NYU Libraries Establish Academic Freedom Center

-- Library Journal, 03/01/2007

New York University NYU has established the Frederic Ewen Academic Center within its Division of Libraries to sponsor scholarly research and public programs about intellectual freedom. The center resides in NYU's Tamiment Library, an archive devoted to labor history and the history of progressive political movements, which also houses the papers of the center's namesake. Frederic Ewen was one of seven teachers who made headlines for refusing to testify before the Rapp-Coudert Committee, a panel investigating allegations of subversive activities in New York City's public schools and colleges. The Center is funded by a major gift from Herbert Kurz, chairman of the board of the Presidential Life Insurance Company. Carol A. Mandel, dean of the NYU Libraries, said Kurz's gift "expands NYU's capacity to collect and preserve archival, audio, and video materials about academic freedom."

The Center will focus on three main activities: expanding the NYU Libraries' academic freedom collections and facilitating access to them; sponsoring programs that promote a public dialog about the threats to academic freedom; and providing support for scholars and documentary filmmakers so that they can also explore this subject.