Jack Donald Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 10, 1999) was an American historian best known for his work on the labor movement and the struggle for African-American civil rights. A professor of

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

with a doctorate from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, he established one of the first programs in

black studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

in the United States at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

. He was fired from his job at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

and

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

ed in academia from the 1940s through much of the 1960s after being investigated in 1941 by a New York State legislative committee for his suspected former membership in the Communist Party, which he officially refused to either confirm or deny. In 1979, the New York State Board of Education officially apologized to Foner and other teachers and staff who were fired and whose lives were disrupted by the activities of the

Rapp-Coudert Committee The Rapp-Coudert Committee was the colloquial name of the New York State Legislature's Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the Educational System of the State of New York. Between 1940 and 1942, the Rapp-Coudert Committee sought to identif ...

, which it described as having egregiously violated

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

. He was the twin brother of historian

Philip S. Foner Philip Sheldon Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 13, 1994) was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books. He is considered a pioneer in his extensive works on the role of radical ...

and the father of historian

Eric Foner Eric Foner (; born February 7, 1943) is an American historian. He writes extensively on American political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, the American Civil War, Reconstr ...

Early life and education

Jack Foner was born in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

, in 1910 to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents who had immigrated from the Russian empire. He was one of four brothers: his twin brother,

Philip Foner Philip Sheldon Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 13, 1994) was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books. He is considered a pioneer in his extensive works on the role of radical ...

, would later become a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

labor historian and political activist, while their younger brothers

Henry Foner Henry Joseph Foner (March 23, 1919 – January 11, 2017) was a 20th-century Jewish-American social activist and president for more than two decades of the Joint Board, Fur, Leather and Machine Workers Union (FLM). He and his three older broth ...

and Moe Foner would both become

labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organizers. Jack Foner attended Eastern District High School and graduated from

in 1929. He and Philip both studied under historian

Allan Nevins Joseph Allan Nevins (May 20, 1890 – March 5, 1971) was an American historian and journalist, known for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and ...

there. Foner earned a master's degree in 1933 and a doctorate in 1967 in American history, both from

Early career

Jack Foner taught history in 1935 at

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

(then called the downtown branch of the

). He actively supported the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

against the

Nationalist faction The Nationalist faction (), also Rebel faction () and Francoist faction () was a major faction in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. It was composed of a variety of right-leaning political groups that supported the Spanish Coup of July 1936 ...

, and stood for the rights of

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

Blacklisting

In 1941, Foner was forced out of his teaching job, along with 60 other faculty members, in the wake of an investigation of alleged communist influences in higher education by the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

state legislature's anti-communist

. It was officially known as the "Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate the Educational System of the State of New York. One of the complaints against Jack Foner was that his teaching devoted excessive attention to the role of African Americans in history. He declined to testify before the commission and was blacklisted, which meant that he was unable to obtain academic employment for almost three decades. In 1979, the New York State Board of Higher Education apologized to Foner and others who were investigated and lost jobs due to the activities of the Rapp-Coudert Committee. It described the events of 1941 "an egregious violation of

." In 1993, Foner told '' Colby magazine'' that he considered the episode to be an "honorable experience". He said, "there was really no evidence to support it," referring to his being fired and blacklisted.''Colby College Magazine''
Spring 2000.

Later years

From 1942 to 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Foner served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He was stationed in the United States. His assignments were menial. After the war, Foner supported his family by doing freelance lecturing. He and his three brothers also had a

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

band, in which he played drums, known as the "Foner Orchestra". The group played at resorts in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. Foner also worked with

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...

and

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, and maintained a friendship with

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

, all of whom similarly suffered blacklisting.

Subsequent academic career

in Waterville, Maine, hired Foner in the spring of 1969 to teach

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. He taught there from 1969 to 1976, establishing one of the first black studies programs in the nation. After retiring from Colby, he returned as a visiting scholar in 1983 and 1985. His best-known book is ''Blacks and the Military in American History'' (1974). Foner returned to New York City. He died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on December 10, 1999, four days before his 89th birthday.

Legacy and honors

*1982, Colby College awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Personal life

Foner and his wife, Liza, were married for 57 years and lived mostly in New York City. They had two children,

and Thomas Foner. Eric Foner has become recognized for his work in Civil War, Reconstruction and African-American history and is a professor of history at Columbia University. Thomas died in 1999, the same year as his father.

References

External links

Obituary at University of Pennsylvania websiteObituary from American Historical Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foner, Jack D. 1910 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Activists for African-American civil rights American anti-racism activists American male non-fiction writers American people of Russian-Jewish descent City College of New York alumni City College of New York faculty Colby College faculty Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Eastern District High School alumni Historians from New York (state) Historians of the United States Jewish American anti-racism activists Jewish American historians Jewish socialists Labor historians People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn