1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:22,236 Speaker 1: Pushkin. I want to read to you from a very 2 00:00:22,276 --> 00:00:28,156 Speaker 1: important historical document, the April nineteen sixty two edition of 3 00:00:28,196 --> 00:00:33,156 Speaker 1: the wellby Way Elementary School Parent Teacher Association newsletter, The 4 00:00:33,236 --> 00:00:37,636 Speaker 1: well Be Buzzings, written of course, by the PTA of 5 00:00:37,716 --> 00:00:41,316 Speaker 1: the elementary school in the West Hills area of Los Angeles. 6 00:00:42,796 --> 00:00:46,596 Speaker 1: First item, President's message. I would like to say thank 7 00:00:46,636 --> 00:00:48,716 Speaker 1: you to the ladies that work so hard on the 8 00:00:49,036 --> 00:00:52,516 Speaker 1: and this is all in caps double parking safety campaign. 9 00:00:53,356 --> 00:00:56,956 Speaker 1: Second item sing along with progress PTA meeting for April. 10 00:00:57,156 --> 00:01:00,996 Speaker 1: Our hostesses will be the sixth grade mothers. Third item 11 00:01:01,316 --> 00:01:04,876 Speaker 1: a meeting on safety in fire prevention. Fourth item an 12 00:01:04,916 --> 00:01:08,356 Speaker 1: interesting and informative trip to the fire station. Fifth item 13 00:01:08,476 --> 00:01:11,436 Speaker 1: the local count meeting. Key detail. It's going to be 14 00:01:11,476 --> 00:01:19,116 Speaker 1: a luncheon. Are you still there? Still awake? Four announcements 15 00:01:19,116 --> 00:01:23,756 Speaker 1: on school safety, a fifth on participatory democracy. A luncheon. 16 00:01:24,196 --> 00:01:28,556 Speaker 1: I'm guessing you're poored to tears. It's all so very PTA. 17 00:01:28,996 --> 00:01:32,836 Speaker 1: The only things missing are the potluck supper, the newspaper drive, 18 00:01:33,116 --> 00:01:40,276 Speaker 1: the book fair. But that's where you're wrong. This newsletter is, 19 00:01:40,276 --> 00:01:43,476 Speaker 1: in fact the skeleton key to understanding our political moment 20 00:01:44,076 --> 00:01:47,676 Speaker 1: right now. Like this exact moment. If you're listening to 21 00:01:47,716 --> 00:01:50,916 Speaker 1: this episode soon after its release, there are two things 22 00:01:50,956 --> 00:01:54,196 Speaker 1: going on in your world, the US presidential election between 23 00:01:54,236 --> 00:01:58,436 Speaker 1: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and more Halloween candy than 24 00:01:58,476 --> 00:02:01,276 Speaker 1: you know what to do with. Well in this episode 25 00:02:01,996 --> 00:02:07,756 Speaker 1: a story that manages to bring both together. It all 26 00:02:07,796 --> 00:02:11,196 Speaker 1: really begins with the Well Being PTA newsletter from April 27 00:02:11,316 --> 00:02:16,596 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, and specifically with the sixth and final item, 28 00:02:17,036 --> 00:02:21,916 Speaker 1: the editor's message, which begins the power to seek the 29 00:02:22,036 --> 00:02:24,596 Speaker 1: truth is within all of us. But there are some 30 00:02:24,716 --> 00:02:28,836 Speaker 1: who abuse this freedom and cloud the answers and the issues, 31 00:02:29,196 --> 00:02:31,836 Speaker 1: so that seeking the truth and knowing it is the 32 00:02:31,876 --> 00:02:35,396 Speaker 1: truth becomes a harder task than it was ever meant 33 00:02:35,436 --> 00:02:40,796 Speaker 1: to be. You're listening to Revisionist History, my podcast about 34 00:02:40,796 --> 00:02:46,436 Speaker 1: things overlooked and misunderstood. I'm Malcolm Goldwell. Here's our question, why, 35 00:02:46,516 --> 00:02:50,076 Speaker 1: in this otherwise very dull PTA newsletter does the mother 36 00:02:50,196 --> 00:02:52,876 Speaker 1: who wrote it feel the need to write an urgent 37 00:02:53,036 --> 00:02:59,156 Speaker 1: defense of democracy. She doesn't say, but as my colleague 38 00:02:59,156 --> 00:03:02,036 Speaker 1: BENDADAPF Hafrey discovered, it has to do with a man who, 39 00:03:02,036 --> 00:03:06,356 Speaker 1: perhaps more than almost anyone else, is responsible for creating 40 00:03:06,356 --> 00:03:11,636 Speaker 1: the modern style of far right conspiratorial thinking running rampant today. 