Political Research Associates (PRA), formerly Midwest Research, Chicago (1981–87) is a non-profit research group located in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...

Mission

PRA studies the U.S. political

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

, as well as

white supremacists White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

, and paramilitary organizations. It has a full-time staff of six. The Executive Director is Tarso Luis Ramos. Dr. Jean V. Hardisty was the founder and director from 1981 to 2004.

Chip Berlet John Foster "Chip" Berlet (; born November 22, 1949) is an American investigative journalist, research analyst, photojournalist, scholar, and activist specializing in the study of extreme right-wing movements in the United States. He also stu ...

was the group's senior analyst from 1981–2011. Peggy Shinner (a poet) was the first archivist. PRA publishes a journal, '' The Public Eye'', quarterly, which reports on specific and current movements or trends within the U.S. political Right, and also produces special reports, past examples of which include "Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right's Attacks on Democracy," authored by former PRA research analyst, Surina Khan," which details attacks on

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

s and lesbians, and "Decades of Distortion," which alleged scapegoating of welfare recipients.PRA: About Us
/ref> The group provides public speakers, and has staff on hand to answer queries from journalists, researchers, and activists. Its annual funding of approximately $700,000 per year comes from foundation grants, individual contributions, and the sale of research materials. Expenditures are directed toward staffing, general & administrative expenses, programs and fundraising. Among its major donors are the

Public Welfare Foundation The Public Welfare Foundation distributes grants to organizations it believes it can contribute to reform. It has distributed more than $540 million in aid to 4,700 organizations. In 2013, it had total assets of $488.2 million and total giving of ...

and the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

. PRA is supported by a number of progressive and

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

activists, including Anne Braden of the Southern Organizing Committee, and

Suzanne Pharr Suzanne Pharr is an American organizer, political strategist, and author who has worked to build a broad-based social justice movement in the United States. Pharr is the founder of the Women's Project (based in Arkansas), co-founded Southerners on ...

of the Highlander Research Center. Pharr has written that PRA "sets the standard for researchers and political analysts of integrity," and describes the group's research as "thorough, thoughtful, carefully researched, and presented within a broad context of understanding of the complex relationships and activities of the Right."

Founding and early history

What is now Political Research Associates in Massachusetts began as a small progressive

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

think tank called Midwest Research. The organization was founded by Jean V. Hardisty, a professor of history. Hardisty had been hired by 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". T ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

to conduct research on the rise of the anti-feminist and

anti-abortion movements Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

. She wrote her report for the ACLU, and then left academia to devote herself full time to defending democracy and human rights against organized attacks by right wing groups and movements. The first two people hired by Dr. Hardisty were Peggy Shinner, a poet and writer, and

, a journalist and photographer. When Hardisty was diagnosed with

Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

, she was referred to a medical center in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Shinner chose to stay in Chicago with her partner. However,

and his spouse moved to the Boston area. After a few examinations in Boston, Hardisty was told her best treatment would be received in Oklahoma. She left the organization she founded in the hands of her staff. She later returned to resume her leadership position. The year 1994 saw a rising wave of violence against persons in (or even suspected of being supportive of)

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

communities. Hardisty contacted nationally-known organizers and strategists

and

Loretta Ross Loretta J. Ross is an African American academic, feminist, and activist who advocates for reproductive justice, especially among women of color. As an activist, Ross has written on reproductive justice activism and the history of African American ...

and raised funds for a national strategy meeting at the Blue Mountain Center in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

. What emerged was "A Call to Defend Democracy and Pluralism", November 17, 1994. Hardisty testified as an expert witness in the court fight over Colorado’s Amendment 2, described by human rights groups as "homophobic". She was accompanied by staff member Chip Berlet and numerous boxes of documents prepared for submission as evidence in the case. The case defending Amendment Two quickly collapsed. Hardisty is listed in the

Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chic ...

References

* Mantilla, Karla. “Report says right wing is full of shit.”

Off Our Backs ''Off Our Backs'' (stylized in all lowercase; ''oob'') was an American radical feminist periodical that ran from 1970 to 2008. It began publishing on February 27, 1970, with a twelve-page tabloid first issue. From 2002 the editors adapted it i ...

, Vol. 28, No. 4, p. 3. * Davis-Cohen, Simon. “Sheriffs Collude with Anti-Immigrant Group.”

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follett ...

, Vol. 83, No. 4, August 2019, pp. 23–24.

External links

PoliticalResearch.org
- The Website of Political Research Associates {{Authority control Political science organizations American journalism organizations

Mission

Founding and early history

See also

References

External links