Reed Harris
Encyclopedia
Reed Harris was an American
writer, publisher, and U.S. government official.
Harris was born on November 5, 1909, in New York City. He attended Staunton Military Academy
and in 1932 graduated from Columbia College, where he edited the school newspaper, the Columbia Spectator
. His college classmates voted him "most likely to succeed." He was a member of the Student League for Industrial Democracy
.
In the fall of 1931, he characterized the college football program as a "semiprofessional racket." He was expelled in April 1932, but following student protests he was readmitted twenty days later. In the fall of 1932, he published King Football: The Vulgarization of the American College (1932), an exposé of commercialism in college football and an attack on higher education that accused United States schools of turning out "regimented lead soldiers of mediocrity." "To put forth winning football teams," he wrote, "alumni, faculty and trustees will lie, cheat and steal, unofficially." He called the players "privileged mugs," said the faculty had a "percentage of utter numbskulls," attacked Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler, and praised college newspaper editors and Soviet Russia. The book included a defense of academic freedom that included the right of communists to teach.
Harris worked as a freelance journalist in New York City until 1934, when he joined the Works Progress Administration
, where he helped edit Project, a magazine that publicized the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
, and later became assistant director of the Federal Writers' Project
. He resigned effective July 1, 1938, unhappy with the FWP's leadership for failing to rein in its more militant left-wing staff members.
Harris edited travel books for a short time at Robbins Travel House. In 1939 he became an administrative officer for the National Emergency Council, a body tasked with inter-agency coordination. He was planning chief for the Office of War Information (OWI) from 1942 to 1944, then joined the air force, and returned to the OWI in 1945 when it became part of the State Department. In 1950, he became deputy director of the International Information Administration (IIA), the parent agency of the Voice of America
.
For three days in February and March 1953, he testified before Senator Joseph McCarthy
's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. McCarthy quoted from King Football and Harris denied that it represented his current opinions. Harris disavowed ever believing in communism except in the sense of collectivism in "convents and monasteries." According to Time, "Harris showed a bureaucrat's tendency to engage in long-winded arguments with his pursuers." He accused McCarthy of using one-sided testimony to charge the IIA with supporting communism and said McCarthy's efforts were harming anti-communist propaganda efforts. At one point he told McCarthy: "It is my neck, my public neck, you are trying very skillfully to wring."
Two IIA employees testified that they had prevented State Department officials from suspending Hebrew-language broadcasts to Israel in 1952 and 1953, when it was important to attack Soviet anti-semitism. Harris explain it as a budget decision based on the ineffectiveness of the service and that the decision was suspended only to allow a new administration to make the decision after taking office in 1953. Others charged that several IIA employees received important posts despite failing security tests, including Theodore Kaghan
and Ed Schechter, and Charles Lewis.
Some of Harris' testimony was televised, but the American Broadcasting Company
(ABC) network aired only part of his rebuttal to McCarthy, even after Harris had complained of unfair coverage. ABC instead showed "a commercially-sponsored giveaway show" designed "to amuse the housewives," according to a New York Times writer, who wrote: "The episode showed more clearly than anything else how both Senator McCarthy and television are putting show business considerations above the minimum canons of fair play and responsible journalistic behavior....The tyranny of time is always a problem in broadcasting. But this tyranny must not be extended to a deadly serious inquiry where men's reputations are at stake and national policy is in the balance."
Harris resigned on April 14, 1953, effective April 24, saying he had planned to return to private business for along time and had delayed doing so while he prepared a statement of his accomplishments and documentation of his loyalty through fifteen testimonial letters, which he sent to Sen. McCarthy's Subcommittee. In response to his resignation, McCarthy said "resignation" was the wrong word to describe it, that it was "the best thing that has happened there in a very long time" and added: "I only hope that a lot of Mr. Harris' close friends will follow him out." IIA head Robert L. Johnson
expressed regret at Harris' departure and wrote him: "If I were you, I would be a very proud man today. So many of us are neophytes in the service of our country while you are completing seventeen years of devotion to the responsibilities of government."
For several years, Harris headed a Washington-based company called Publications Services Inc. In 1962, Edward R. Murrow
, director of the United States Information Agency
, the successor to the IIA now independent of the State Department, appointed him deputy director.
Harris married the former Martha Tellier of Cambridge, N.Y.
They had three children.
Harris died on October 15, 1982, in Holy Cross Hospital
in Silver Spring, Maryland
. He had a heart ailment and Alzheimer's disease
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer, publisher, and U.S. government official.
Harris was born on November 5, 1909, in New York City. He attended Staunton Military Academy
Staunton Military Academy
Staunton Military Academy was an all-male military academy located in Staunton, Virginia for much of its 116-year history. The school closed in 1976. Many notable American political and military leaders are graduates...
and in 1932 graduated from Columbia College, where he edited the school newspaper, the Columbia Spectator
Columbia Daily Spectator
Columbia Daily Spectator is the daily student newspaper of Columbia University. It is published at 112th and Broadway in New York, New York. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after The Harvard Crimson, and has been legally independent of the...
