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Corliss Lamont

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Corliss Lamont
Lamont in 1922
Born(1902-03-28)March 28, 1902
Englewood, New Jersey,U.S.
DiedApril 26, 1995(1995-04-26)(aged 93)
Ossining, New York,U.S.
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materHarvard University,Columbia University
Occupation(s)professor, philanthropist, political activist
Years active1928–1995
Known forsupport forsocialism,Popular Front,andcivil liberties
Spouse(s)(1) Margaret Hayes Irish; (2) Helen Boyden Lamb; (3) Beth Keehner
Parent(s)Thomas Lamont, Flora Lamont
RelativesNed Lamont,Jonathan Heap
Websitecorliss-lamont.org

Corliss Lamont(March 28, 1902 – April 26, 1995) was anAmericansocialistandhumanistphilosopherand advocate of variousleft-wingandcivil libertiescauses. As a part of his political activities, he was the Chairman ofNational Council of American-Soviet Friendship,starting from the early 1940s.

Career

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Early years

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Lamont was born inEnglewood, New Jersey,on March 28, 1902. He was the son of Florence Haskell (Corliss) andThomas W. Lamont,a partner and later chairman atJ.P. Morgan & Co.Lamont graduated asvaledictorianofPhillips Exeter Academyin 1920, andmagna cum laudefromHarvard Universityin 1924. The principles that animated his life were first evidenced at Harvard, where he attacked university clubs as snobbery.[1]In 1924, he did graduate work atNew CollegeUniversity of Oxford,where he roomed withJulian Huxley.The next year Lamont began graduate studies atColumbia University,where he studied underJohn Dewey.In 1928, he became a philosophy instructor there. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1932 from Columbia.[2]Lamont taught at Columbia,Cornell,Harvard, and theNew School for Social Research.

1930s

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Lamont in 1934, from theCharleston Daily Mailarticle "Why Rich Young Men Are Going 'Left'."

Lamont became aradicalin the 1930s, moved by theGreat Depression.He wrote a book about theSoviet Unionand praised what he saw there: "The people are better dressed, food is good and plentiful, everyone seems confident, happy and full of spirit".[1]He became critical of the Soviets over time, but always thought their achievement in transforming afeudal societyremarkable, even as he attacked its treatment of political dissent and lack of civil liberties.[1]Lamont's political views wereMarxistandsocialistfor much of his life.

Lamont was a onetime chairman of theFriends of the Soviet Union.[3]

Lamont began his 30 years as a director of theAmerican Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) in 1932. In 1934, he was arrested while on a picket line inJersey City,New Jersey, part of a long battle between labor and civil rights activists andFrank Hague,the city's mayor. Lamont later wrote that he "learned more about the American legal system in one day... than in one year at Harvard Law School".[4]

In 1936, Lamont helped found and subsidized the magazineMarxist Quarterly.When theDewey Commissionreported in 1937 that theMoscow trialsofLeon Trotskyand others were fraudulent, Lamont, along with other left-wing intellectuals, refused to accept the commission's findings. Under the influence of thePopular Front,Lamont and 150 other left-wing writers endorsedJosef Stalin's actions as necessary for "the preservation of progressive democracy". Their letter warned that Dewey's work was itself politically motivated and charged Dewey with supporting reactionary views and "Red-baiting".[5]Lamont wrote an introduction to the anti-Polish pamphletBehind the Polish-Soviet BreakbyAlter Brody.[6]

1940s

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Lamont was a key founder of theNational Council of American-Soviet Friendship(NCASF) (originally National Council on Soviet Relations or NCSR). Other founders included ProfessorRalph Barton Perryof Harvard University andEdwin Seymour Smith.He served as its first chairman from 1943 to 1947.

Lamont remained sympathetic to the Soviet Union well after World War II and the establishment ofsatellite communist governmentsin Central and Eastern Europe. He authored a pamphlet entitledThe Myth of Soviet Aggressionin which he wrote:

The fact is, of course, that both the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations, in order to push their enormous armaments programs through Congress and to justify the continuation of the Cold War, have felt compelled to resort to the device of keeping the American people in a state of alarm over some alleged menace of Soviet or Communist origin.

