ll. t. Ch . 20 (
"BUT SHE'S AN AVOWED COMMUNIST!" L'AFFAIRE CURIE AT THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 1953-1955
M r r t W. t r, C rn ll Un v r t
Intr d t n On ht h v xp t d th t th A r n Ch l S t (ACS , n r n z t n th t l d t b r n f r th dv n nt f h tr nd n t n p l t l t t f r t b r h p, ld r d l pt n ppl t n fr b l l r t n h tr . Y t th n t th th Irèn l t C r n . Aft r n t rn t n ACS ff l r j t d h r b r h p ppl t n b f h r p l t l r p t t n ( tr n l l n d t th pr C n t b l f nd t v t f h r h b nd, r d r l t C r , nf r d h r f th d n b t v n r n , nd d n th n f th r t n p bl l . Wh n nth l t r h r fr nd t n d nd p bl z d h r r j t n, th b lèbr . h xt n v nt r nd rr p nd n rr nd n th p d t p bl t nt p r r r t n t th d , h ndl n , nd n f n f th d n. Wh n p r d t n f th th r nt n t " t h h nt " n th Un t d St t n th 40 nd 0 , th p bl h r nt f l d n b r f th A r n A t n f r th Adv n nt f S n (AAAS , n n th d ff r nt r t n. Wh r th AAAS b rd f d r t r r p nd d t tl t th nt n t r d b l t n E. U. C nd n nd Figure. 1 Irene Joliot-Curie (1897-1956). Shown here K rtl M th r pr d nt ( , th l d r f th ACS late in life, Joliot-Curie shared the Nobel Prize in r f d t l t M d l t C r v n t b r Chemistry with her husband Frederic in 1935. h p. " Aff r C r ," t t b ll d, l Intensely apolitical in her early life, she became more r v l d tr t r l t n n th n th ACS b t n involved in French women's, socialist, and pro- th pr t t v n t n t f th b r f th rd f Communist movements starting in the late 1930s. r t r nd th n rn f r p l t l l b rt n (Reprinted from Nuclear Physics 4[1957], p. 497) th l d r f t n . h r n nd f l r d r f nt f p bl t n l r v l d d r n f r t n . 4 ll. t. Ch . 20 (
The Facts A rd n l n In M r h, , r n h h t nd b l r t Irèn l tt r pp r d l t C r ppl d f r b r h p n th ACS, n f n th br r , th l r t nt f t n n th rld th 4 , 68,000 b r , n rd r, h l d, t r v l n th th Journal of the American Chemical Society r l rl . r f ll r ft d Sh f ll d n th ppl t n f r nd h d, r xpl n t n b r d, t rr nt b r n d t nd n v h E r , h h d f r h r r l h r t r b n n th f r . h f r b n n l d d n t b t h r p l t l b l f r ff l t n , n t n th ACS t pr d th t t d d n t t h f t r th v r l nt n d r t n. It d n tt n r ll b r f th n d r d r d nt l l d r n h tr f ACS rd f f nt v d n f n nt r t n dv n n th f ld. r t r . h S n th S t l d th t t d d n t d r n t New York Times n t ppl nt n th b f r , l r, r l n, h d t r b t r p l t l b l f , t t ff nd tt d d n t n t n br r v t t th r (2 . t th S t d d r r th t , th Christian Figure 2 Ald n . E r ( 0 . Aft r th rt n r t th U. b r b f h h r l h r t r. S n th d Science Monitor S. r f M n , h v d n n tt ld n t nv t t th p t f v n n br r r ppl t n, th t b v h d f r b th n 6 t th A r n Ch l 20, Time S t , h r h rv d n r t r f t rr nt ACS b r , h h l t C r z n n t f d n tr t v p t , n l d n h d d n . b t t n t th t f x t v r t r fr t, d p t h r h h t nd n h t ( nd " pl " p 4 t 6 . (W th th p r n h l t r r tl r l v d t l rn th t th v l f br r 22, nd f th A r n Ch l S t h r h l r h d n v r b n n d bt , th C Science r tt n Ad n f th ACS r j t d h r ppl pr nt d b th l tt r n t M r h 2 ( . t n n l 24 , n l tt r n d b r n d hl Y t th ntr v r n t br ht t th tt n f th t n l r f St nd rd , th h r n f t n f ACS b r nt l th M r h 22, 4 f th tt ( . In S pt b r M d l t C r t l Chemical & Engineering News (Chem. Eng. r t Ald n E r , th x t v r t r f th ACS, News), h n d t r W lt r . M rph p bl h d b th t th r n h . ( r fr nd l t r t ld n t t nt b th x t v tt f th ACS l n th t h h d d th t th n d r d h r rd f r t r th t pp rt d th d n r t b ph r th r th n h tr (4 . Sh h d tt t n nd thr l tt r t th d t r n th b n l t d t th A r n h l S t n bj t (8 . Ov r th n xt t nth (th t , Apr l nd v b r 0 ( . E r d d n t r p nd, th h h M , 4 th pr v d n d r bl r p n ld nd h ld h v nf r d h r th t th r n b th j rn l , th 26 r l tt r t th d t r t nd rd pr d r f r pp l f d n d n (t lv n pp rt f th t n nd f rt n n pp (6 : h ld pp l t th ACS Council's C tt t n . n ll n th M f th Chem. Eng. n M b r h p St nd rd , h h t b r h p p l News M rph ll d h lt t t, n th t f rth r nd h rd pp l . Sh n v r p r d th r t . nt nl l t r lv th n f rth r ( . In t d h n ft r nth h h d h rd n th n h nd d th f r t ph . fr E r , n O t b r, n rn d fr nd f h r , M n f th d In t t t n r , h The Reasoning h d h lf n 0 b n r f d t p r r v t tt nd t n n th Un t d St t , r t l tt r t h r r v r l nv lv d h r . r t th t th d t r f n th r A r n j rn l th p l n —th pr n f th h ht f r f nt r t n f n nd p l t , th Bulletin of n r n l tt nv t t n b th U.S. S n the Atomic Scientists (Bull. At. Sci.). It d t r E n t nt n n A r n p . S v r l b n t h n t f d E r th t h ld p bl h th h ndr d f lt b r r b n bp n d t t r n h l tt r ft r n r , nd nv t d h t r p nd. t f th h r n r h hl p bl z d nd, h Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997) 35
been docu- ACS ld d b t th , h h d th t ff n r mented re- th t th r b n t n dv nt f. h Ald n cently, admin- E r h d n t ll r t rt d th t h d d n t h v t b istrators at member f th S t t t th j rn l h ld most universi- j t subscribe t th j rn l, d d n nd v d l ties fired their nd l b r t r ( 4 , nd p th h h r fee. controversial h th h technically l t C r l f d– cases as soon h h d f ll d n th f r f ll nd h h d bt n d th as possible n r n t r – h r t n nd v r p bl rather than lt r r t v l rr t t d th t ff nd th C t rally to any t d d n t d r d t h r. Y t h ld th xpl n defense of r j t n h r? E r h f j t f t n f r r j t n academic free- h r th t n n th Ad n C tt h d dom ( 0 . d th t h n " v d nd t v C n t." Ev n l r t d t h r ht n t nl th S t dv r h — t p bl t , b t t ld l v l t th S t f d r l h d rt r h rt r, tt r f r t r n rn t th rd f n f t— r t r th n t th C n l. h h rt r p b W lt r C n r nd d pt n b th ACS n tt d M rph h d Figure 3 W lt r J. M rph ( 8 th S t t dv n n h tr , pr v n A r . r n d h t, h f r d ACS r d f r r f h l n nd tr , nd p r t n th th f d r l v rn S rv p n b f r b n n fth nt h n n d d. It th r b l n d th S t t ff b r f r t h l d t r n 0. t x x pt n (n t nl fr f d r l t x , h h h d b rt rt n rv d d t r f Ch l nd pp r ntl b n n Apr l r En n r n fr 4 nt l h p bl nd r M , f d th. (W th th p r n f th t pr v t r h h d r A r n Ch l S t Y r t t f d t t t f h rt r, b t l b f r S n t r nn r tt ( . h E r fr tr t f nd th ACS d n tt p t d th t th C l b r l pr n t M d l t C r n th t t n nd f t l t t . t h n t b d, ll . h th t rn d h r d n tl , d d n t p bl z th r d p rt nt, n, nd d d n t r p nd t h r n r , p bl n n n 40 th h p th t th pr bl ld nn t d— S t p r h h t d d f r h l . h d nd r An th r f t r th t r n l d th ACS x t v d l d n r t r th t b t th t th S t tt p rt nt h n p bl t n ntr d n n r t tr t r f r f r t h d r th ACS v r l j rn l . r rl v r ACS t r th r . Un b r h d r v d ChemicalAbstracts ll th Chem. d r th h rt r Eng. News nd th Journal of the American Chemical th ACS b Society (J. Am. Chem. Soc.). Now J. Am. Chem. Soc. rp r t n Figure 4 Ch rl A. h ( 00 was to have a new rate structure: n n b r nd n h pr p rt 82 . Aft r n t M n nt n t t t n (" b r b r " r t b h r d n d r n d nd 6 h h ld v r t f x t v p t n l d n t pr d n . In bl r th n nd v d l b r f th ACS ( 2 . ntr ll d b 48 h pr d nt f th ACS nd E r nd h t ff h d n t d th t th r tt n th rd f b r f th b rd f d r t r n n r n n b r f ppl t n fr nd v d l r t r nd t 0 , h r h t h r n h t h p n r nx t v d th r r d t n h n l t C r ppl d f r n rp r t b r pt n r t ( . h th p t d r p rt nn ll b r h p. (W th th p r n f l t C r f d n ll. h r n t h th t th U. S. C n th A r n Ch l S t 36 Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997)
gress (15). Yet citing the federal charter was a new fac- offered the advantage that it could be done quietly, or, tor in admission decisions, for the federal charter had as statement by the executive committee of the Board not stopped the Society from admitting foreign mem- of Directors explained, it was standard Society policy bers before. In fact, as Rabinowitch pointed out in an to keep the names of persons denied membership pri- editorial on the subject in March, 1954, many American vate, as it would hurt them unnecessarily to publish them learned societies and professional organizations already and would open the society to possible slander action had foreign and even Soviet members (16). (The 1951 (20). Yet Irene Joliot-Curie did not acquiesce to such membership directory of the ACS listed 2,908 foreign silence and outmaneuvered both the ACS committee and members of 64,241 individuals with 88 from France, 71 the board. In fact if her goal had been revenge by ex- from eastern Europe, 22 from China, and none from the posing the officials' narrow-mindedness, she must have Soviet Union (17).) But as no one knew or had inquired been gratified with the response both privately (for many about their political views, their continued membership chemists wrote their sentiments either directly to her was not thought to threaten the Society or violate the (21) or to the ACS and its officers (22) and publicly in charter the way publicly electing even a suspected Com- the pages of the Chem. Eng. News, the Bull. At. Sci., munist to the ACS would in 1953. and the newsletters of two important ACS sections. In early March, 1954, as word of the episode spread but before the Chem. Eng. News provided more of the The Response details, S. C. Lind, a former (1940) ACS president, long A few of the published letters expressed irritation, as at the University of Minnesota but now a consultant