Communists on Campus

The story behind one of the most serious encroachments on academic freedom enected by any state legislature; North Carolina's 1963 speaker ban law declared the state's public college and university campuses off-limits to ""known members of the Communist Party"" or to anyone who cited the Fifth Amendment in refusing to answer questions posed by any state or federal body. Oddly enough, the law was passed in a state where there had been no known communist activity since the 1950s. Just which ""communists"" was it attempting to curb? William J. Billingsley bares the truth behind the false image of the speaker ban's ostensible concern: the law marked a last-ditch effort by conservative rural politicians to quell the demands of the civil rights movement. Communists on Campus exposes the activities and machinations of prominent political and educational figures in an account that epitomizes the social and political upheaval of 1960s America.

Impressive, well researched, and engaging. [This book] should attract a diverse group of readers with interests ranging from the civil rights movement to the history of higher education.--James L. Leloudis "author of Schooling in the New South: Pedagogy, Self, and North Carolina, 1880-1920", Remarkable . . . The author has demonstrated some of my favorite people doing things that I wish that they had not done.--John Herbert Roper "editor of C. Vann Woodward: A Southern Historian and His Critics", A serious and valuable work . . . Fosters an understanding of the race and class fault lines that remain under the surface of all southern politics . . . A solid contribution to the political literature of the region.--Journal of Politics, Billingsley's talent as a historian lies in his animated rendition of institutional and state politics capturing the spirit of political and social resistance on both sides of the controversy. . . . [An] excellent addition to the literature exploring the social and ideological politics of public universities, prompting us to reflect upon their role in shaping our national history.--History of Education Quarterly, Elaborates a useful, accurate, and quite finely told story, tracing connections to major political figures, and connections also to the ongoing civil rights movements.--Academe: Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors

William J. Billingsley was born and raised in North Carolina. He currently lives in Costa Mesa, California, and lectures at the University of California, Irvine.