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Corliss Lamont (March 28, 1902 – April 26, 1995) was an American socialist and
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and advocate of various
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...
and
civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
causes. As a part of his political activities, he was the Chairman of
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
, starting from the early 1940s.


Career


Early years

Lamont was born in
Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from port ...
, on March 28, 1902. He was the son of Florence Haskell (Corliss) and Thomas W. Lamont, a partner and later chairman at J.P. Morgan & Co. Lamont graduated as
valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA) ...
of
Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...
in 1920, and ''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
'' from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in 1924. The principles that animated his life were first evidenced at Harvard, where he attacked university clubs as snobbery. In 1924, he did graduate work at New College
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, where he roomed with
Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
. The next year Lamont began graduate studies at Columbia University, where he studied under
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...
. In 1928, he became a philosophy instructor there. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1932 from Columbia. Lamont taught at Columbia,
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Harvard, and the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
.


1930s

Lamont became a
radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...
in the 1930s, moved by the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
. He wrote a book about the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and praised what he saw there: "The people are better dressed, food is good and plentiful, everyone seems confident, happy and full of spirit". He became critical of the Soviets over time, but always thought their achievement in transforming a
feudal society Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...
remarkable, even as he attacked its treatment of political dissent and lack of civil liberties. Lamont's political views were Marxist and socialist for much of his life. Lamont was a onetime chairman of the
Friends of the Soviet Union The International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world. It grew out ...
. Lamont began his 30 years as a director of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...
(ACLU) in 1932. In 1934, he was arrested while on a picket line in
Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Frank Hague Frank Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jersey from 1922 until 1949, and Vice ...
, the city's mayor. Lamont later wrote that he "learned more about the American legal system in one day ... than in one year at Harvard Law School". In 1936, Lamont helped found and subsidized the magazine ''Marxist Quarterly''. When the
Dewey Commission The Dewey Commission (officially the "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its chairman, the ...
reported in 1937 that the
Moscow trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of " Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...
of
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
and others were fraudulent, Lamont, along with other left-wing intellectuals, refused to accept the commission's findings. Under the influence of the
Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
, Lamont and 150 other left-wing writers endorsed
Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's actions as necessary for "the preservation of progressive democracy". Their letter warned that Dewey's work was itself politically motivated and charged Dewey with supporting reactionary views and "Red-baiting". Lamont wrote an introduction to the anti-Polish pamphlet ''Behind the Polish-Soviet Break'' by Alter Brody.


1940s

Lamont was a key founder of the
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
(NCASF) (originally National Council on Soviet Relations or NCSR). Other founders included Professor
Ralph Barton Perry Ralph Barton Perry (July 3, 1876 in Poultney, Vermont – January 22, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American philosopher. He was a strident moral idealist who stated in 1909 that, to him, idealism meant "to interpret life consistentl ...
of Harvard University and Edwin Seymour Smith. He served as its first chairman from 1943 to 1947. Lamont remained sympathetic to the Soviet Union well after World War II and the establishment of satellite Communist governments in Central and Eastern Europe. He authored a pamphlet entitled ''The Myth of Soviet Aggression'' in which he wrote: In 1944 Lamont wrote a preface to a book by Alter Brody that popularized the Soviet falsification of the
Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...
in the West.


