Howard Selsam (born Howard Brillinger Selsam; 28 June 1903 – 7 September 1970) was an American Marxist philosopher.

Background

Howard Brillinger Selsam was born on 28 June 1903 in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

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. His parents were John T. Selsam, a grocer, and his mother was Flora Emig Selsam. Selsam's education began in public schools in the Harrisburg area. Later, Selsam received his

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

in 1924 from

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Fran ...

, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. From 1924 through 1927, he taught at the American University of Beirut. Later, Selsam did graduate work in philosophy at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. At Columbia, he received both his MA (1928) and PhD (1931). Selsam's

master's thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

dealt with Baron d'Holbach, and his dissertation concerned the English

Hegelian Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

philosopher

Thomas Hill Green Thomas Hill Green (7 April 183626 March 1882), known as T. H. Green, was an English philosopher, political radical and temperance reformer, and a member of the British idealism movement. Like all the British idealists, Green was influen ...

Career

In 1931, after receiving his PhD, Selsam served as an instructor and later as an

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree A docto ...

at Brooklyn College, where he worked for 10 years. Active politically, Selsam participated in anti-war events on campus and took "an active part in the social struggles of his day on the side of the communist movement." Selsam's involvement is echoed in a contemporary newspaper article where Selsam is associated with Communist Party USA activities, yet he was careful not to impose his political beliefs on students. Nevertheless, Selsam published articles in left-wing periodicals such as ''

The New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...

'', although Selsam used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Paul Salter." The political activities of Selsam and other Brooklyn College faculty members attracted the attention of governmental investigation. Despite their denials of Communist association to reporters, Selsam and other faculty members later lost their teaching positions due to the Rapp-Coudert Committee investigations into Communist involvement in public education in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. That Selsam refused to testify at the hearings and faced contempt charges likely made his resignation unavoidable.

Communist schools

Circa 1941, Howard Selsam was one of the founders of the School for Democracy, an educational facility located at 13

Astor Place Astor Place is a one-block street in NoHo/ East Village, in the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs from Broadway in the west (just below East 8th Street) to Lafayette Street. The street encompasses two plazas at ...

in New York and associated with the Communist Party USA. In 1944, Selsam became the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the Jefferson School of Social Science,Marv Gettleman, "Jefferson School of Social Science," in Mari Jo Buhle, Paul Buhle, and Dan Georgakas (eds.), ''Encyclopedia of the American Left.'' First Edition. New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1990; pp. 389-390. a "Marxist adult education facility" whose faculty included "leftist academics dismissed from the City University of New York." He held this position from 1944-1956. Under Selsam's leadership (1944-1956), there was a steady flow of students at the Jefferson School. Even during the hey-day of Senator Joseph McCarthy's well publicized investigations into Communist subversion, the Jefferson School had an enrollment of 5,000 students each term. Nevertheless, the school received criticism claiming that students simply received

dogmatic Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam o ...

instruction. For example, a

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

economics professor, Alexander Balinky enrolled in the school and took some classes. Based on his experiences at the school, Balinky wrote a newspaper article and claimed that the students received political

indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree ...

at the school. In early December 1947 when news that the Jefferson School of Social Science had appeared on the

Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations The United States Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations (AGLOSO) was a list drawn up on April 3, 1947 at the request of the United States Attorney General (and later Supreme Court justice) Tom C. Clark. The list was intended to be a c ...

(AGLOSO), Selsam told the ''New York Times'':

There is nothing subversive about the Jefferson School. Its organization and teaching are open and above board. Its aims and purposes are clearly defined in its bulletin of courses and other material it issues. If the school is subversive, then any teaching of social science that differs from the beliefs of
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...
(chief of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
) is to be labeled subversive.

Due to tensions caused by the Cold War,

Anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

, and McCarthyism, the Jefferson School was subject to Congressional hearings and Selsam and others received summons to testify on several occasions. For example, Selsam, represented by Joseph Forer, testified before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee on 8 April 1953, and, during Selsam's

testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. ...

