Academic freedom

Morris U. Schappes, self-taught historian of American Jewish History, author, teacher, and editor of Jewish Currents for 40 years, is also known as a victim of hearings conducted in 1941 by the Rapp-Coudert Committee, a New York legislative committee investigating Communist activities in the state educational system.

This collection is comprised of materials related to the Rapp-Coudert proceedings and Schappes' subsequent imprisonment, and of materials generated in the following decades. Topics represented include academic freedom, Communism in the U.S., the roles of Jews in U.S. history, and Emma Lazarus. The formats primarily present in the collection are research notes, manuscripts, clippings, and correspondence.

This collection comprises trial transcripts and related documents pertaining to trials conducted by the Board of Higher Education in 1941 to 1942, in the cases of 20 faculty and staff members of City College and Brooklyn College. The charges, mostly relating to Communist Party membership and activities, were brought by the Board's Conduct Committee, based on allegations raised in investigative hearings held in 1941 by the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the Educational System of the State of New York, a committee of the New York State Legislature commonly known as the Rapp-Coudert Committee. In addition, the collection includes a small amount of material documenting the work of the New York City Board of Education's Integration Commission in 1956 to 1957.