at one might have expected, about the ACS's delay and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wrote the recent procedures in not informing its own members more di- president Farrington Daniels of the University of Wis- rectly about an action by their own governing boards. consin, asking why the Board of Directors had been The episode had all the signs of a "cover up" finally consulted and not the Council's Committee on Mem- exposed months later. Rabinowitch deplored the deci- bership Standards, which set criteria for admissions and sion and noted in the Bull. At. Sci. that the ACS would to which the committee on admissions usually reported. receive much adverse publicity in the pro-Soviet press, He saw this as one more example of the Board's en- as still more proof of the intolerance of America's so- croachment upon the Council, which had before 1937 called democratic institutions (23). governed the society. Lind thought that under the cir- Beyond this, on the whole, the letters Murphy cumstances losing the federal charter might be a bless- printed in the Chem. Eng News were about evenly di- ing, as he was sure that in this case the Council would vided as to the Committee's action. Those n r nt have made a better decision than the Board had (18). with the rejection of Joliot-Curie offered a variety of Daniels was taken aback, since in the haste and panic of arguments. [One suggested that anyone who did not the crisis no one had pursued this procedure. [In No- believe in God should not be a member of the ACS (24).] vember, 1953, Emery had mentioned it as one possibil- Chiefly many fervently believed that the Communist ity but did not object when Daniels and others wanted Party was not the usual sort of political party that Ameri- to consult with the Board, which was small, would be cans who believed in democratic institutions were used meeting soon, and had in the past dealt with other touchy to. Communism was instead a potent even subversive issues, as Linus Pauling's passport denial in 1952 (19).] political belief system. (The Supreme Court upheld this Yet this very bypassing of normal procedures to gather view as late as 1959.) If even one well-known Commu- support from the elders of the society rather than the nist were to be elected to the ACS, the other 68,000 more representative and less predictable Council shows members would also be immediately suspect. This po- just how worried the ACS leaders felt. litical contamination (she did work on radioactivity!) In its March, 1954, statement published in the might bring the whole organization under scrutiny, con- Chem. Eng. News, the executive committee of the Board gressional or otherwise, as a hotbed of communism. of Directors fell back on the nuance that membership in Then all members would be labeled as potentially sub- the ACS was an honor and not a right. Thus someone versive, for how could anyone prove that he/she was known (however it was determined and whether accu- not a communist, especially when the real communists rate or not) to be committed to the overthrow of the fed- were under strict party discipline and known to lie when eral government could not be accepted. To admit such a necessary, even under oath (25). It was thus the duty of person would, they feared, endanger the Society's very the members, as represented by its vigilant Committee existence. Rejecting Irene Joliot-Curie's application also on Admissions, to protect the good name of the ACS by
Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997) 37
rejecting Joliot-Curie, Nobel laureate or not, and the pre- Society, by its rigidly conformist interpretation of a de- sumed internationality of science notwithstanding (26). batable section of the ACS Charter, has been instrumental The critics were less fearful and more procedurally in drawing just a tiny bit tighter the band of continuing minded, pointing out that 1) the Committee on Admis- encroachments on our sphere of free activities" (31). sions had no official information on her or any appli- Endorsing these sentiments, Rabinowitch reprinted the cants' political beliefs, which were in any case, not per- editorial in the June 1954 issue of the Bull. At. Sci., along missible criteria for exclusion; 2) as she could not un- with several other letters to the editor and a summary of der prevailing conditions get a visa to enter the United those in the Chem. Eng. News (32). States, she was very unlikely ever to come to a meeting; Thus most and 3) the ACS committee could not vouch for the of the discussion Americanism of any of its current members—there did not revolve might well be many Communists among them already. around any prac- Paul Flory then of Ithaca, New York, an outspoken ad- tical fear of how