington University: 1945-1956

This paper is divided into five sections. The first will give a brief account of the broad spectrum of opinion about academic freedom that existed during the period, and detail Washington University's stance on the issue. The second will provide an overview of the political atmosphere that developed during the period, and how Missouri and St. Louis differed from the national scene. A third chapter will give background on Washington University, and will identify some factors important to understanding the atmosphere at Washington University. Chapters four and five will describe the events that are crucial to the evaluation of the record of Washington University towards academic freedom. Chapter four, the incidents supporting its reputation, and chapter five, those calling it into question. The most prominent issue related to academic freedom in the post-war decade was the danger to the political and ideological freedom of university faculty and students. For this reason, this thesis · concentrates on political issues and spends almost no time on other, also important, aspects of academic freedom such as the freedom to choose research topics, or the institutional safeguards of academic freedom such as tenure. The oversight is deliberate due to lack of time, space, and usable evidence.