Queens College Special Collections and Archives
Oscar Shaftel Papers (#SCA-0052)
Oscar Shaftel was one of three professors, alongside Vera Shlakman and Dudley Straus, fired from Queens College after invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to answer questions regarding his alleged Communist affiliation. The Oscar Shaftel Papers document Shaftel’s tenure as a professor at Queens College, including his dismissal and his efforts to reinstate his pension. The bulk of the collection is from 1948 to 1982 and includes correspondence, flyers, memos, printed materials, clippings, transcripts, and copies of declassified documents.
The collection provides evidence of Oscar Shaftel’s experience as a professor at Queens College, his time serving in the military during World War II, as well as student activism on campus in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Oscar Shaftel and the Menace of McCarthyism
This digital exhibit was created by Queens College Special Collections and Archives to explore and present the story of Oscar Shaftel in an interactive format. It contains biographical and contextual information about McCarthyism, a description of the Shaftel collection held at Queens College, and a bibliography of resources for further reading on the subject.
World War II Collection (#SCA-0067)
In this collection there are further war-related correspondence and photographs of Oscar Shaftel, as well as correspondence, memoranda, and other items related to the Queens College Council for Defense, the Queens College Civil Liberties Committee, and the Queens College Army Specialized Training Program.
Queens College Student Publications Collection (#SCA-0003)
This collection consists of publications by Queens College students and student groups and includes newspapers, magazines, and some photocopies. Series I is Newspapers, and each publication has its own subseries. The publications referenced here are from the period of the Red Scare and explicitly reference political events in their reportage.
Series I, Subseries A: The Crown was the student newspaper from the years 1939-1959. This publication covered a variety of topics including student life, academic program orientation & development, World War II, and discussions of numerous scholars, artists, and politicians who visited QC. Oscar Shaftel was a faculty advisor of the paper; there are many editorials and articles about McCarthyism and anti-communism.
Series I, Subseries C: The Rampart was a second student newspaper developed after a campus survey indicated that students preferred to have two papers as opposed to one, with the new paper having its news staff separate from its editorial staff to promote diversity of opinion. Like The Crown, The Rampart’s coverage includes student life, academic program orientation and development, the impact of World War II, and campus events including numerous visits from scholars, artists, and politicians to Queens College. The Faculty Committee on Student Activities and Services later proposed the disbanding of the two newspapers on the grounds of poor editing and lack of trained personnel.
Series I, Subseries D: The Phoenix was a student newspaper covering student life, as well as student opinions pertaining to the Vietnam War, campus wide and nationwide racial tensions, and the advent of numerous activist-oriented organizations and ideologies of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. One example is an article from March 8, 1960 titled “The Red Scare: Struggle with McCarthyism.
Contact Information
Advance appointments are required to view materials at these archives. Once you’ve determined which materials you’d like to view, please use the following contact information to make an appointment prior to visiting the archives.
Website: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/library/archives/
Email: qc.archives@qc.cuny.edu
Phone: 718-997-3650
Location: Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Main Floor, Room 317
65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, Queens, NY, 11367