vocate of political freedom and himself later a Nobelist, her ideas or suggested that someone should, in fact, investigate the physical pres- loyalty of those voting to exclude Madame Joliot-Curie ence might (27)! Others argued that whether or not communism threaten mem- was a subversive philosophy, Joliot-Curie was no threat bers of the soci- to other members, precisely because her leftish political ety or the field beliefs were so well known. One such person was such of chemistry. It a small proportion of the whole immense and diverse was generally in ACS that she hardly mattered. David Todd of the political Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, one of her staunchest and realm of what most persistent defenders, asserted that she should not the welcoming be confused with T. D. Lysenko, who held and enforced of a known distorted scientific views in the USSR (28). The real Communist in danger to the society was from secret Communists, who 1953 or 1954 would lie about their affiliations and beliefs, if asked, would do to the Figure 5 rr n t n n l ( 88 anyhow. Several ACS members reportedly resigned over Society's politi- 2 . On th f lt t th Un v r t the incident, including nuclear chemist Charles D. cal fortunes, le- f W n nfr 20 t , h n n r rd nd pr d nt f Coryell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gal standing, th ACS n h n th l br (29). [If he did resign, he rejoined later, because he was and reputation, nf ld d. (W th th p r n f th listed in the ACS membership directory for 1956. He a greater con- A r n Ch l S t also won a prize from the ACS in 1960 and spent a year cern to most of at the Radium Institute in 1963 (30).] the society's officers (whose presidents Arnold Thackray In retrospect the most judicious immediate reac- has termed an "elite gerontocracy") than to the more tion to the episode was the editorial on "The Chemist populist members of some of the local sections (33). and the Communist" in the April, 1954 issue of the Rather than feeling strong enough to stand up to outside Chemical Bulletin, the newsletter of the Chicago sec- criticism and select members solely on their scientific tion, third largest, of the ACS. Its editor Robert N. fitness, the society's leaders, nearly unanimously (34), Feinstein, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the felt the need to reaffirm their patriotism—her applica- University of Chicago and so probably known to Eu- tion had even put their own loyalty under suspicion. Yet gene Rabinowitch, said that the whole affair had been ironically far from protecting the integrity and interna- badly handled. He summarized the dilemma succinctly, tionality of science at a time of danger, the actions of "Mr. Emery's statement is reasonable and understand- the ACS staff and leadership seem to have, as one critic able. And still we deeply regret it." Adding that "We are pointed, out dropped to the level of the Communists not here in any way condoning communism," he claimed themselves. If a Nobel laureate in chemistry could be that because the Society did not consider race, color, excluded from an American society presuming to ad- creed, or political views as criteria for membership and vance that field, then the integrity of many other Ameri- already had many other foreign members, "We can only can scientific organizations was also put into serious regret with all our heart that the American Chemical doubt (35). 38 Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997)
Aftermath charter than had Emery and more that if Madame Joliot- Curie were accepted for membership, she would be able "L'Affaire Curie," as Rabinowitch dubbed it, dragged to vote for future ACS officers. Finally in Decem- on into 1955. In August, 1954 the editor of the Chem. ber,1955 he proposed that the ACS Council and Board Eng. News broke his own earlier ban on the topic by of Directors should revise the organization's current printing a letter from Irene Johot-Curie to David Todd, constitution to strike a compromise of sorts. The Na- who in his efforts to guide the discussions of the issue tional Academy of Sciences, of which he was also a in the Central Massachusetts section (Worcester), had member, and which also had a federal charter, had for- inquired directly if she had told the ACS admissions eign members who did not vote for the officers. It thus committee that she was a member of the Communist managed to look international but did not jeopardize its Party. She replied that she was not a member, but added national interests in allowing the foreigners a chance to that this was a mere technicality as she believed totally control the organization. Thus the ACS could do like- in its tenets and her husband was an active member. She wise—elect