The Bertrand Russell Case

Kay v. Board of Higher Education
Court Supreme Court of New York, New York County
Full case name In the Matter of the Application of Jean Kay, Petitioner, v. Board of Higher Education of the City of New York
Decided March 30, 1940
Citation(s) 1193 Misc. 943 18 N.Y.S. (2d) 821 (1940)
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting John E. McGeehan

The Bertrand Russell Case, edited by John Dewey and Horace M Kallen, is a collection of articles on the 1940 dismissal of Bertrand Russell as Professor of Philosophy from the College of the City of New York.

Background

Russell's appointment was confirmed by New York's Board of Higher Education in spite of a media frenzy led by Dr William Thomas Manning, the Episcopal Bishop of New York City. The matter was however taken to the New York Supreme Court by Jean Kay who was afraid that her daughter would be harmed by the appointment, though her daughter was not a student at CCNY.[1]

Court case

The judge hearing the case was the Irish Catholic John E. McGeehan who on the basis of four of Russell's popular and non-philosophic books (On Education, What I Believe, Education and the Modern World, and Marriage and Morals) ruled against 'a chair of indecency,' finding Russell morally unfit to teach philosophy.[2] In the books, Russell advocated sex before marriage, among other things.[3]

Russell was prevented from appearing in court and an appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union was denied in several courts. The City of New York's lawyers told the Board of Higher Education that the verdict would not be appealed. A few days later Mayor LaGuardia removed the funds for the position from the budget.[4]

Judge McGeehan's ruling was published as Kay v. Board of Higher Ed. of City of New York, 193 Misc. 943 18 N.Y.S. (2d) 821 (1940).[5]

Aftermath

When Russell published An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth, the lectures he gave at Harvard that fall, he added "Judicially pronounced unworthy to be Professor of Philosophy at the College of the City of New York" to the listing of distinctions and academic honours on the title page in the English version. Russell commented on Judge McGeehan that, "As an Irish Catholic, his views were perhaps prejudiced," and compared his case to the case against Socrates saying that "precisely the same accusations were brought — atheism and corrupting the young."

Bibliography

  • Bertrand Russell, The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell: The Middle Years: 1914-1944. Bantam, 1969.
  • Thom Weidlich. Appointment Denied: The Inquisition of Bertrand Russell. Prometheus Books, 2000.

References

  1. ↑ McCarthy, Joseph M. (May 1993). The Russell Case: Academic Freedom vs. Public Hysteria (PDF). Educational Resources Information Center. p. 9.
  2. ↑ Kennedy, Walter B.; White, Jr., William R. (1941). "The Bertrand Russell Case Again". Fordham L. Rev. Fordham University. 10 (2): 196–218. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Sex Seer", in Time, November 4, 1929.
  4. ↑ Editors, Law Review (1940). "The Bertrand Russell Litigation". The University of Chicago Law Review. The University of Chicago. 8 (2): 316–325. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "School Boards--Discretionary Power--Appointment of Professors--Judicial Review (Kay v.Board of Higher Education, 193 Misc. 943 (1940))". St. John's Law Review. St. John's. 15 (1): Article 24. November 1940. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
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