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American Committee For Cultural Freedom
The American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF) was the U.S. affiliate of the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF). Overview The ACCF and CCF were organizations that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be critical of the Soviet Union and Communism, and to combat, according to a writer for ''The New York Times'', "the continuing strength of the Soviet myth among the Western cultural elite. Despite all that had happened - the Moscow show trials, the Hitler-Stalin Pact, Nazi-Soviet pact, the assassination of Leon Trotsky, the Russian attack on Finland, the takeovers in Iron Curtain, Eastern Europe, the mounting evidence of the gulag - Joseph Stalin still retained the loyalty of many writers, artists and scientists who viewed the Soviet Union as a Progressivism, progressive alternative to the 'reactionary,' 'war-mongering' United States of America, United States." The CCF was funded by the CIA, as well as the ACCF (via the CIA officer James Burnham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congress For Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the CIA was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the group.Frances Stonor Saunders"Modern Art was CIA 'weapon'" ''The Independent'', October 22, 1995. the Congress aimed to enlist intellectuals and opinion makers in a war of ideas against communism. Historian Frances Stonor Saunders writes (1999): "Whether they liked it or not, whether they knew it or not, there were few writers, poets, artists, historians, scientists, or critics in postwar Europe whose names were not in some way linked to this covert enterprise." A different slant on the origins and work of the Congress is offered by Peter Coleman in his ''Liberal Conspiracy'' (1989), where he talks about a struggle for the mind "of Postwar Europe" and the world at large. Origins, 1948–1950 The CCF was founded on 26 June 1950 in West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Hook
Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing communism in his youth, Hook was later known for his criticisms of totalitarianism, both fascism and Marxism–Leninism. A social democrat, Hook sometimes cooperated with conservatives, particularly in opposing Marxism–Leninism. After World War II, he argued that members of such groups as the Communist Party USA and Leninists like democratic centralists could ethically be barred from holding the offices of public trust because they called for the violent overthrow of democratic governments. Background Sidney Hook was born on December 20, 1902, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jennie and Isaac Hook, Austrian Jewish immigrants. He became a supporter of the Socialist Party of America during the Debs era when he was in high school. In 1923, he earned a BA at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Gorham Davis
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown" and ''berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe it entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Scots, Danish, and Icelandic. It can be u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elliot Cohen
Elliot E. Cohen (March 14, 1899 – May 28, 1959) was the founder and first editor of ''Commentary''. Background While an undergraduate at Yale, Cohen contributed light verse to a campus humor magazine, ''The Yale Record''. Career Menorah Journal In the 1930s, he was a co-editor of the ''Menorah Journal'' with Herbert Solow. ''Commentary'' Cohen was founder-editor of ''Commentary'', published by the American Jewish Committee (no longer affiliated) from 1945 until his death by suicide in 1959. During his tenure at ''Commentary'', the magazine had a liberal point of view. His editorial position was filled by Norman Podhoretz in 1960, by Neal Kozodoy in 1995, and by John Podhoretz John Mordecai Podhoretz (; born April 18, 1961) is an American writer. He is the editor of ''Commentary'' magazine, a columnist for the ''New York Post'', the author of several books on politics, and a former speechwriter for Presidents Ronald ... in 2009. References Further reading * Stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), worked for ''Time'' magazine (1939–1948), and then testified about the Ware Group in what became the Hiss case for perjury (1949–1950), often referred to as the trial of the century, all described in his 1952 memoir ''Witness''. Afterwards, he worked as a senior editor at ''National Review'' (1957–1959). US President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1984. Background Chambers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent his infancy in Brooklyn. His family moved to Lynbrook, Long Island, New York State, in 1904, where he grew up and attended school. His parents were Jay Chambers and Laha Whittaker. He described his childhood as troubled because of his parents' separation and their ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Chamberlain (journalist)
John Rensselaer Chamberlain (October 28, 1903 – April 9, 1995) was an American journalist, business and economic historian, syndicated columnist and literary critic. He was dubbed "one of America's most trusted book reviewers" by the libertarian magazine ''The Freeman''.Opitz, Edmund A., "A Reviewer Remembered: John Chamberlain 1903–1995," ''The Freeman'', June, 1995, vol. 45, iss. 6. Early life Born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1903, John Chamberlain attended the Loomis Institute in Windsor, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale University in 1925, where he was chairman of the campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record''. He began his career in journalism at the ''New York Times'' in 1926, serving there as both an editor and book reviewer during the 1930s. Later, he worked on the staff at ''Scribner's'' and '' Harper's'' magazines. Serving on the editorial staffs of ''Fortune'' (1936–1941) and ''Life'' (1941–1950), for a time he wrote the editorials for ''Life'' under the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his monumental public sculptures. Calder preferred not to analyze his work, saying, "Theories may be all very well for the artist himself, but they shouldn't be broadcast to other people." Early life Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in 1898 in Lawnton, Pennsylvania. His birthdate remains a source of confusion. According to Calder's mother, Nanette (née Lederer), Calder was born on August 22, yet his birth certificate at Philadelphia City Hall, based on a hand-written ledger, stated July 22. When Calder's family learned of the birth certificate, they asserted with certainty that city officials had made a mistake. Calder's grandfather, sculptor Alexander Milne Calder, was born in Scotland, had immigrated to Philadelphia in 1868, and is best ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading American intellectuals of the postwar era". His three best known works are '' The End of Ideology'', ''The Coming of Post-Industrial Society'', and ''The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism''. Biography Early life Daniel Bell was born in 1919 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. His parents, Benjamin and Anna Bolotsky, were Jewish immigrants, originally from Eastern Europe. They worked in the garment industry. His father died when he was eight months old, and he grew up poor, living with relatives along with his mother and his older brother Leo.Waters, Malcolm''Key Sociologists: Daniel Bell'' pp. 13–16 (Routledge 1996) () When he was 13 years old, the family's name was changed from Bolotsky to Bell. Educati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Nash Baldwin
Roger Nash Baldwin (January 21, 1884 – August 26, 1981) was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He served as executive director of the ACLU until 1950. Many of the ACLU's original landmark cases took place under his direction, including the Scopes Trial, the Sacco and Vanzetti murder trial, and its challenge to the ban on James Joyce's ''Ulysses (novel), Ulysses''. Baldwin was a well-known pacifist and author. Life and work Early years Baldwin was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the son of Lucy Cushing (Nash) and Frank Fenno Baldwin. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Harvard University; afterwards, he moved to St. Louis on the advice of Louis D. Brandeis. There he taught sociology at Washington University, worked as a social worker and became chief probation officer of the St. Louis Juvenile Court. He also co-wrote ''Juvenile Courts and Probation'' with Bernard Flexner at this time; this book became very influential in its era, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first test of a fission ("atomic") bomb released an amount of energy approximately equal to . The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released energy approximately equal to . Nuclear bombs have had yields between 10 tons TNT (the W54) and 50 megatons for the Tsar Bomba (see TNT equivalent). A thermonuclear weapon weighing as little as can release energy equal to more than . A nuclear device no larger than a conventional bomb can devastate an entire city by blast, fire, and radiation. Since they are weapons of mass destruction, the proliferation of nuclear weapons is a focus of international relations policy. Nuclear weapons have been d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fourth International
The Fourth International (FI) is a revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global capitalism and the establishment of world socialism via international revolution. The Fourth International was established in France in 1938, as Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union, considered the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third International) as effectively puppets of Stalinism and thus incapable of leading the international working class to political power. Thus, Trotskyists founded their own competing Fourth International. In the present day, there is no longer a single, centralized cohesive Fourth International. Throughout most of its existence and history, the Fourth International was hunted by agents of the NKVD, subjected to political repression by countries such as France and the United States, and rejec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