foreign members, whose political loyalty then expatiated on how hard she personally strove to and moral character could not be vouched for, to non- overlook other scientists' political views, how warmly voting membership status. They could then be members she welcomed scientists of all nations (including even and get the journals at the reduced rate, but there would the United States) into her laboratory, and how deplor- be no chance of their taking over the leadership (40). able she felt the recent behavior of the ACS was, com- Thus the ACS began to develop a more open approach ing as it did from fellow scientists, who should be above to international members, whose numbers were grow- such things. The Bull. At. Sci. reprinted her letter in ing rapidly, including 358 applications from Japan alone October, 1954 (36). In it she did not mention that since in 1955 (41). In 1956 it even had one member from the 1949 she and her husband had been urging Chinese sci- Soviet Union, Anatoli Kreshkov (42). entists to convince Chairman Mao Zedong's commu- But by the time the ACS had revised its member- nist regime to build atomic and hydrogen bombs (37). ship rules, the woman who had started all the fuss had Meanwhile Alan C. Nixon, a research chemist at taken to her bed with her final illness. Irène Joliot-Curie Shell Research and Development Center at Emeryville, died from leukemia in March, 1956 (43). Chairman of the California section of the ACS, head- quartered then in nearby Berkeley, and in the 1970s an Analysis and Conclusion ACS president in his own right, kept the issue of Joliot- Curie's exclusion alive in The Vortex, the section's Beneath the particulars of this case are several underly- monthly journal, throughout 1954. Already known for ing issues relating to the role of scientific societies in his liberal views, he thought it was an outrage that she the 1950s: in tying subscription rates to ACS member- had been rejected and kept pressing the national leader- ship status, they could to a certain extent control access ship for more specific reasons. He also engaged Berke- to inexpensive scientific information; in choosing some ley professor Joel C. Hildebrand, a prominent member but not other foreign members, they could shape the in- and former chairman of the California section as well ternationalization of chemistry; in withholding informa- as the incoming president of the ACS, in several ex- tion on association activities, they could protect their changes on the matter in The Vortex (38). leaders from criticism; while in publishing letters-to- Hildebrand was no stranger to such issues, since a the-editor they could air the members' differing politi- few years earlier as dean of the University of California's cal views. College of Chemistry he had had to deal with the thorny Yet this was a highly unusual case. Most studies in issue of the Regents loyalty oath. In the spring of 1950 the growing literature on "McCarthyism" in science fo- he had even chaired the faculty advisory committee on cus on the harassment of American scientists, especially the issue for the three northern campuses (Berkeley, San those in the physical sciences, and including, perhaps Francisco, and Davis) to President Sproul. When he even featuring, many very eminent ones, as Nobel lau- urged recalcitrant faculty members to sign the revised reates, by both political figures, as congressmen, fed- oath, he emerged as an accommodater and compromiser eral bureaucrats, especially passport officials and grants rather than a diehard political purist (39). officers, who are usually not scientists, and university In the course of his correspondence with on the one administrators, a few of whom were former scientists, hand the liberal Alan Nixon and on the other with the even chemists (44). As these accounts document the im- illiberal ACS staff, Hildebrand struggled with the issues position of loyalty oaths, the denials of federal grants, and dangers. Basically he worried less about the federal the withholding of passports, the issuing of subpoenas Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997) 39