In 1944 Lamont wrote a preface to a book byAlter Brodythat popularized the Soviet falsification of theKatyn massacrein the West.[7]

1950s

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Lamont ran for theU.S. Senatefrom New York, in1952on theAmerican Laborticket. He received 104,702 votes and lost to RepublicanIrving M. Ives.[8]

When called to testify in front of SenatorJoseph McCarthy'sSenate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigationsin 1953, he denied ever having been a communist, but refused to discuss his beliefs or those of others, citing not theFifth Amendmentbut the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech.[1]The committee cited Lamont forcontempt of Congressby a vote of 71 to 3 in August 1954. Some senators questioned McCarthy's authority and wanted a federal court to rule on it.[9]In November, Lamont donated $50,000 to create a $1,000,000 Bill of Rights Fund to support civil rights advocates, citing anti-communist legislation, travel restrictions, and blacklisting in the entertainment industry.[10]The same month, he challenged the subcommittee's authority in court.[11]

The same year, he wroteWhy I Am Not a Communist.Despite his allegiance to Marxism, he never joined theCommunist Party USA,and supported theKorean War.[12]

In April 1955, Lamont withdrew from his role as a philosophy lecturer atColumbia Universitypending the outcome of these legal proceedings, and the university said it was Lamont's decision, made "without prior suggestion by any officer of the university".[13]JudgeEdward Weinfeldof the U.S. District Court found the indictment against Lamont was faulty, but the government, rather than seek a new indictment, appealed that ruling.[14]A unanimous panel of the Court of Appeals agreed in 1955[15]and in 1956 the government chose not to appeal to the Supreme Court.[16]

As a director of theACLU,Lamont had resisted attempts to purge the organization of communists and, in 1954, he resigned his position because he felt the ACLU had not supported him in the face of McCarthy's charges.[1]The complete record of the legal proceedings in Lamont's case against the McCarthy subcommittee was published in 1957.[17]

In 1951 and 1957, Lamont was denied apassportby theState Department,which considered his application incomplete because he refused to answer a question about membership in the Communist Party.[18]He sued the State Department in June 1957 seeking a hearing on its action.[19]He obtained his passport in June 1958 following a Supreme Court decision in another case,Kent v. Dulles,and left the U.S. for a world tour in March 1959.[20]

He ran again for the U.S. Senate from New York in1958on theIndependent-Socialistticket. He received more than 49,000 votes[21]out of more than 5,500,000 cast, losing to RepublicanKenneth B. Keating.[22]

In 1959, Lamont became an enthusiastic supporter ofFidel Castroand his revolutionary government inCuba.[23][24]

1960s

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In 1964, Lamont sued thePostmaster Generalfor reading and, at times, refusing to deliver his mail under the anti-propaganda mail law of 1962, passed over the objections of the Department of Justice and the Post Office, that allowed the Postmaster General to destroy "communist political propaganda" sent from outside the United States unless the addressee says he wants to receive such mail. The statute did not apply to sealed correspondence, but was aimed at published materials. He lost a 2–1 decision in U.S. District Court, after the Post Office delivered one such item of mail, and appealed to theSupreme Court,arguing that the single delivery was a subterfuge designed to moot his lawsuit while continuing to interrupt his mail service.[25]On May 24, 1965, theSupreme Courtheld unanimously inLamont v. Postmaster Generalthat the law was unconstitutional.

It was the first time the Supreme Court invalidated a statute as a violation of theFirst Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech. Lamont's attorney wasLeonard B. Boudin,who worked on many civil liberties cases.[26]He won a similar lawsuit against theCentral Intelligence Agencyin federal court the same year.[1]

In the mid-1960s, Lamont became chairman of theNational Emergency Civil Liberties Committee,a position he held until his death.