1950s

Lamont ran for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
from New York, in
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes ...
on the American Labor ticket. He received 104,702 votes and lost to Republican Irving M. Ives. When called to testify in front of Senator
Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...
's
Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), stood up in March 1941 as the "Truman Committee," is the oldest subcommittee of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (formerly the Committee on Governme ...
in 1953, he denied ever having been a Communist, but refused to discuss his beliefs or those of others, citing not the Fifth Amendment but the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech. The committee cited Lamont for
contempt of Congress Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a U.S. senator or U.S. representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of ...
by a vote of 71 to 3 in August 1954. Some senators questioned McCarthy's authority and wanted a federal court to rule on it. In November, Lamont donated $50,000 to create a $1,000,000 Bill of Rights Fund to support civil rights advocates, citing anti-Communist legislation, travel restrictions, and blacklisting in the entertainment industry. The same month, he challenged the subcommittee's authority in court. The same year, he wrote ''Why I Am Not a Communist''. Despite his allegiance to Marxism, he never joined the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
, and supported the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{{ ...
. In April 1955, Lamont withdrew from his role as a philosophy lecturer at Columbia University pending the outcome of these legal proceedings, and the university said it was Lamont's decision, made "without prior suggestion by any officer of the university". Judge Edward Weinfeld of the U.S. District Court found the indictment against Lamont was faulty, but the government, rather than seek a new indictment, appealed that ruling. A unanimous panel of the Court of Appeals agreed in 1955 and in 1956 the government chose not to appeal to the Supreme Court. As a director of the
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, Lamont had resisted attempts to purge the organization of Communists and, in 1954, he resigned his position because he felt the ACLU had not supported him in the face of McCarthy's charges. The complete record of the legal proceedings in Lamont's case against the McCarthy subcommittee was published in 1957. In 1951 and 1957, Lamont was denied a
passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the persona ...
by the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
, which considered his application incomplete because he refused to answer a question about membership in the Communist Party. He sued the State Department in June 1957 seeking a hearing on its action. He obtained his passport in June 1958 following a Supreme Court decision in another case, '' Kent v. Dulles'', and left the U.S. for a world tour in March 1959. He ran again for the U.S. Senate from New York in
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
on the Independent-Socialist ticket. He received more than 49,000 votes out of more than 5,500,000 cast, losing to Republican
Kenneth B. Keating Kenneth Barnard Keating (May 18, 1900 – May 5, 1975) was an American politician, diplomat, and judge who served as a United States Senator representing New York from 1959 until 1965. A member of the Republican Party, he also served in the ...
. In 1959, Lamont became an enthusiastic supporter of
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...
and his revolutionary government in Cuba. Day described Lamont in her diary as a "'pinko' millionaire who lived modestly".


1960s

In 1964, Lamont sued the
Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
for reading and, at times, refusing to deliver his mail under the anti-propaganda mail law of 1962, passed over the objections of the Department of Justice and the Post Office, that allowed the Postmaster General to destroy "communist political propaganda" sent from outside the United States unless the addressee says he wants to receive such mail. The statute did not apply to sealed correspondence, but was aimed at published materials. He lost a 2–1 decision in U.S. District Court, after the Post Office delivered one such item of mail, and appealed to the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, arguing that the single delivery was a subterfuge designed to moot his lawsuit while continuing to interrupt his mail service. On May 24, 1965, the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
held unanimously in '' Lamont v. Postmaster General'' that the law was unconstitutional. It was the first time the Supreme Court invalidated a statute as a violation of the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
's guarantee of freedom of speech. Lamont's attorney was Leonard B. Boudin, who worked on many civil liberties cases. He won a similar lawsuit against the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
in federal court the same year. In the mid-1960s, Lamont became chairman of the
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), until 1968 known as the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, was an organization formed in the United States in October 1951 by 150 educators and clergymen to advocate for the civil liberties ...
, a position he held until his death.


Later life

In 1971, after a congressman called him an "identified member of the Communist Party, U.S.A.", Lamont issued a statement that "although it is no disgrace to belong to the Communist party, I have never even dreamed of joining it." The same year, he financed Dorothy Day's visit to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and several other countries in Eastern Europe. In 1979, Lamont founded Half-Moon Foundation, Inc. Half-Moon Foundation was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and was incorporated in the state of New York. The Foundation was formed "to promote enduring international peace, support for the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
, the conservation of our country's natural environment, and to safeguard and extend civil liberties as guaranteed under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights." Lamont was president emeritus of the
American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitution ...
and in 1977 was named Humanist of the Year. In 1981, he received the
Gandhi Peace Award The Gandhi Peace Award is an award and cash prize presented annually since 1960 by Promoting Enduring Peace to individuals for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honor of Mohandas Karamch ...
. In 1998, Lamont received a posthumous Distinguished Humanist Service Award from the
International Humanist and Ethical Union Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Foun ...
and he was one of the signers of the
Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original ''Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as Humanist Manifesto I), the ''Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and ''Humanism and It ...
.


Personal life and death

In 1928, Lamont married Margaret Hayes Irish. They divorced in the early 1960s. In 1962, he married Helen Boyden Lamb; she died of cancer in 1975. In 1986, Lamont married Beth Keehner; she survived his death. He died at home in
Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: *Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossin ...
, on April 26, 1995.


Legacy

Following the deaths of his parents, Lamont became a
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
. He funded the collection and preservation of manuscripts of American philosophers, particularly
George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...
, as well as
Rockwell Kent Rockwell Kent (June 21, 1882 – March 13, 1971) was an American painter, printmaker, illustrator, writer, sailor, adventurer and voyager. Biography Rockwell Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York. Kent was of English descent. He lived much of ...
and
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels '' The Midnight Folk'' and '' The Box of Delights'', and the po ...
. He became a substantial donor to both
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...
and Columbia, endowing the latter's "Corliss Lamont Professor of Civil Liberties." He was the great-uncle of
Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. (born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 89th governor of Connecticut. He has served in this position since January 9, 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwi ...
, the
governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Connecticu ...
.


Writings

Lamont was a prolific author. He wrote, co-wrote, edited, or co-edited more than two dozen books and dozens of pamphlets, and wrote thousands of letters to newspapers, magazines, and journals on significant social issues during his lifelong campaign for peace and civil rights. In 1935, he published ''The Illusion of Immortality'' (originally published in 1932 as ''Issues of Immortality: A Study in Implications''), which was a revised version of his doctoral dissertation. According to James Leuba the book is considered to remain the standard work on the subject and shows conclusively that the arguments for
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immortal ...
are totally insufficient. Lamont argued that people can live satisfactory lives without belief in life after death and that human life may be recognized to be more precious if it is realized that it only comes once to each man. Sellars, Roy. (1951). ''The Illusion of Immortality by Corliss Lamont''. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. Vol. 11, No. 3. pp. 444-445. His most famous work is ''The Philosophy of Humanism'' (originally published in 1949 as ''Humanism as a Philosophy''), now in its eighth edition. He also published intimate portraits of
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the fi ...
,
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels '' The Midnight Folk'' and '' The Box of Delights'', and the po ...
, and
George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...
.


Books authored or co-authored by Corliss Lamont

*''A Humanist Funeral Service'' (revised by Beth K. Lamont and J. Sierra Oliva and republished in a Fourth Revised Edition in 2011 as ''A Humanist Funeral Service and Celebration'' ) *''A Humanist Wedding Service'' Third Revised Edition 1981 (Previous editions: 1972, 1970) 29 pages *''A Lifetime of Dissent'' (Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1988, 414 pages) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-15100 *''Freedom Is As Freedom Does: Civil Liberties in America'' (1956), foreword by
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ar ...
, reprint Fourth ed. 1990, Continuum Publishing Company, ; Third Printing, 1981 *''Freedom of Choice Affirmed'' Third Revised Edition 1990 (Previous editions: 1969, 1967) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-27793 (Third Revised Edition) (Third Revised Edition) *''Lover's Credo: Poems of Love'' (1972), 1983 edition: , 1994: William L. Bauhan,
Online version
in
HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScript ...
format *''Remembering John Masefield'' Revised Edition 1991 (Previous edition: 1971) Introduction by Judith Masefield, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-4429 *''Russia Day by Day: A Travel Diary'' (Co-authored with Margaret Lamont) (New York, Covici Friede, 1933) *
Soviet Civilization
' (New York,
Philosophical Library {{Infobox publisher , name = Philosophical Library , image = , caption = , parent = , status = , traded_as = , predecessor = , founded = 1941 , founder = Dagobert D. Runes , successor ...
, 1952; second edition 1955), Dedicated to Albert Rhys Williams *''Illusion of Immortality'', introduction by John Dewey, (1935), 5th edition 1990,
Continuum Publishing Continuum International Publishing Group was an academic publisher of books with editorial offices in London and New York City. It was purchased by Nova Capital Management in 2005. In July 2011, it was taken over by Bloomsbury Publishing. , all ...
Company, (originally published in 1932 as ''Issues of Immortality: A Study in Implications'') *''The Independent Mind: Essays of a Humanist Philosopher'' (New York, Horizon Press, 1951, 187 pages) *
The Peoples of the Soviet Union
' (New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1946) *''The Philosophy of Humanism'', (1949), 1965 edition: Ungar Pub Co , 7th rev. edition 1990: Continuum Publishing Company, , 8th rev. edition (with gender neutral references by editors Beverley Earles and Beth K. Lamont) 1997 Humanist Press

in
Adobe Acrobat Adobe Acrobat is a family of application software and Web services developed by Adobe Inc. to view, create, manipulate, print and manage Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The family comprises Acrobat Reader (formerly Reader), Acrobat (former ...
PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems ...
format (originally published in 1949 as ''Humanism as a Philosophy'') *''Voice in the Wilderness: Collected Essays of Fifty Years'' (Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1974, 327 pages) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-75351 *''Yes to Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont'' (1981), Horizon Press: , rev. edition 1991: Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-4430 *''You Might Like Socialism: A Way of Life for Modern Man'', (1939), (published with a re-introduction by Beth K. Lamont as ''Lefties Are In Their Right Minds'' on May 18, 2009 by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc.
Online PDF version