to testify before congressional committees, and even job Joliot-Curie in Paris. She showed him her rejection let- suspensions and firings, they usually have the flavor of ter, and he wrote Farrington Daniels of the University pitting the "Davids" (like Condon or J. Robert of Wisconsin and President of the ACS, urging him "to Oppenheimer) against the "Goliaths" (the government rectify this without delay" (Linus Pauling to Farrington Daniels, October 28, 1953, in Farrington Daniels Pa- officials or university administrators) (45). "L'Affaire pers (#7/6/14-2) at the University of Wisconsin Archives, Curie" was an unusual and more disturbing case in that Madison. Much of the correspondence in the Daniels here a scientist-a foreigner as well as a woman and a Papers refers to items deliberately omitted from the of- Nobelist---was rejected not by narrow-minded Ameri- ficial minutes of the meetings of the ACS Board of Di- can bureaucrats [though she had been detained overnight rectors. Pauling referred to the incident again in a letter at Ellis Island by State Department officials in 1948 when to David Todd, October 19, 1959; Linus and Helen she came to the United States on a lecture tour(46)] but Pauling Papers, Oregon State University Library, cited by her fellow chemists, the officers (all male and no in T. Hager, r f t r , h f f n Pauling, Nobelists) of the ACS, for mere membership in their Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995, 435. It is also of scientific organization. She in turn was quite angry at interest that Bekkedahl won a meritorious service award from the besieged Commerce Department in I954 her fellow scientists, whose behavior reflected narrow (A r n M n f S n [AMS], 12th ed. 1971, vol. chauvinism and even political cowardice rather than the 6, 390). lofty ideals of science, while at the same time limiting 4. Linus Pauling to Farrington Daniels, December 17, her access to certain valuable informational resources. 1953, quoted in O. B. Daniels [with considerable help Yet in the complex world of American science in from Anthony Stranges], "Farrington Daniels, Chemist the 1950s, the leaders of this one scientific society- and Prophet of the Solar Age, A Biography," typescript, admittedly a large one with substantial resources and 1978, 287, copy at University of Wisconsin Archives. I particularly close ties to the nation-state via its charter thank Anthony Stranges for telling me of this. and tax-exempt status-felt that they had to protect the 5. Ibid., p. 285nl1. 6 Alden Emery to Farrington Daniels, November 6, 1953, best interests of both their society and American chem- Box 5 ("Joliot-Curie Controversy, 1953"), Daniels Pa- istry and thus had to accede to prevailing political reali- pers. ties. What may have been different about this case was 7. M. Haissinsky to Editor, ll. At. S ., February, 1954, that, unlike the untold numbers of others that were suc- 0, 56; "U. S. Chemists Bar Mme. Joliot-Curie," cessfully covered up, Madame Joliot-Curie was able to Y r , February 15, 1954, 10:1; R. C. Cowen, bypass her censors and bring it to public attention, thus "Chemical Society Faces Joliot-Curie Controversy," revealing the wide structural and ideological divisions Chr t n S n M n t r, February 20, 1954, 5:3; among American chemists. Perhaps the biggest surprise "People," , February 22, 1954, 48:1; "Science was that she got as much public and private support as News," S n , March 12, 1954, , 340-41. See also did. H. Skolnik and K. M. Reese, A C nt r f Ch tr , h l f Ch t nd th A r n Ch l S REFERENCES AND NOTES t , American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1976, 42-43, who called it "the most acrimonious debate of 1. Wang, "Science, Security, and the Cold War: The Case the 1950s." It is disturbing that almost all we know about of E. U. Condon," I , 1992, 8 , 238-69; D. Wolfle, the history of the ACS comes from histories that it com- n n S nt f S t , h A r n A missioned. The three to date make it one of the most t n, AAAS, Washington, DC, 1989, 16-20, 44 45, and written about of scientific societies, however. 283-84n14; and K. B. Bork, Cr n nd 8. "Board of Directors' Statement on Election to Member- f nd n r : K rtl . M th r, AAAS, Pacific ship in the ACS," Ch . En . , March 22, 1954, Division, San Francisco, CA, 1994. 2, 1146. The chairman of the Board of Directors in 1953, 2. The ACS's executive secretary Alden Emery, however, when the statement was drafted, was Charles A. Tho- revealed that one of his staff members periodically mas, President of the Monsanto Company of St. Louis. showed a list of foreign applicants to the scientific attaché Among the other members of the Board were John C. of the relevant embassy to find out what he knew about Warner, President of the Carnegie Institute of Technol- the individuals involved. ("Membership-Foreign," ogy, Ralph Connor, Vice-president for Research at Rohm American Chemical Society Papers, Box 26, Manuscript and Haas, Raymond Kirk, Dean of the Graduate School Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC). The at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and Arthur C. extent of the ACS's ties to the State Department is not Cope, Chairman of the Chemistry Department at the clear. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (H. Skolnik and 3. On his way to the dedication of the Weizmann Institute K. M. Reese, p. t., 395). in Israel in October 1953, Linus Pauling visited Madame 40 Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997)
