1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gabelusier, and in this episode, we're looking 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: at a bizarre tale from McCarthyite America, the time when 6 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: Robin Hood was accused of being a Communist sympathizer. The 7 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: day was November three. Ada White of the Indiana Textbook 8 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: Commission alleged that textbook writers were presenting the story of 9 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: Robin Hood in a pro Communist light. As a member 10 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: of the body that reviewed teaching materials used by Indiana schools, 11 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: she called for a story called Robin Hood and the 12 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: Night to be omitted from the curriculum. Mrs White explained 13 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: in her objection saying, quote, there is a communist directive 14 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,839 Speaker 1: in education now to stress the story of Robin Hood. 15 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: They want to stress it because he robbed the rich 16 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: and gave it to the poor. That's the communist line. 17 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: It's just a smearing of law and order, and anything 18 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: that disrupts law and order is their meat. As you 19 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: may have deduced from the date, this event occurred at 20 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: the height of the McCarthy era, a period following World 21 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,039 Speaker 1: War Two when fear of the Soviet Union sparked a 22 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: red scare in the United States. Anxious citizens were imagining 23 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: Communist threats everywhere they looked, and one politician in particular 24 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: capitalized on the fearful climate. In nineteen fifty, Wisconsin Senator 25 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: Joseph McCarthy shocked the country by claiming that hundreds of 26 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,960 Speaker 1: Communist agents had infiltrated the highest levels of American government 27 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: in an effort to destroy the country. These allegations sent 28 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: an already tense nation over the edge. Suddenly people were 29 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: accusing their own neighbors of being secret Communists, and movies, music, 30 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: comic books, and novels were carefully scrutinized for signs of 31 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: Communist sympathies. In this way, Mrs White was just doing 32 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: her part in Indianapolis to protect the children of Indiana 33 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: from anti American themes and stories, which apparently included Robin Hood. 34 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: White pointed to the Robin Hood story in a popular 35 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: seventh grade anthology of children's literature called Excursions on Fact 36 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: and Fancy. One line of the text she found fault 37 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: with read as follows quote Unhappily, the luckless boy slew 38 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: a Knight of Lancashire, and to pay the heavy penalty 39 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: exacted from him to save his rights, I was forced 40 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: to sell all my goods. Mrs White said this was 41 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: quote a slam at lawyers. Another line in the text 42 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: read Robin my lands are pledged until a certain day 43 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: to an abbot living close by her at St Mary's Abbey. 44 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: According to Mrs White, this line was a double slam 45 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: at both mortgage holders and the church. Her argument also 46 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: included an attack on Quakers because they quote don't believe 47 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: in fighting wars, which she saw as a philosophy that 48 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: would ultimately give communists an advantage. When the local press 49 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: started criticizing Mrs White's assessments, she claimed her goal was 50 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: just to raise awareness, not to banned textbooks that mentioned 51 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: Robin Hood. She maintained her stance that the steal from 52 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: the rich and give to the poor mentality was the 53 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: quote communists favorite policy. She also bristled at the pushback 54 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: she received, saying, quote, because I'm trying to get Communist 55 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: writers out of textbooks, my name is mud. Evidently I'm 56 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: drawing blood, or they wouldn't make such an issue out 57 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: of it. Her concerns were duly noted and disregarded. The 58 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: school superintendent in Indianapolis declared that Robin Hood would not 59 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: be banned from his city schools because, as he put it, 60 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: Robin Hood isn't any worse to read than some of 61 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: the things children see on television. The state superintendent, Wilbur Young, 62 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: was a bit more sympathetic to White's concerns, but in 63 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: the end he also agreed that the book should not 64 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: be banned still, and asked if he thought some teachers 65 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: might misuse the story of Robin Hood to promote communism, 66 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: Young replied, quote, I have no doubt that the Communists 67 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: have gone to work twisting the meaning of the Robin 68 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: Hood legend the same as they're trying to destroy everything 69 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: that is good and decent in the world. They undoubtedly 70 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: have a red slant on Mother Goose for that matter. 71 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: You would think the story ends there with Robin Hood's 72 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: good name being cleared by the Indiana powers that be, 73 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: But things actually didn't stop there. Newswire services took the 74 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: story worldwide, exposing Mrs White to a brand of public 75 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: shaming that was still rare in the pre Internet days 76 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen fifty three. Communists around the world poked funit Or, 77 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: a division of the French Communist Party released a tongue 78 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: in cheek statement claiming that White also wanted to ban 79 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: Little Red riding Hood because her hood was the color 80 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: of communism. Over in the Soviet Union, one commentator joked 81 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: that quote the enrollment of Robin Hood and the Communist 82 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: Party can only make sensible people laugh. Even the actual 83 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: Sheriff of Nottingham stood up for Robin Hood. William J. Vox, 84 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: the High Sheriff of Nottingham in ninety three, said quote, 85 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: the Communists may claim a lot of things, but they 86 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: can't claim Robin Hood. We're really proud of him. Meanwhile, 87 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: back in the United States, five students from Indiana University 88 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: at Bloomington started an activist group called the Green Feather Movement. 89 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: They collected six large sacks of chicken feathers from a 90 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: local poultry farm and died them green to look like 91 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: the one worn by Robin Hood. Then, on March one, 92 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, this students spread the feathers all over 93 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: campus to protest Mrs White's attempt at censorship and McCarthy 94 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: is um at large. From there, the Green feather movement 95 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: spread to other campuses across the country. For example, at 96 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: U c l A, students also distributed green feathers during 97 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: a march that included a crier dressed as Robin Hood 98 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: and about two hundred students dressed as his merry men. 99 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: As it became clear that Robin Hood would continue to 100 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: be read in schools, the green feather movement disbanded after 101 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: less than a year. The same month when Senator McCarthy 102 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: was censured by the Senate. As for Aida White, she 103 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: did not appreciate her newfound notoriety and continued to clarify 104 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: that she wasn't opposed to Robin Hood, just to those 105 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: who would use the story to make communism seem more appealing. Still, 106 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: she didn't let all the negative press get in the 107 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: way of her mission. In nineteen fifty five, she went 108 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: on the offensive against self reflection by targeting Your Growing Up, 109 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: a seventh grade health book that she claimed quote would 110 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: make neurotics of our boys and girls, with many pages 111 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 1: devoted to insisting that they find their faults. After that, 112 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: she set her sights on a spelling book that mentioned quote. 113 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: An executive with a big income and a snooty Wife, 114 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: which she took as a slight against the American way 115 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: of life. It's easy to roll our eyes at alarmist 116 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: episodes like the Fight to Cancel robin Hood, but the 117 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: truth is that the Red Scare resulted in all kinds 118 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: of books being pulled from the shelves of schools and 119 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: local public libraries due to their allegedly subversive ideas. Nineteen 120 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: eighty four by George Orwell, Johnny Got His Gun by 121 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: Dalton Trumbo, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 122 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: were just a few of the more notable casualties Bandwagon 123 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: attacks on freedom of expression didn't end with the McCarthy era, 124 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: So while it's entertaining to look back on the times 125 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 1: when censorship failed, it's important to remember the times it 126 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: didn't as well. I'm Gaye Lousier and hopefully you now 127 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 128 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: If you're so inclined and you have a second, consider 129 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at T D 130 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: i h C Show. And if you have any speculation 131 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,559 Speaker 1: about the political leanings of other fictional characters, you can 132 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,439 Speaker 1: send it my way at this day at i heart 133 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for 134 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 135 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History class. 136 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: For more podcast iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 137 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.