Books edited or co-edited by Corliss Lamont

*''Albert Rhys Williams, September 28, 1883 - February 27, 1962: In Memoriam'' (1962, New York, Horizon Press) *''Collected Poems of John Reed'' (Edited and with a Foreword by Corliss Lamont) (Westport, Conn., Lawrence Hill & Company, 1985) *''"Dear Corliss": Letters from Eminent Persons'' (Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1990, 202 pages) *''Dialogue on George Santayana'' (Edited by Corliss Lamont with the assistance of Mary Redmer) (New York, Horizon Press, 1959) *''Dialogue on John Dewey'' (Edited by Corliss Lamont with the assistance of Mary Redmer) (New York, Horizon Press, 1959) *''Helen Lamb Lamont: A Memorial Tribute'' (New York, Horizon Press, 1976) *''Letters of John Masefield to Florence Lamont'' (Edited by Corliss Lamont and Lansing Lamont) (New York, Columbia University Press, 1979, ; New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 1980, ) *''Man Answers Death: An Anthology of Poetry'' With an Introduction by
Louis Untermeyer Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961. Life and career Untermeyer was born in New Y ...
(New York, Philosophical Library, 1952) *''Studies on India and Vietnam'' (Written by Helen B. Lamb and Edited by Corliss Lamont) (New York,
Monthly Review Press The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...
, 1976, ) *''The Thomas Lamonts in America'' with Recollections and Poems by John Masefield (originally published in 1962 as ''The Thomas Lamont Family'') (Cranbury, New Jersey, A. S. Barns and Co., Inc. and London, England, Thomas Yoseloff Ltd, 1971, ) *''The Trial of
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union ...
by the American Civil Liberties Union'' (Edited and with an Introduction by Corliss Lamont) (New York, Horizon Press, 1968) (Modern Reader/Monthly Review Press, 1969)


''Basic Pamphlets'' series

Aside from books, over the course of more than a half-century, Corliss Lamont authored, co-authored, or edited approximately three dozen pamphlets on a variety of subjects. Prominent among these was the ''Basic Pamphlets'' series, privately published by Dr. Lamont and sold directly by him through mail order via a local post office box in New York. There were 29 numbered titles in the ''Basic Pamphlets'' series, listed below by pamphlet number. # ''Are We Being Talked Into War?'' (1952) # ''The Civil Liberties Crisis'' (1952) # ''The Humanist Tradition'' (1952, 16 pages - Second Printing, 1955) # ''Effects of American Foreign Policy'' (1952, 40 pages) # ''Back to the Bill of Rights'' # ''The Myth of Soviet Aggression'' (Second, revised edition, December 1953, 16 pages) # ''Challenge to McCarthy'' (February 1954, 32 pages) # ''The Congressional Inquisition'' (May 1954, 36 pages) # ''The Assault on Academic Freedom'' (1955) # ''The Right to Travel'' (December 1957, 44 pages) # ''To End Nuclear Bomb Tests'' o-authored by Margaret I. Lamont(1958, 44 pages) # ''A Peace Program for the U.S.A.'' (1959, 24 pages - Second printing, March 1959) # ''My Trip Around The World'' (1960, 48 pages) # ''The Crime Against Cuba'' ary Redmer, Editor(June 1961, 40 pages) # ''My First Sixty Years'' (1962, 52 pages - Second printing, February 1963) # ''The Enduring Impact of George Santayana'' (1964) # ''The Tragedy of Vietnam: Where Do We Go from Here?'' uthored by Helen Boyden Lamont née Helen B. Lamb(1964, 50 pages) # ''Vietnam: Corliss Lamont vs. Ambassador Lodge'' (1967, 32 pages) # ''How To Be Happy — Though Married'' (1973, 24 pages) # ''The Meaning of Vietnam and Cambodia'' o-authored by Helen Lamb Lamont(1975) # ''Trip to Communist China — An Informal Report'' (1976, 28 pages) # ''Adventures In Civil Liberties'' (1977, 28 pages) # ''Immortality: Myth Or Reality?'' (1978, 36 pages) # ''Resolute Radical At 83'' - later published as ''Steadfast Activist at 84'' (1985, 40 pages) # ''The Right to Know: The Civil Liberties Campaign Against Secrecy in Government'' orliss Lamont, Editor(December 1986, 40 pages) # ''Jesus As A Free Speech Victim: Trial by Terror 2000 Years Ago'' uthored by Clifford J. Durr, Introduction by Corliss Lamont, published on behalf of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC)(Fourth Edition, 1987, 24 pages) # ''The Assurance Of Free Choice'' (September 1987, 40 pages) # ''Panama—Operation Injustice'' ompiled and Written by Corliss Lamont and Beth Lamont(1990, 16 pages) # ''Persian Gulf Crisis—UN Peace Negotiations; No To War!'' ritten and Edited by Corliss Lamont and Beth Lamont(1990, 24 pages)