. " tt r — l t C r M b r h p," Chem. Eng. News, 22, Al n th n l p r ( x l t f "M b r M , 4, 32, 66. h pr t t d [pr v t l t th ACS th ] t n n M 0, r x pl , E. W. S hr r, No Ivory Tower, d l t C r ppl t n" th n nd th McCarthyism at the Universities, Oxf rd Un v r t n t n l nd h l d lph h pt r f th A r n A r , Y r . 86 S. nd, Compromised Cam- t n f S nt f W r r , b t th r t l l tt r pus The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelli- r n t th r . h nl n f th f ft n h l h d gence Community 1945-1955 Oxf rd Un v r t r , l tt r p bl h d n Chem. Eng. News r Bull. At. Sci. Y r , 2. v d dd. t d r G. . C rp nt r, r v , Ern t . l l r t W lt r . M rph , M 8, , n d n , I G. S. Chr t n n, nd n, C . . rr n t n n l p r , x ("ACS rd f Cl r , YC W. C hn, O d , M. r t r " . d lb r r, YC . . M. nr , C br d , MA 2. r x pl , "S b r pt n t In r I," Chem. Eng. A. I. K , YC . . t n, r l , CA . M. News, , 33, p. 28 6. S l . Sh n , " h l , YC W. A. , r., h t r, Y A. M. S n nd En n r n S t n th Un t d St t pp nh r, r., YC . E. Sn , br ht , bl h r , 64," np bl h d . .S. d r W. . St rt, tt b r h, A . dd, Shr b r , t t n, C l b Un v r t , 66 nd . G. rn r, MA nd . W n r, nd nb r , A. h r ntr " h r f n l S t n Ch n n W rld," Library n th AMS (St rt th nl n n t l t d h Quarterly, 84, 4, 6 4 . h h pr p rt n f b h t nd r d h t th . S p ll Ald n E r t K. K. rr , O t b r n lbr ht nd G nh rd n th . 2 , 2, x 2 , A r n Ch l S t p r , h th ht r pr nt r l b r l nd nt rn f r pl nt th t b r r b n th r r ht t t n l nd l nd tr l r nt t n th n d d th t p f Chemical Abstracts. Oth r t r l n b r f th rd f r t r nd r l t nd x 2 nd 26 r l v nt t th l t C r ff r d fr t n th n th r t r f l tt r t th d t r, nd t ft r th, b t th ll t n f r fr l v n f h r n t l t d n th AMS. h l t pl t nd p rh p v n r n t bl f r h t n t th r . f r fr pl t , h v r, f r th r n t n th l t S , f r x pl , nt n r r f r n t r t d r tl t n l , S. C. nd n n b v , f l ( h " l t C r , I., t n Unf v r bl " nd W. . Sp r f th St nd rd O l C p n f th t r n t pr nt. r , h d th t nd r n l l t f h h h 4. Ald n E r , " tt r t th Ed t r," Bull. At. Sci., b r r v t b h ld nt bl f r th r r r 4, 10, 6. h b nd nd r t n (n.d., x . th h nd h . "An A t t In rp r t th A r n Ch l S f M r d th r b r (AMS, th d., 6 , , t ," U. S. St t t t r , th C n r , , 50, 068 . t I, 8 800. S l . S ln nd K. M. , op. 2 . E. b n t h f. 6. cit., 24 26, nd " d r l Ch rt r Str n th n d ACS l 24. . . Kr d r, r., G l n , A, " tt r ," Chem. Eng. n th t n l St ," n . . St r h nd A. h r , News, M , 4, 2, 68. "Ch tr nd bl l ," Chem Eng. News, M r h 2 . G. . C r, rb r h, MI, " tt r — n n , 8 , 65, 22 2 . (I th n ffr St r h f r th r f l t C r ," ibid., Apr l , 4, 2, 42. r n nd th r h lpf l dv . . 26. S. E. M r , h l d lph , " tt r — n n 6. E[ n ] [ b n t h], " h A r n Ch l S l t C r ," ibid., Apr l , 4, 2, 42. t nd M d l t C r ," Bull. At. Sci. M r h 2 . . . l r , " tt r ," ibid., M , 4, 32, 66. 4, 10, 6 . r b t r f b n t h New 28. . dd, Shr b r , M h tt , " tt r ," ibid. York Times, M 6, , 0 nd Bull. At. Sci., n Apr l , 4, 32, 46 nd 48. , 2 , , nd "A St ll d," ibid., 4 2 f r x 2 . f. 2 . rpt fr l . 30. American Chemical Society, Directory of Members, . "S r f G r ph l tr b t n," American 1956, ACS, W h n t n, C, 6, 0. C r ll h d Chemical Society Diamond Jubilee Directory, 1951, l b n r t r tr r r f th d r t n f At ACS, W h n t n, C, , n.p. S nt t n 2 (AMS I th d., 6 , 00 " r. 8. S. C. nd t rr n t n n l , M r h , 4, n l Ch rl . C r ll," Chem. Eng. News Apr l 8, 60, p r , x . nd: AMS, 0th d., 6 , 4, 242 . 38, " th —Ch rl . C r ll," ibid., n r 2 , . Ald n E r t rr n t n n l , v b r 6, , , 49, 6 nd "C r ll, Ch rl ," National n l p r , x , nd Ald n E r t rr n t n Cyclopedia of American Biography , 56, 4 2 . n l , n 0, 2, x , S f h r h d b n l f d r r h f r th 20. " rd f r t r St t nt n El t n t M b r f d r l v rn nt. h p n th ACS," Chem. Eng. News, M r h 22, 4, . . . ., " h Ch t nd th C n t," Chem. Bull., 2, l 46. Apr l, 4, 41, (4 , nd . h r r r p n ( n 2 . . r t, Irene Joliot-Curie, r d l n n , r ll n t v n th M , n , nd S pt b r . r , , 28 . In 60 n t n h d G nh f ll h p t Bull. Hist. Chem. 20 (1997) 41