41 00:03:12,476 --> 00:03:15,956 Speaker 1: A man who write, at the time that Editor's note 42 00:03:15,996 --> 00:03:19,636 Speaker 1: was published, held in his hands the fate of the 43 00:03:19,636 --> 00:03:30,356 Speaker 1: PTA and American public life. Here's Ben. 44 00:03:32,796 --> 00:03:35,356 Speaker 2: The video is grainy, but you can make out an 45 00:03:35,356 --> 00:03:39,156 Speaker 2: older man, late sixties, standing in a suit and tie 46 00:03:39,276 --> 00:03:42,836 Speaker 2: against a black backdrop, clasping his hands on a lecturn. 47 00:03:43,836 --> 00:03:45,996 Speaker 3: Faithful citizens, wherever. 48 00:03:45,676 --> 00:03:46,276 Speaker 4: You may be. 49 00:03:47,156 --> 00:03:49,996 Speaker 2: He's got big ears, a big nose, and a high 50 00:03:50,076 --> 00:03:53,756 Speaker 2: forehead well suited to an indignant raising of the eyebrows. 51 00:03:54,276 --> 00:03:56,756 Speaker 2: The media coverage of him lately had given him many 52 00:03:56,796 --> 00:04:01,156 Speaker 2: opportunities to do this. As he speaks, the camera pushes in. 53 00:04:01,756 --> 00:04:02,916 Speaker 2: It's a recruitment video. 54 00:04:03,676 --> 00:04:07,436 Speaker 3: It is our deliberate and careful purpose to pull together 55 00:04:07,516 --> 00:04:11,636 Speaker 3: into one group, a body of morally good and truly 56 00:04:11,676 --> 00:04:15,556 Speaker 3: responsible citizens who are proud of each other and of 57 00:04:15,596 --> 00:04:17,036 Speaker 3: the society to which they belong. 58 00:04:18,156 --> 00:04:21,276 Speaker 2: He then proceeds to reassure his viewers that the identities 59 00:04:21,276 --> 00:04:24,036 Speaker 2: of people in this group are never shared with anyone, 60 00:04:24,276 --> 00:04:26,916 Speaker 2: not least of all because their enemies abound. 61 00:04:27,676 --> 00:04:31,636 Speaker 3: The carefully coordinated attacks against us from all points of 62 00:04:31,676 --> 00:04:35,996 Speaker 3: the ideological compass have reached a crescendo stage since the 63 00:04:36,036 --> 00:04:39,716 Speaker 3: rest of this year, with the surprising but visible result 64 00:04:40,356 --> 00:04:44,956 Speaker 3: of solidifying the dedication of our numbers still further, and 65 00:04:45,116 --> 00:04:47,996 Speaker 3: of stimulating their recruiting efforts. 66 00:04:49,556 --> 00:04:54,396 Speaker 2: This is Robert Welch Junior. Consider the facts. He speaks 67 00:04:54,436 --> 00:04:57,116 Speaker 2: a little like a dictator. He seems to run some 68 00:04:57,156 --> 00:05:01,196 Speaker 2: sort of secret society, and consider himself public enemy number one. 69 00:05:02,076 --> 00:05:07,316 Speaker 2: Who is this titan? Well, naturally he's a candy tycoon. 70 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:12,916 Speaker 2: Robert Welch Junior was born on a former plantation in 71 00:05:12,956 --> 00:05:16,036 Speaker 2: North Carolina just before the turn of the twentieth century. 72 00:05:16,796 --> 00:05:19,996 Speaker 2: As a kid, he was precocious and a daydreamer. Wanted 73 00:05:20,036 --> 00:05:23,316 Speaker 2: to be a writer an intellectual, but he felt that 74 00:05:23,396 --> 00:05:25,796 Speaker 2: before he could do so, he had to get rich. 75 00:05:26,716 --> 00:05:29,476 Speaker 2: So one night, as a young man, he had a brainstorm. 