Later life

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In 1971, after a congressman called him an "identified member of the Communist Party, U.S.A.", Lamont issued a statement that "although it is no disgrace to belong to the Communist party, I have never even dreamed of joining it."[27]The same year, he financed Dorothy Day's visit to theSoviet Unionand several other countries in Eastern Europe.[24][28]

In 1979, Lamont foundedHalf-Moon Foundation,Inc. Half-Moon Foundation was a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and was incorporated in the state of New York. The foundation was formed "to promote enduring international peace, support for theUnited Nations,the conservation of our country's natural environment, and to safeguard and extend civil liberties as guaranteed under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. "

Lamont was president emeritus of theAmerican Humanist Associationand in 1977 was named Humanist of the Year. In 1981, he received theGandhi Peace Award.

In 1998, Lamont received a posthumous Distinguished Humanist Service Award from theInternational Humanist and Ethical Unionand he was one of the signers of theHumanist Manifesto.[29]

Personal life and death

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In 1928, Lamont married Margaret Hayes Irish. They divorced in the early 1960s. In 1962, he married Helen Boyden Lamb; she died of cancer in 1975.[30]In 1986, Lamont married Beth Keehner; she survived his death.[1]He died at home inOssining, New York,on April 26, 1995.[1]

Legacy

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Following the deaths of his parents, Lamont became aphilanthropist.He funded the collection and preservation of manuscripts of American philosophers, particularlyGeorge Santayana,as well asRockwell KentandJohn Masefield.[1]

He became a substantial donor to bothHarvardand Columbia, endowing the latter's "Corliss Lamont Professor of Civil Liberties."[1]

He was the great-uncle ofNed Lamont,thegovernor of Connecticut.[31]

Writings

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Lamont was a prolific author. He wrote, co-wrote, edited, or co-edited more than two dozen books and dozens of pamphlets, and wrote thousands of letters to newspapers, magazines, and journals on significant social issues during his lifelong campaign for peace and civil rights.

In 1935, he publishedThe Illusion of Immortality(originally published in 1932 asIssues of Immortality: A Study in Implications), which was a revised version of his doctoral dissertation. Lamont argued that people can live satisfactory lives without belief in life after death and that human life may be recognized to be more precious if it is realized that it only comes once to each man.[32]

His most famous work isThe Philosophy of Humanism(originally published in 1949 asHumanism as a Philosophy), now in its eighth edition. He also published intimate portraits ofJohn Dewey,John Masefield,andGeorge Santayana.

