Richard T. Drinnon (January 4, 1925 - April 19, 2012) was

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of history at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught courses on American history. He was denied tenure due to his political activism and was about to be called up by the House Un-American Activities Committee. Drinnon participated in the Columbia University protests of 1968, and he published several books, including "Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman" and "Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian-Hating and Empire-Building."

Early life and education

Drinnon received a PhD from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Career

In 1961, while Drinnon was a professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, he was discovered by police to be the next person on the target list of John Harrison Farmer, who felt that he was on a mission from God to kill people who he believed were associated with communism. While there he taught two popular courses on "A Critical View of American History" which emphasized the negatives during American history from 1776 to the present. He ultimately was denied tenure because of his political activism. He protested the execution of

Caryl Chessman Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted robber, kidnapper and serial rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Chessman was charged with 17 counts a ...

, was the first faculty advisor for SLATE, the activist student union, and was about to be called up to the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

(HUAC) because they suspected him of being a communist. At the time he was denied tenure he had already published his first book, '' Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman''. During the

Columbia University protests of 1968 In 1968, a series of protests at Columbia University in New York City were one among the various student demonstrations that occurred around the globe in that year. The Columbia protests erupted over the spring of that year after students disco ...

, Drinnon participated in a student walkout of a speech at Bucknell University by Vice President

Hubert H. Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

, when Humphrey blamed protesters for disorder on the campus. Drinnon shouted "This is a disgrace," and walked out along with about 30 students.

Works

Books

* * ''Keeper of Concentration Camps:

Dillon S. Myer Dillon Seymour Myer (September 4, 1891 – October 21, 1982) was a United States government official who served as Director of the War Relocation Authority during World War II, Director of the Federal Public Housing Authority, and Commissioner ...

and American Racism''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. . * '' Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. . * ''White Savage: The Case of John Dunn Hunter''. Schocken Books, 1972. .

References

External links