76 00:05:29,836 --> 00:05:32,356 Speaker 2: According to Edward H. Miller, who wrote a biography of 77 00:05:32,396 --> 00:05:36,356 Speaker 2: Welsh called A Conspiratorial Life, Welch stayed up late into 78 00:05:36,356 --> 00:05:39,676 Speaker 2: the evening, writing and writing to answer a single question, 79 00:05:40,716 --> 00:05:43,476 Speaker 2: what specific goods in demand would be best for me 80 00:05:43,516 --> 00:05:48,156 Speaker 2: to start manufacturing without either capital or experience. This is 81 00:05:48,196 --> 00:05:51,276 Speaker 2: a quote Miller found from an associate of Welsh's recalling 82 00:05:51,396 --> 00:05:55,676 Speaker 2: this legendary moment quote. As the sky began to show 83 00:05:55,756 --> 00:05:59,076 Speaker 2: the first streaks of dawn, Robert stared at the notes 84 00:05:59,076 --> 00:06:02,836 Speaker 2: in front of him. One word remained amid the maze 85 00:06:02,876 --> 00:06:08,276 Speaker 2: of dark lines scratched across the pages. That word was candy. 86 00:06:10,836 --> 00:06:14,196 Speaker 2: We've arrived at the Halloween portion of our programming. So 87 00:06:14,556 --> 00:06:16,996 Speaker 2: if in your baskets this year you find the following 88 00:06:17,076 --> 00:06:21,116 Speaker 2: candies Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby, or the Junior Mint, you're 89 00:06:21,236 --> 00:06:24,316 Speaker 2: encountering a piece of the Welsh legacy, and actually the 90 00:06:24,396 --> 00:06:27,516 Speaker 2: legacy of his brother too, who naturally also worked in 91 00:06:27,516 --> 00:06:31,556 Speaker 2: the candy business. The Welsh nuclear family of Hit candies, 92 00:06:31,756 --> 00:06:33,996 Speaker 2: the patriarch of which the Sugar Daddy, I have to 93 00:06:33,996 --> 00:06:37,476 Speaker 2: say I find totally inedible, has been a mainstay forever. 94 00:06:38,076 --> 00:06:43,076 Speaker 2: Children of the nineteen eighties may remember the jingle for 95 00:06:43,596 --> 00:06:44,956 Speaker 2: Sugar Daddy for. 96 00:06:47,356 --> 00:06:48,236 Speaker 5: Sugar Dirty. 97 00:06:51,316 --> 00:06:53,076 Speaker 2: Welsh was part of what I've come to think of 98 00:06:53,316 --> 00:06:57,596 Speaker 2: as the American sweets aristocracy. I'm talking about a special 99 00:06:57,636 --> 00:07:00,316 Speaker 2: class of confectioners and bakers who turned out to have 100 00:07:00,356 --> 00:07:02,956 Speaker 2: a surprising number of ideas about how society ought to 101 00:07:02,996 --> 00:07:06,916 Speaker 2: be run. In the Pantheon, we have Milton's Navely Hershey, 102 00:07:07,076 --> 00:07:09,876 Speaker 2: whose chocolates were so delectable he was able to put 103 00:07:09,876 --> 00:07:14,436 Speaker 2: his social ideas to the test, building utopian town called Hershey, Pennsylvania. 104 00:07:14,996 --> 00:07:18,596 Speaker 2: Then there's Sylvester Graham, the clergyman who invented the Graham 105 00:07:18,636 --> 00:07:22,676 Speaker 2: Cracker to combat youth masturbation. John Harvey Kellogg, the Seventh 106 00:07:22,756 --> 00:07:26,396 Speaker 2: day Adventist, who invented cornflakes to do the same. The 107 00:07:26,476 --> 00:07:30,276 Speaker 2: candy makers, in particular tended to be extremely paranoid because 108 00:07:30,276 --> 00:07:32,916 Speaker 2: there was actually quite a bit of spying in their industry. 109 00:07:33,556 --> 00:07:36,876 Speaker 2: They had to guard their secrets, their recipes, their fortunes. 110 00:07:37,516 --> 00:07:40,716 Speaker 2: Some would even blindfold the people who repaired their machines. 111 00:07:41,756 --> 00:07:46,476 Speaker 2: But I digress. After establishing himself in the candy business 112 00:07:46,596 --> 00:07:49,996 Speaker 2: and drinking deeply at the trough of its paranoia, Welch 113 00:07:50,116 --> 00:07:52,916 Speaker 2: set out to elbow his way into the intellectual class, 114 00:07:53,636 --> 00:07:58,236 Speaker 2: specifically the anti communist class. Over the years, he wrote 115 00:07:58,276 --> 00:08:02,156 Speaker 2: a number of articles in books about the rise of communism, including, 116 00:08:02,276 --> 00:08:05,796 Speaker 2: per his biographer, a novel about in ant society oppressed 117 00:08:05,836 --> 00:08:09,396 Speaker 2: by a monolithic state, which somehow went unpublished. But it 118 00:08:09,436 --> 00:08:12,316 Speaker 2: was in nineteen fifty four that one of his ideas 119 00:08:12,716 --> 00:08:13,836 Speaker 2: finally broke through. 