Books authored or co-authored by Corliss Lamont

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  • A Humanist Funeral ServiceISBN0-87975-090-1(revised by Beth K. Lamont and J. Sierra Oliva and republished in a Fourth Revised Edition in 2011 asA Humanist Funeral Service and CelebrationISBN978-1-61614-409-8)
  • A Humanist Wedding ServiceISBN0-87975-000-6Third Revised Edition 1981 (Previous editions: 1972, 1970) 29 pages
  • A Lifetime of Dissent(Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1988, 414 pages) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 88-15100ISBN0-87975-463-X
  • Freedom Is As Freedom Does: Civil Liberties in America(1956), foreword byBertrand Russell,reprint Fourth ed. 1990, Continuum Publishing Company,ISBN0-8264-0475-8;Third Printing, 1981ISBN0-8180-0350-2
  • Freedom of Choice AffirmedThird Revised Edition 1990 (Previous editions: 1969, 1967) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-27793 (Third Revised Edition)ISBN0-8264-0476-6(Third Revised Edition)
  • Lover's Credo: Poems of Love(1972), 1983 edition:ISBN0-87233-068-0,1994: William L. Bauhan,ISBN0-87233-114-8,Online versioninHTMLformat
  • Remembering John MasefieldRevised Edition 1991 (Previous edition: 1971) Introduction by Judith Masefield, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-4429ISBN0-8264-0478-2
  • Russia Day by Day: A Travel Diary(Co-authored with Margaret Lamont) (New York,Covici Friede,1933)
  • Soviet Civilization(New York,Philosophical Library,1952; second edition 1955), Dedicated toAlbert Rhys Williams
  • Illusion of Immortality,introduction by John Dewey, (1935), 5th edition 1990,Continuum PublishingCompany,ISBN0-8044-6377-8(originally published in 1932 asIssues of Immortality: A Study in Implications)
  • The Independent Mind: Essays of a Humanist Philosopher(New York, Horizon Press, 1951, 187 pages)
  • The Peoples of the Soviet Union(New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1946)
  • The Philosophy of Humanism,(1949), 1965 edition: Ungar Pub CoISBN0-8044-5595-3,7th rev. edition 1990: Continuum Publishing Company,ISBN0-8044-6379-4,8th rev. edition (with gender neutral references by editors Beverley Earles and Beth K. Lamont) 1997 Humanist PressISBN0-931779-07-3,Online versioninAdobe AcrobatPDFformat (originally published in 1949 asHumanism as a Philosophy)
  • Voice in the Wilderness: Collected Essays of Fifty Years(Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1974, 327 pages) Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-75351ISBN0-87975-060-X
  • Yes to Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont(1981), Horizon Press:ISBN0-8180-0232-8,rev. edition 1991:ISBN0-8264-0477-4Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 91-4430
  • You Might Like Socialism: A Way of Life for Modern Man,(1939), (published with a re-introduction by Beth K. Lamont asLefties Are In Their Right Mindson May 18, 2009 by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc.ISBN978-0-578-00782-3Online PDF version

Books edited or co-edited by Corliss Lamont

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  • Albert Rhys Williams, September 28, 1883 - February 27, 1962: In Memoriam(1962, New York, Horizon Press)
  • Collected Poems of John Reed(Edited and with a Foreword by Corliss Lamont) (Westport, Conn., Lawrence Hill & Company, 1985)
  • "Dear Corliss": Letters from Eminent Persons(Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1990, 202 pages)
  • Dialogue on George Santayana(Edited by Corliss Lamont with the assistance of Mary Redmer) (New York, Horizon Press, 1959)
  • Dialogue on John Dewey(Edited by Corliss Lamont with the assistance of Mary Redmer) (New York, Horizon Press, 1959)
  • Helen Lamb Lamont: A Memorial Tribute(New York, Horizon Press, 1976)
  • Letters of John Masefield to Florence Lamont(Edited by Corliss Lamont andLansing Lamont) (New York, Columbia University Press, 1979,ISBN978-0231047067;New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 1980,ISBN978-0333257555)
  • Man Answers Death: An Anthology of PoetryWith an Introduction byLouis Untermeyer(New York, Philosophical Library, 1952)
  • Studies on India and Vietnam(Written by Helen B. Lamb and Edited by Corliss Lamont) (New York,Monthly Review Press,1976,ISBN978-0853453840)
  • The Thomas Lamonts in Americawith Recollections and Poems by John Masefield (originally published in 1962 asThe Thomas Lamont Family) (Cranbury, New Jersey, A. S. Barns and Co., Inc. and London, England, Thomas Yoseloff Ltd, 1971,ISBN0-498-07882-5)
  • The Trial ofElizabeth Gurley Flynnby the American Civil Liberties Union(Edited and with an Introduction by Corliss Lamont) (New York, Horizon Press, 1968) (Modern Reader/Monthly Review Press, 1969)

Basic Pamphletsseries

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Aside from books, over the course of more than a half-century, Corliss Lamont authored, co-authored, or edited approximately three dozen pamphlets on a variety of subjects. Prominent among these was theBasic Pamphletsseries, privately published by Dr. Lamont and sold directly by him through mail order via a local post office box in New York. There were 29 numbered titles in theBasic Pamphletsseries, listed below by pamphlet number.