. His college classmates voted him "most likely to succeed." He was a member of the Student League for Industrial Democracy
Student League for Industrial Democracy (1930s)
The Intercollegiate League for Industrial Democracy was the official youth section of the League for Industrial Democracy and a de facto junior section of the Socialist Party of America during the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s...
.
In the fall of 1931, he characterized the college football program as a "semiprofessional racket." He was expelled in April 1932, but following student protests he was readmitted twenty days later. In the fall of 1932, he published King Football: The Vulgarization of the American College (1932), an exposé of commercialism in college football and an attack on higher education that accused United States schools of turning out "regimented lead soldiers of mediocrity." "To put forth winning football teams," he wrote, "alumni, faculty and trustees will lie, cheat and steal, unofficially." He called the players "privileged mugs," said the faculty had a "percentage of utter numbskulls," attacked Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler, and praised college newspaper editors and Soviet Russia. The book included a defense of academic freedom that included the right of communists to teach.
Harris worked as a freelance journalist in New York City until 1934, when he joined the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
, where he helped edit Project, a magazine that publicized the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
Federal Emergency Relief Administration was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration which President Herbert Hoover had created in 1932...
, and later became assistant director of the Federal Writers' Project
Federal Writers' Project
The Federal Writers' Project was a United States federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program...
. He resigned effective July 1, 1938, unhappy with the FWP's leadership for failing to rein in its more militant left-wing staff members.
Harris edited travel books for a short time at Robbins Travel House. In 1939 he became an administrative officer for the National Emergency Council, a body tasked with inter-agency coordination. He was planning chief for the Office of War Information (OWI) from 1942 to 1944, then joined the air force, and returned to the OWI in 1945 when it became part of the State Department. In 1950, he became deputy director of the International Information Administration (IIA), the parent agency of the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
.
For three days in February and March 1953, he testified before Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. McCarthy quoted from King Football and Harris denied that it represented his current opinions. Harris disavowed ever believing in communism except in the sense of collectivism in "convents and monasteries." According to Time, "Harris showed a bureaucrat's tendency to engage in long-winded arguments with his pursuers." He accused McCarthy of using one-sided testimony to charge the IIA with supporting communism and said McCarthy's efforts were harming anti-communist propaganda efforts. At one point he told McCarthy: "It is my neck, my public neck, you are trying very skillfully to wring."
Two IIA employees testified that they had prevented State Department officials from suspending Hebrew-language broadcasts to Israel in 1952 and 1953, when it was important to attack Soviet anti-semitism. Harris explain it as a budget decision based on the ineffectiveness of the service and that the decision was suspended only to allow a new administration to make the decision after taking office in 1953. Others charged that several IIA employees received important posts despite failing security tests, including Theodore Kaghan
Theodore Kaghan
-Early years:Kaghan was born in Boston and graduated from the University of Michigan.At the University of Michigan he won several annual prizes given for undergraduate dramatic writing, including the top award in 1935 for a play called Unfinished Picture, later read but not performed by the Group...
and Ed Schechter, and Charles Lewis.
Some of Harris' testimony was televised, but the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(ABC) network aired only part of his rebuttal to McCarthy, even after Harris had complained of unfair coverage. ABC instead showed "a commercially-sponsored giveaway show" designed "to amuse the housewives," according to a New York Times writer, who wrote: "The episode showed more clearly than anything else how both Senator McCarthy and television are putting show business considerations above the minimum canons of fair play and responsible journalistic behavior....The tyranny of time is always a problem in broadcasting. But this tyranny must not be extended to a deadly serious inquiry where men's reputations are at stake and national policy is in the balance."
Harris resigned on April 14, 1953, effective April 24, saying he had planned to return to private business for along time and had delayed doing so while he prepared a statement of his accomplishments and documentation of his loyalty through fifteen testimonial letters, which he sent to Sen. McCarthy's Subcommittee. In response to his resignation, McCarthy said "resignation" was the wrong word to describe it, that it was "the best thing that has happened there in a very long time" and added: "I only hope that a lot of Mr. Harris' close friends will follow him out." IIA head Robert L. Johnson
Robert L. Johnson
Robert L. Johnson is an American business magnate best known for being the founder of television network Black Entertainment Television , and is also its former chairman and chief executive officer...
expressed regret at Harris' departure and wrote him: "If I were you, I would be a very proud man today. So many of us are neophytes in the service of our country while you are completing seventeen years of devotion to the responsibilities of government."
For several years, Harris headed a Washington-based company called Publications Services Inc. In 1962, Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
, director of the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
, the successor to the IIA now independent of the State Department, appointed him deputy director.
Harris married the former Martha Tellier of Cambridge, N.Y.
Cambridge (town), New York
Cambridge is a town in Washington County, New York, USA. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,158 at the 2005 census.The town of Cambridge contains part of a village, also called Cambridge.- History :...
They had three children.
Harris died on October 15, 1982, in Holy Cross Hospital
Holy Cross Hospital (Silver Spring)
Holy Cross Hospital is a large hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland. The hospital, the second largest in Maryland, was founded in 1963 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross. There are over 1,200 doctors in the hospital.- History :...
in Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...
. He had a heart ailment and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.