Interchange – The Red Scare Next Door: Anti-Communism in Evansville, Indiana

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The “Red Scare,” often called McCarthyism, went much deeper than what was directed by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s and had, even as early as the late 1940s, a broad reach into the states. Local “scares” were often instigated by individuals, mini-McCarthys, who would red-bait state and city politics. But this “fear of communism” in the backyard, like that at the national level, was often cover and distraction for the real conservative agenda…busting up the labor unions which had gained strength before and during WWII.

Joining us today is Randy Mills, professor of History at Oakland City University and author of numerous articles and books on Indiana and regional history. Oakland City is about 25 miles from Evansville, Indiana, which, it turns out, has a unique place in labor history being home to what is thought to be the first firing of a university professor for political opinions.

Evansville was a major center of industrial production, reviving the regional economy after the Great Depression through war production. The Plymouth factory, for example, turned out “bullets by the billions,” and Evansville produced over 6,000 P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes. After the war, Evansville’s manufacturing base was booming and the town was dubbed the refrigerator capital of the world.

Also enjoying this boom was Evansville College (later the University of Evansville) where enrollment grew from about 400 during the Great Depression to 1,500 in 1946 and the curriculum shifted to serve the local industry, converting human resources, GIs, from war fodder, to labor fodder.

Our show focuses primarily on the years 1947 and 48; on the firing of Philosophy and Religion professor George Parker for his association with Progressive Party Presidential candidate Henry Wallace; On the making of a labor leader, Charles Wright, head of Local 813 in the deeply conservative and reactionary Coal Country; on a major strike at the mining equipment plant of the Bucyrus-Erie company; and on the union-busting energies of business leaders, happy to use the “red scare” to malign recalcitrant workers seeking some measure of their version of the good life.

Individuals matter in the making of history: you and I can go along or go against. It’s hard to go against, especially when so much money and power is allayed against you and can turn your community against you as well. Charles Wright found that out. George Parker found that out. These men chose a side. So did Lincoln Hale, the President of Evansville College. So did the Evansville corporate executives Louis Ruthenberg and N. R. Knox. These men were not, of course, run out of town.

GUEST
Randy Mills is Professor of History at Oakland City University and and author of numerous articles and books on Indiana and regional history, including his most recent book, Summer Wind: A Soldiers Road from Indiana to Vietnam, co-authored with his wife Roxanne.

RELATED
“The Real Violence at Evansville”: The Firing of Professor George F. Parker by Randy Mills

MUSIC
“Which Side Are You On,” performed by Natalie Merchant
“Get That Communist, Joe,” by the Kavaliers
“You Gotta Go Down and Join the Union,” by Woody Guthrie
“Jefferson and Liberty” performed by Pete Seeger
“Song of My Hands,” performed by Barbara Dane

CREDITS
Producer & Host: Doug Storm
Edited by Rob Schoon
Executive Producer: Wes Martin