120 00:08:14,516 --> 00:08:18,036 Speaker 5: He was very secretive about these because Welch was always 121 00:08:19,036 --> 00:08:24,116 Speaker 5: worried about the Communists as he saw getting a hold 122 00:08:24,236 --> 00:08:25,196 Speaker 5: of what he was saying. 123 00:08:26,116 --> 00:08:30,676 Speaker 2: Historian Matthew Dallak, author of the book Bircher's, talking about 124 00:08:30,676 --> 00:08:34,756 Speaker 2: Welch's penchant for sending secret letters because. 125 00:08:34,596 --> 00:08:38,556 Speaker 5: They exposed him and they damaged you know, the true 126 00:08:39,236 --> 00:08:45,556 Speaker 5: this patriotic movement to destroy communism. It would be it 127 00:08:45,596 --> 00:08:48,916 Speaker 5: would basically be like killing his movement in the crypt. 128 00:08:49,796 --> 00:08:53,716 Speaker 2: Now, the letter he sent in nineteen fifty four, in particular, 129 00:08:53,836 --> 00:08:58,396 Speaker 2: merited sensitivity. It was a roughly nine thousand word attempt 130 00:08:58,556 --> 00:09:02,796 Speaker 2: to explain why he disliked Dwight Eisenhower so much, the 131 00:09:02,836 --> 00:09:07,596 Speaker 2: first Republican president in multiple decades. The letter built to 132 00:09:07,636 --> 00:09:11,996 Speaker 2: the irrefutable conclusion that Dwight Eisenhower was not really a Republican. 133 00:09:12,556 --> 00:09:18,116 Speaker 2: He was quote a dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy, 134 00:09:18,756 --> 00:09:22,396 Speaker 2: operating under the direction of his brother, the affable Milton. 135 00:09:23,276 --> 00:09:28,676 Speaker 5: They're really divorced from any semblance of the truth. The 136 00:09:28,756 --> 00:09:33,516 Speaker 5: other thing, though, is that the argument against Eisenhower I 137 00:09:33,556 --> 00:09:40,996 Speaker 5: think fits into the Joe McCarthy argument that clearly the 138 00:09:41,196 --> 00:09:44,476 Speaker 5: setbacks in the world for the United States and the 139 00:09:44,516 --> 00:09:49,756 Speaker 5: fight against communism is a result of communists in the government, 140 00:09:49,836 --> 00:09:53,476 Speaker 5: including Eisenhower, allowing the communists to win. 141 00:09:54,636 --> 00:09:57,836 Speaker 2: Where the ant book had failed, the letter succeeded wildly. 142 00:09:58,436 --> 00:10:01,276 Speaker 2: It ballooned into a book that is over four hundred 143 00:10:01,316 --> 00:10:05,876 Speaker 2: pages long, complete with an extremely tedious footnote section explaining 144 00:10:05,916 --> 00:10:09,796 Speaker 2: the sourcing for his atlandish claims. As wels Us wrote, 145 00:10:10,076 --> 00:10:13,916 Speaker 2: explanations are like government. Nobody loves them, but a minimum 146 00:10:13,916 --> 00:10:18,436 Speaker 2: amount of both is a necessary evil. But anyway, Welch 147 00:10:18,596 --> 00:10:20,716 Speaker 2: was not content to mail secret letters the rest of 148 00:10:20,756 --> 00:10:26,196 Speaker 2: his life. He wanted to build a movement. So four 149 00:10:26,276 --> 00:10:30,316 Speaker 2: years after that letter, in October nineteen fifty eight, Welch 150 00:10:30,396 --> 00:10:34,156 Speaker 2: brought together eleven of his most powerful friends to a 151 00:10:34,196 --> 00:10:39,076 Speaker 2: secret meeting in Indianapolis. He didn't say what for, but 152 00:10:39,196 --> 00:10:41,316 Speaker 2: he did tell them each to book their own hotel 153 00:10:41,396 --> 00:10:44,676 Speaker 2: rooms so people wouldn't see them together. Then he promised 154 00:10:44,676 --> 00:10:47,556 Speaker 2: them that there was nothing conspiratorial about what they were 155 00:10:47,596 --> 00:10:50,196 Speaker 2: about to do, which was to gather in a secret 156 00:10:50,236 --> 00:10:52,996 Speaker 2: location for two days and conspire. 