The above image was printed by the Dianetics Testing Center. Enclosed is a personality test, which would be filled out and sent to the center. The pamphlet presents itself as a scientific test to determine your personality and areas in which you could use improvement.

“Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body which was created by L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology and separate independent Dianeticist groups.”[1]

Personality tests continue to be commonly used as a means of recruitment by Scientologists. The idea is that you would fill out the test and then receive scientific data describing your personality and then by becoming a Scientologist you would be helped on the path the self-improvement. Although it is hard to tell from this printing, I believe this test is from the 1980s.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics

The item for this week is a 1948 reprinting of a treatise by Martin Luther titled The Jews and Their Lies originally written in 1543 and published by The Christian Nationalist Crusade. [1]

The Christian Nationalist Crusade was an anti-Semitic and pro-segregation organization that was founded by Gerlad L.K. Smith in St. Louis, Missouri in 1942 and disbanded in 1977 having moved to Glendale, California.[2]  Smith’s political life started during the Great Depression as part of the Share Our Wealth movement and later he began to move this into the realm of white supremacy. Smith also joined various pro-Nazi groups during and after WWII.[3] The repurposing of historical texts is not uncommon in many extremist organizations, especially religious based groups.  In Luther’s original text, which is said to have had a major influence on Nazi dogma he proposes seven actions Christians can take against Jews:

1. to avoid Jewish synagogues and schools and warn people against them;
2. to refuse to let Jews own houses among Christians;
3. for Jewish religious writings to be taken away;
4. for rabbis to be forbidden to preach;
5. to not offer protection for Jews on highways;
6. for usury to be prohibited, and for all silver and gold to be removed, put aside for safekeeping and given back to Jews who truly convert; and
7. to give young, strong Jews flail, axe, spade, spindle, and let them earn their bread in the sweat of their noses

Christian Nationalist Crusade (1948)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Jews_and_Their_Lies

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Nationalist_Crusade

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_L._K._Smith

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) was founded by students and faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969[1] and still exists today. The group has primarily focused on environmental and nuclear energy issues. In its founding document the UCS states that it intends:[2]

1. To initiate a critical and continuing examination of governmental policy in areas where science and technology are of actual or potential significance.
2. To devise means for turning research applications away from the present emphasis on military technology toward the solution of pressing environmental and social problems.
3. To convey to our students the hope that they will devote themselves to bringing the benefits of science and technology to mankind and to ask them to scrutinize the issues raised here before participating in the construction of destructive weapons systems.
4. To express our determined opposition to ill-advised and hazardous projects such as the ABM system, the enlargement of our nuclear arsenal, and the development of chemical and biological weapons.
5. To explore the feasibility of organizing scientists and engineers so that their desire for a more humane and civilized world can be translated into effective political action.

In the pamphlet shared in this post outlines the environmental and health risks that plutonium (used in power plants and atomic bombs) can cause if it is left unmonitored. It is hard to determine when this was published but they mention plutonium being a “recent” element (it was discovered in 1940). My guess is that this was printed in the 1950s or 1960s.

Union of Concerned Scientists

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Concerned_Scientists

[2] http://www.ucsusa.org/about/founding-document-1968.html

MERIP Reports or The Middle East Research and Information Project was founded as a non-profit in 1971 to cover various conflicts in the Middle East.  The paper was started by student activists in the U.S. including Joe Stork, a member of The Human Rights Watch who has been criticized by some for anti-Israel rhetoric.[1]

MERIP reports still exists today: http://www.merip.org/?ip_login_no_cache=1692ed761b2f6107ab27af4aa2016d3c

MERIP Report Cover (1982)

MERIP Report Back Cover (1982)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Stork

We have begun our summer processing work again! There will be 14 students working this summer to organize the Hall Hoag collection. We have been coming across some really interesting items.

I wanted to share one in particular this week. We found a letter from Howard Zinn written to Grace Hoag. Zinn became well known for writing The People’s History of The United States. He was also a professor at Boston University, where he was working when he wrote this letter. This is a response, dated June 3, 1968 to a letter written by Grace Hoag to Zinn asking about the “communist manipulation of demonstrations.”

The Hall Hoag collection is named in honor of Grace Hoag who was a collaborator of Gordon Hall. Hoag attended meetings and rallies of various groups and brought back their literature and was instrumental in the sorting and organizing the materials.

Howard Zinn Letter 1968

I wanted to share one more quick post this week. I found a file on James McElligott who I could not find much information about, but was very intrigued by the file that Gordon Hall had on him. Hall had two photos taken 6 years apart along with notes on McElligott’s involvement in the American Institute and John Birch Society. It does not seem like McElligott was much of a major player, but it is hard to say. Either way, he is a figure largely forgotten by history. The images show the extent of Gordon Hall’s work. The fact that he kept detailed information about a minor figure (and kept the files organized for 6 years) in the already fringe world of extremism is remarkable.

James McElligott 1961

James McElligott 1967

This item from the Hall-Hoag collection comes from a publication called the Attica News.  The Attica News was published by the Attica Defense Committee out of Buffalo, New York.  Published in the wake of the Attica Prison Riot on September 9, 1971 this periodical primarily focused on prisoners’ rights and the mistreatment of inmates.  During the Attica Prison Riot roughly 1000 inmates took control of Attica Prison holing over 30 hostages.  After 4 days of negotiations the prison was stormed by New York State police. 39 people were killed including 10 hostages. (All numbers sited from Wikipedia.)

Attica News (January 30,1974)

For more information on the Attica Prison Uprising:

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attica_Prison_riot

Project NIA:

http://niastories.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/attica_primerfinal.pdf

Solidarity:

http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/313