Other pamphlets

In addition to the ''Basic Pamphlets'' series, Corliss Lamont also wrote a number of other pamphlets, a partial list of which appears below. *''On Understanding Soviet Russia'' (New York, Friends of the Soviet Union, 1934, 32 pages
Online PDF version
*''Socialist Planning in Soviet Russia'' (New York, Friends of the Soviet Union, 1935, 40 pages) *''Soviet Russia and Religion'' (New York, International Pamphlets, 1936, 24 pages) *''Soviet Russia versus Nazi Germany: A study in contrasts'' (New York, The American Council on Soviet Relations, First Edition August 1941 - Second Edition March 1942, 52 pages) *''Soviet Russia and the Post-War World'' (New York, National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, First Edition May 1943 - Second Edition May 1944, 36 pages) *''Soviet Aggression: Myth or Reality?'' (New York, self-published, June 1951, 16 pages) *''Why I am not a Communist'' (New York, self-published, January 1952, 20 pages)


Sound recordings

* ''Author Corliss Lamont Sings For His Family & Friends, a Medley of Favorite Hit Songs from American Musicals'' includes 36 musical selections (Smithsonian Folkways, 1977
Stock Number FW03567


Video

*
Corliss Lamont and Pete Seeger
(1992, run time 00:10:05) by Jonathan Heap (a grandchild of Lamont)
MP4


See also

*
American philosophy American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevert ...
*
Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original ''Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as Humanist Manifesto I), the ''Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and ''Humanism and It ...
* Religious humanism * Frederick Vanderbilt Field *
List of American philosophers This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-ali ...
*
National Council of American-Soviet Friendship National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
*
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...
*
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), until 1968 known as the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, was an organization formed in the United States in October 1951 by 150 educators and clergymen to advocate for the civil liberties ...


Footnotes


External links


Corliss Lamont Website
sponsored by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc., an organization created to promote educational and informational activities consistent with the vision of founder Corliss Lamont, now run by his widow, Beth Keehner Lamont * Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York
HSMNY
, the Corliss Lamont Chapter of the American Humanist Association
AHA


*
Papers, 1929-1932.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University
Lamont-Corliss Family Papers Sophia_Smith_Collection
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Smith College. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamont, Corliss 1902 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American memoirists 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century educational theorists 20th-century educators 20th-century letter writers 20th-century social scientists Academics from New Jersey Academics from New York (state) Activists from New Jersey Activists from New York (state) Alumni of New College, Oxford American activists American anti-capitalists American anti-fascists American anti-poverty advocates American anti–Vietnam War activists American anti-war activists American bibliophiles American book and manuscript collectors American Civil Liberties Union people American civil rights activists American conservationists American cultural critics American democracy activists American democratic socialists American dissidents American educational theorists American educators American environmentalists American ethicists American historians of philosophy American human rights activists American humanists American Labor Party politicians American left-wing activists American letter writers American male biographers American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American non-fiction environmental writers American pacifists American pamphleteers American philosophy academics American political activists American political philosophers American skeptics American social activists American social reformers American social sciences writers American sociologists American travel writers Anthologists Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty Critics of religions Environmental philosophers Free speech activists Freethought writers Harvard University alumni Historians from New Jersey Historians from New York (state) Independent-Socialist Party politicians c Lecturers Moral philosophers New Jersey politicians New Jersey socialists The New School alumni Nonviolence advocates People from Englewood, New Jersey People from Ossining, New York Philanthropists from New Jersey Philanthropists from New York (state) Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Philosophers from New Jersey Philosophers from New York (state) Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of social science Social critics Social philosophers Sociologists Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Writers about communism Writers about globalization Writers about religion and science Writers from New Jersey Writers from New York (state)