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Statements by various organizations and groups. Statement by the faculty. (Box 1, Folder 2)

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Wiggins, Forrest Oran

Description

This folder contains materials created by and about Forrest Oran Wiggins. Wiggins taught at several colleges in the South before being hired at the University of Minnesota in 1946 as an instructor of philosophy, making him the first African American to be given a regular full time teaching appointment with the rank of instructor at a state university. In 1951, Wiggins received a letter from the University stating that his academic appointment would not be renewed. This decision was controversial due to Wiggins' race and socialist political viewpoint. The diverse opinions represented in statements, newspaper accounts and correspondence, all reflect the controversy that surrounded the Wiggins Case. The issues of race, academic freedom, the conservative political climate of the McCarthy Era, the Legislature's supposed interference in University matters, and accusations of poor newspaper reporting based on alleged misquotes by the press, all played a role in the controversy, and are documented in the materials in this folder.
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