the Radium Institute in Paris (AMS, 11th ed., 1965, vol. Professor and His Public," Ch . En . , Novem- 2, I501). ber 24, 1952, 0„ 4934-37, reprinted in ll. At. S ., 32. "L'Affaire Curie," ll. At. S . June 1954, 0, 21I-14. February, 1953, 9, 23-25. One contributor to the AtS discussion, psychologist 40. J. Hildebrand to Alden Emery, December 27, 1955, ACS Mary Mercer of Minnesota, suggested another possible Papers, Box 26. The Joel Hildebrand Papers, his bio- solution: it would have been easier on everyone involved graphical file, and two oral histories of him at the if the ACS had had a fund with which to send journals to Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, are controversial people like Irene Joliot-Curie at no charge. not helpful. Emery may have learned from the episode, ("Bulletin Readers React," b d., 212.) for when in 1961 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the 33. A. Thackray, J. L. Sturchio, P. T. Carroll, and R. Bud, American Institute of Chemists, its citation mentioned Ch tr n A r 8 6 6 D. Reidel Pub. Co., his "exceptional intelligence, tact, vision, and respon- Dordrecht and Boston, I985, 188 and 189. The ACS siveness to the desires of the members." ("Former ACS Board of Directors was a nursery for future presidents. staff chief dead at 73," Ch . En . , March 24, 34. Farrington Daniels, who had met the Joliot-Curies in 1975, , . Paris in 1928, was of two minds on the issue, writing 41. ACS Papers, Box 25. By then the country with the larg- even before Madame Joliot-Curie had been rejected that est number of foreign members of the ACS was Japan in the short run there would be more criticism for ac- with 1,019 up from just 18 in 195I. This was consider- cepting her than for rejecting her, but that in the long ably more than the 701 from Canada and almost as many run they would find that admitting her would have been as from Wisconsin (l,089). (A r n Ch l S the right thing to do. (Farrington Daniels to Alden Em- t , r t r f M b r , 6 ACS, Washington, DC, ery, July 6, 1953, Daniels Papers, Box 5). He opposed 1956, 1163-4). the decision at the time but then worked with Emery, 42. Ib d .. 1131. ACS lawyer Elisha Hanson, and the other members of 43. "Mme. Joliot-Curie is Dead in Paris," Y r , the executive committee of the Board to put the society's March 18, 1956, 89:l; J. Chadwick, "Obituary, Mme. action in the best light possible. After hearing from S. Irene Joliot-Curie," t r , May 26, 1956, , 964-5; C. Lind in early March, 1954, he wished he had opposed F. Perrin, "Irene Joliot-Curie," t n r f S nt f her rejection more vigorously. (O. B. Daniels, r ph , 157-59; O. S. Opfell, h d r t , "Farrington Daniels, Chemist and Prophet of the Solar W n Wh v W n th b l r z , 2nd ed., Scare- Age, A Biography," 285-91.) crow Press, Metuchen, NJ, 1986, 195-212; C rr nt 35. H. O. Albrecht, Springfield, PA, "Bulletin Members r ph Y rb , 40, 435-36;Ref. 21; and B. React," ll. At. S ., June 1954, 0, 212; J. W.Beckman, Bensaude-Vincent, "Star Scientists in a Nobelist Fam- Oakland, CA, "Letters," Ch . En . , April 19, ily: Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie," in . Pycior, N. 1954, 2, 1544. Slack, and P. Abir-Am, Ed., Cr t v C pl n th 36. Irene Curie to David Todd, Ch . En . , August 2, S n , Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 1954, 2, 3026, reprinted in ll. At. S . October 1954, 1996), 57-71. 0, 335. 44. See Ref. 33, Table 6.5, pp. 394-6, for a list of chemists 37. J. W. Lewis and X. Litai, Ch n ld th b, who became college and university presidents before Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA., 1988, 36. 1959. 38. "Alan C. Nixon Chairman for 1954," h rt x, Janu- 45. For example, M. D. Kamen, d nt S n , r l ary ,1954, , 5; A. C. Nixon, "Chairman's Message, t , A M r f th l r A , University of Cali- ACS=American Communist Society?" b d., April, 1954, fornia Press, Berkeley, CA, 1985, 213-14; and n1 above. 147 and 162; d , "Chairman's Message, Madame is 46. Mentioned in "U.S. Chemists Bar Mme. Joliot-Curie," Still Here," May, 1954, 187; C. O'Konski, "Minutes of Y r , February 15, 1954, 10:1. Executive Committee Meeting," May,1954, 211; J. H. Hildebrand, "A Letter to the Chairman," rt x, June, ABOUT THE AUTHOR 1954, 223; A. C. Nixon, "Chairman's Message, Answer- ing the Mail," b d. June, 1954, 225 and 285; C. M r r t W. t r th M r Und rh ll ll r O'Konski, "Minutes of the General Meeting," b d., Sep- f r f th t r f S n n th p rt nt f tember, 1954, 294; A. C. Nixon, "Chairman's Message," S n nd hn l St d , C rn ll Un v r t , 26 September, 1954, 303; and "Membership Requirements," Un v r t Av ., Ith , Y, 48 0 USA. r t r October 1954, 362 and 364, reprinting a recent letter nt b Women Scientists in America, Before Affir- from . Hildebrand to A. Nixon. mative Action, 1940-1972, p bl h d b hn 39. D. P. Gardner, h C l f rn O th C ntr v r , Uni- versity of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1967, 47; more p n Un v r t r n . An rl r f r f recently, N. K. Innis, "Lessons from the Controversy over th p p r pr nt d t th I th Int rn t n l C n the Loyalty Oath at the University of California," r f th t r f S n , r z , Sp n, n M n rv , 2, 0, 337-65; and J. H. Hildebrand, "The A t, .