, he often invoked the Fifth Amendment. Selsam and other school administrators denied that the school was a

Communist front A communist front is a political organization identified as a front organization under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organizations. They attracted politicized individuals who were not p ...

and fought against having it so officially labeled. Given the

political radicalism Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radica ...

of the faculty members and the Marxist-oriented instruction at the school, and facing external political pressure against the school, declining student enrollment, and publication in the West of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...

—a speech which described in detail

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

's crimes and political purges —all of these factors ultimately forced the school administrators to close down the school in 1956.

SISS testimony

On April 8, 1953, represented by attorney Joseph Forer, Selsam accused the committee as much as it accused him. He blamed congressional committees for creating an "atmosphere of repression and terror." "Every witness... knows full well the meaning of your subpoena server's knock... dismissal from his job."

Khrushchev speech

Khrushchev's

and its aftermath caused considerable turmoil within the Communist Party USA, and Selsam and other Jefferson School faculty members openly quit the Party in a joint letter published in the May 6, 1956 issue of the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

''.

Later life

With the closure of the Jefferson School of Social Science, Selsam devoted much of his time lecturing and writing. He wrote a number of books on Marxist topics for

International Publishers International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxist works of economics, political science, and history. Company history Establishment International Publishers Company, Inc., was founded in 1924 ...

. Many of these books were republished in

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, and

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. In addition, Selsam's books were translated into a variety of languages, including

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Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Polish,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, German, Hungarian, and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Besides writing books, Selsam wrote articles and reviews for periodicals, including ''

'', and ''

Marxism Today ''Marxism Today'', published between 1957 and 1991, was the theoretical magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain. The magazine was headquartered in London. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacqu ...

''. He worked closely and collaborated with his wife Millicent Selsam, a botanist and high school teacher who was well known as an author of

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

books for young people. Besides writing for ''

'' and ''

'', Selsam was an editorial board member for the Marxist journal '' Science & Society'', and he was a founder of the American Institute for Marxist Studies. Selsam had correspondence with prominent intellectuals and writers, including

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

activist

W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...

Personal life and death

Selsam married Millicent Selsam, a botanist and high school teacher During his last years Selsam had a heart ailment., and he died in New York on September 7, 1970. He was survived by his wife, Millicent Selsam, a son, Robert, and his sister Mrs. Esther Garman.

Partial bibliography of published works

*Selsam, Howard. 1930. ''T.H. Green: critic of empiricism.'' New York: .n. *Selsam, Howard. 1935. ''Spinoza: art and the geometric order.'' New York: Columbia University Press. *Selsam, Howard. 1943.
Socialism and Ethics
'' New York: International Publishers. *Rozentalʹ, M. M., P. I︠U︡din, and Howard Selsam. 1949.
Handbook of Philosophy
'' New York: International Publishers. *Selsam, Howard. 1953. ''The Negro people in the United States: facts for all Americans.'' New York: Jefferson School of Social Science. *Selsam, Howard. 1957.
Philosophy in Revolution
'' New York: International Publishers. *Selsam, Howard, and Harry Martel. 1963.
Reader in Marxist philosophy: from the writings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin
'. New York: International Publishers. *Selsam, Howard. 1962.
What is Philosophy? A Marxist Introduction
'' New York: International Publishers. *Selsam, Howard. 1965.
Ethics and Progress: New Values in a Revolutionary World
'. New York: International Publishers. *Selsam, Howard, David Goldway, Harry Martel. 1970.
Dynamics of Social Change: A Reader in Marxist Social Science, from the Writings of Marx, Engels and Lenin
'' New York: International Publishers.

References

External links

Photograph from 1942 of teachers who were dismissed from City College and Brooklyn College, including Howard Selsam.

* [https://archive.org/details/outlineintroduct00wenluoft Scanned version of R.M. Wenley's ''An outline introductory to Kant's "Critique of pure reason"'' at Internet Archive -- includes Howard Selsam's autograph in the front of the book.]
Finding aid at the New York State Archives for the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on the State Education System Investigation Files of the Rapp-Coudert Committee

Finding aid for Howard Selsam's papers at the Columbia University Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selsam, Howard 1903 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American philosophers American Marxists Marxist theorists 20th-century American writers People from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Brooklyn College faculty