Abstract
This short article pleads for research rather than rumor regarding Parsons' alleged role regarding the admittance to United States of an ex-Soviet citizen in 1948 or 1949. Some evidence on background issues that could be found among the Parsons papers at Harvard University Archives is being presented verbatim. I argue that the point is to refrain from fabrications.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bauer, Raymond A. and M. Brewster Smith 1948 Letter to Dr. Eduard Bakis, D.P. Study Center (24B), Piuneberg (sic), Schleswig-Holstein, British Zone, Germany. Dated April 6, 1948, attached to “Suggestions for a Psychological Study of Displaced Persons” (5 pages). Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.45.4, Box 1.
Creighton, T. R. M. 1948 [Deputy Educational Adviser, Office of the Educational Adviser, Headquarters, Control Commission for Germany (British Element)], Berlin, B.C.A.R. Letter to Mr. Arndt, O.D.I., U.S. Military Government, Berlin Sector, dated July 2, 1948. Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.45.4, Box 1.
Fischer, George 1948 Letter to Mrs. Parsons, dated June 15, 1948. Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.45.4, Box 1.
Gerhardt, Uta 1996 “Talcott Parsons and the war effort at Harvard University.” Paper presented to the Mid-Term Conference of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on the History of Sociology, Amsterdam, May.
Hoffmann, Joachim 1986 Die Geschichte der Wlassow-Armee, 2nd edition. Freiburg: Rombach.
Inkeles, Alex 1948 “Memorandum to Ray Bauer,” dated June 5, 1948 (Russian Research Center, 38 Quincy Street). Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.45.4, Box 1.
Nielsen, Jens Kaalhauge 1991 “The political orientation of Talcott Parsons: The Second World War and its aftermath.” In Roland Robertson and Bryan S. Turner (eds.), Talcott Parsons: Theorist of Modernity: 217–233. London, England, and Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
O'Connell, Charles Thomas 1990 “Social structure and science: Soviet studies at Harvard.” Ph.D dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, unpublished.
Palmore, Joseph, R. 1989 “Parsons Allegations Challenged by Professors. Colleagues say scholar did not knowingly recruit collaborators.” The Harvard Crimson 190(February 23): 1–2.
Parsons, Talcott 1944 “Nazism as a case.” Lecture notes, handwritten. Dated November 15, 1944 (10 pages). Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—15.2, Box 9.
1948a Handwritten notes, undated, presumably June, 1948, starting “Bauer Question of DP's.” Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.45.4, Box 1.
1948b “Social Science—A basic national resource.” Memorandum prepared for the Social Science Research Council, New York. July, 1948. Parsons Papers at Harvard University Archives HUG(FP)—42.41, Box 3.
1993 Talcott Parsons on National Socialism. Edited and with an introduction by Uta Gerhardt. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Simpson, Christopher 1988 Blowback: America's Recruitment of Nazis and its Effect on the Cold War. New York: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
Wiener, Jon 1989 “Talcott Parsons' role: Bringing Nazi sympathizers to the U.S.” The Nation, March 6:1, 306–309.
Wrong, Dennis 1996 “Truth, misinterpretation, or left-wing McCarthyism?” Sociological Forum, this issue.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gerhardt, U. Scholarship, not scandal. Sociol Forum 11, 623–630 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02425308
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02425308