  1. Are We Being Talked Into War?(1952)
  2. The Civil Liberties Crisis(1952)
  3. The Humanist Tradition(1952, 16 pages - Second Printing, 1955)
  4. Effects of American Foreign Policy(1952, 40 pages)
  5. Back to the Bill of Rights
  6. The Myth of Soviet Aggression(Second, revised edition, December 1953, 16 pages)
  7. Challenge to McCarthy(February 1954, 32 pages)
  8. The Congressional Inquisition(May 1954, 36 pages)
  9. The Assault on Academic Freedom(1955)
  10. The Right to Travel(December 1957, 44 pages)
  11. To End Nuclear Bomb Tests[Co-authored by Margaret I. Lamont] (1958, 44 pages)
  12. A Peace Program for the U.S.A.(1959, 24 pages - Second printing, March 1959)
  13. My Trip Around The World(1960, 48 pages)
  14. The Crime Against Cuba[Mary Redmer, Editor] (June 1961, 40 pages)
  15. My First Sixty Years(1962, 52 pages - Second printing, February 1963)
  16. The Enduring Impact of George Santayana(1964)
  17. The Tragedy of Vietnam: Where Do We Go from Here?[Authored by Helen Boyden Lamont née Helen B. Lamb] (1964, 50 pages)
  18. Vietnam: Corliss Lamont vs. Ambassador Lodge(1967, 32 pages)
  19. How To Be Happy — Though Married(1973, 24 pages)
  20. The Meaning of Vietnam and Cambodia[Co-authored by Helen Lamb Lamont] (1975)
  21. Trip to Communist China — An Informal Report(1976, 28 pages)
  22. Adventures In Civil Liberties(1977, 28 pages)
  23. Immortality: Myth Or Reality?(1978, 36 pages)
  24. Resolute Radical At 83- later published asSteadfast Activist at 84(1985, 40 pages)
  25. The Right to Know: The Civil Liberties Campaign Against Secrecy in Government[Corliss Lamont, Editor] (December 1986, 40 pages)
  26. Jesus As A Free Speech Victim: Trial by Terror 2000 Years Ago[Authored by Clifford J. Durr, Introduction by Corliss Lamont, published on behalf of the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC)] (Fourth Edition, 1987, 24 pages)
  27. The Assurance Of Free Choice(September 1987, 40 pages)
  28. Panama—Operation Injustice[Compiled and Written by Corliss Lamont and Beth Lamont] (1990, 16 pages)
  29. Persian Gulf Crisis—UN Peace Negotiations; No To War![Written and Edited by Corliss Lamont and Beth Lamont] (1990, 24 pages)

Other pamphlets

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In addition to theBasic Pamphletsseries, Corliss Lamont also wrote a number of other pamphlets, a partial list of which appears below.

  • On Understanding Soviet Russia(New York, Friends of the Soviet Union, 1934, 32 pages)Online PDF version
  • Socialist Planning in Soviet Russia(New York, Friends of the Soviet Union, 1935, 40 pages)
  • Soviet Russia and Religion(New York, International Pamphlets, 1936, 24 pages)
  • Soviet Russia versus Nazi Germany: A study in contrasts(New York, The American Council on Soviet Relations, First Edition August 1941 - Second Edition March 1942, 52 pages)
  • Soviet Russia and the Post-War World(New York, National Council of American-Soviet Friendship, First Edition May 1943 - Second Edition May 1944, 36 pages)
  • Soviet Aggression: Myth or Reality?(New York, self-published, June 1951, 16 pages)
  • Why I am not a Communist(New York, self-published, January 1952, 20 pages)

Sound recordings

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  • Author Corliss Lamont Sings For His Family & Friends, a Medley of Favorite Hit Songs from American Musicalsincludes 36 musical selections (Smithsonian Folkways, 1977,Stock Number FW03567)

