College professors and other educators were among those targeted by anti-communists, but the search for Communist Party members in the U.S. education system began much earlier. The so-called “Red-ucators” were among the first deemed subversives, and Harvard University, City College of New York, and many other schools were rocked by hundreds of subpoenas, calling them to testify in front of special committees that were formed to weed out communists in education. Morris Schappes, an English professor in the CUNY system and member of the American Communist Party, was one of these educators, and became a prominent symbol of the quest to purge school systems of subversives. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Gemma R. Birnbaum, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society.

Image: May Day Labor Parade, New York College Teachers Union 1930's - 1940's. From the Morris U. Schappes Papers at AJHS, P-57.

The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.