Video

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^abcdefghijMcFadden, Robert D. (April 28, 1995)."Corliss Lamont Dies at 93; Socialist Battled McCarthy".New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 2,2014.
  2. ^Corliss Lamont,Steadfast Activist at 84.New York: Basic Pamphlets, 1984; p. 4
  3. ^ Hook, Sidney (2015).Letters of Sidney Hook: Democracy, Communism and the Cold War.Routledge.ISBN9781317466185.RetrievedAugust 27,2016.
  4. ^Walker, Samuel (1990).In Defense of American Liberties: A History of the ACLU.Oxford University Press. p. 110.ISBN9780809322701.
  5. ^Warren, Frank A. (1966).Liberals and Communism: The "Red Decade" Revisited.Indiana University Press. pp. 168–9.ISBN9780231084444.
  6. ^Introduction by Corliss Lamont
  7. ^"Behind the Polish-Soviet Break".www.latvians.com.RetrievedNovember 18,2021.
  8. ^"Final State Count Gives Record Vote"(PDF).New York Times.December 9, 1952.RetrievedFebruary 2,2014.
  9. ^Lawrence, W.H. (August 17, 1954)."Senate for Citing 3 M'Carthy [sic] Foes "(PDF).New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  10. ^"Corliss Lamont Establishes Fund"(PDF).New York Times.November 5, 1954.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  11. ^"Lamont Files Motion"(PDF).New York Times.November 24, 1954.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  12. ^Rothbard, Murray N.Confessions of a Right-Wing Liberal,Ludwig von Mises Institute
  13. ^"Lamont Steps Out of Columbia Job"(PDF).New York Times.April 29, 1955.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  14. ^"U.S. Files Appeal in Lamont Case"(PDF).New York Times.September 8, 1955.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  15. ^"Lamont is Upheld in Appeals Court"(PDF).New York Times.August 15, 1956.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  16. ^"Lamont Case Dropped"(PDF).New York Times.October 16, 1956.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  17. ^Cahn, Edmond (October 13, 1957)."Legislators and Liberty"(PDF).New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  18. ^"Lamont Loses Suit to Get a Passport"(PDF).New York Times.January 14, 1958.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  19. ^"Corliss Lamont Sues to Obtain Passport"(PDF).New York Times.June 19, 1957.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  20. ^"Lamont on World Tour"(PDF).New York Times.April 3, 1959.RetrievedFebruary 3,2014.
  21. ^McFADDEN, ROBERT D. (April 28, 1995)."Corliss Lamont Dies at 93; Socialist Battled McCarthy".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 17,2018.
  22. ^Dales, Douglas (November 5, 1958)."Keating Wins Senate Post"(PDF).New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 12,2014.
  23. ^Lamont, Corliss,A Lifetime of Dissent,New York: Prometheus Books (1988)
  24. ^abDay, Dorothy (2008).The Duty of Delight: The Diaries of Dorothy Day.Marquette University Press. p. 687.ISBN9780307888846.Day described Lamont in her diary as a "'pinko' millionaire who lived modestly".
  25. ^"Lamont Suit Will Test Law Permitting Red Mail Ban"(PDF).New York Times.September 15, 1964.RetrievedFebruary 2,2014.
  26. ^Pomfret, John D. (May 25, 1965)."High Court Voids Law Curbing Red Propaganda"(PDF).New York Times.RetrievedFebruary 2,2014.
  27. ^"Lamont Denies Joining the Communist Party"(PDF).New York Times.May 14, 1971.RetrievedFebruary 4,2014.
  28. ^Day, Dorothy (September 1971)."On Pilgrimage: First Visit to Soviet Russia".Dorothy Day Collection.Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 31,2014.
  29. ^"Humanist Manifesto II".American Humanist Association. Archived fromthe originalon October 20, 2012.RetrievedOctober 10,2012.
  30. ^"Mrs. Corliss Lamont, Author, Economist and Educator, Dead"(PDF).New York Times.July 22, 1975.RetrievedFebruary 2,2014.
  31. ^Patrick Healy (July 19, 2006)."Lieberman Rival Seeks Support Beyond Iraq Issue".The New York Times.RetrievedAugust 10,2006.
  32. ^Sellars, Roy.(1951).The Illusion of Immortality by Corliss Lamont.Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. Vol. 11, No. 3. pp. 444-445.
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