157 00:10:54,076 --> 00:10:56,716 Speaker 3: My undertaking today is to try to tell you all 158 00:10:56,756 --> 00:10:59,876 Speaker 3: about the background, methods, and purposes of the John Birg Society. 159 00:11:00,796 --> 00:11:03,556 Speaker 2: This tape is from a recruitment video he made later on. 160 00:11:04,116 --> 00:11:06,116 Speaker 2: We don't have a recording of what he said that 161 00:11:06,196 --> 00:11:08,796 Speaker 2: day in Indianapolis. I mean, it was a secret meeting, 162 00:11:09,236 --> 00:11:12,716 Speaker 2: but I think it's safe to assume he was on message. 163 00:11:12,796 --> 00:11:16,076 Speaker 2: Welch was there to start a new anti communist organization. 164 00:11:16,596 --> 00:11:19,396 Speaker 2: After all, with the Communists already in control of the 165 00:11:19,476 --> 00:11:22,556 Speaker 2: US presidency, the situation was getting a little out of hand. 166 00:11:23,596 --> 00:11:27,196 Speaker 3: As we have said many times before, the fundamentally decent 167 00:11:27,236 --> 00:11:31,516 Speaker 3: American mind simply refuses to recognize the nature of the 168 00:11:31,556 --> 00:11:36,716 Speaker 3: cunning beasts who constitute our enemies today. This is especially 169 00:11:36,796 --> 00:11:41,276 Speaker 3: true when these criminal gangsters assume all of the suavity 170 00:11:41,676 --> 00:11:44,596 Speaker 3: and regalia of high office. 171 00:11:44,836 --> 00:11:48,156 Speaker 2: Eleven men walked into that room in Indianapolis, and the 172 00:11:48,236 --> 00:11:51,716 Speaker 2: John Birch Society walked out, named by the way for 173 00:11:51,756 --> 00:11:55,196 Speaker 2: an American missionary who'd been killed by Chinese communists and 174 00:11:55,236 --> 00:11:57,796 Speaker 2: then became a kind of patron saint for people like 175 00:11:57,876 --> 00:12:01,916 Speaker 2: Robert Welch Junior. These were important men with money and 176 00:12:01,996 --> 00:12:04,756 Speaker 2: time to burn and an acts to grind. They had 177 00:12:04,796 --> 00:12:09,716 Speaker 2: Eisenhower's former IRS Commissioner, presidents of major companies, a former 178 00:12:09,756 --> 00:12:13,756 Speaker 2: aid to Douglas MacArthur, and Fred Koch, oil man and 179 00:12:13,876 --> 00:12:16,156 Speaker 2: father to the Koch brothers, was there too. 180 00:12:17,236 --> 00:12:20,356 Speaker 3: I'll wake my friends and our rise now I'll be 181 00:12:20,516 --> 00:12:23,996 Speaker 3: forever fallen. We mean business and we can still win, 182 00:12:24,516 --> 00:12:27,076 Speaker 3: but we are in our race against time, with the 183 00:12:27,236 --> 00:12:28,836 Speaker 3: enemy advancing every day. 184 00:12:30,036 --> 00:12:32,676 Speaker 2: Welch knew what he was doing. He took his show 185 00:12:32,716 --> 00:12:35,876 Speaker 2: on the road, giving versions of that speech across the country, 186 00:12:36,276 --> 00:12:39,476 Speaker 2: and a lot of the listeners, bored Americans rattled by 187 00:12:39,516 --> 00:12:43,676 Speaker 2: war and freaked out by integration, thought hey, this guy's 188 00:12:43,676 --> 00:12:46,716 Speaker 2: got a point. He started with just his friends who 189 00:12:46,716 --> 00:12:49,396 Speaker 2: thought like he did, then his friend's friends, and then 190 00:12:49,436 --> 00:12:54,596 Speaker 2: his friend's friends friends. But Welch's dreams were always much grander. 191 00:12:56,316 --> 00:13:00,196 Speaker 3: By any realistic appraisal of our size against our need, 192 00:13:00,516 --> 00:13:03,916 Speaker 3: we are still very small, but we certainly expect our 193 00:13:03,956 --> 00:13:07,596 Speaker 3: present growth to continue until we have the million members 194 00:13:07,836 --> 00:13:12,396 Speaker 3: of Ferva page and unassailable character, which is our goal. 195 00:13:13,636 --> 00:13:16,716 Speaker 2: Despite Welsh's vision for one million patriots to join the 196 00:13:16,756 --> 00:13:20,276 Speaker 2: John Birch Society, estimates show that the membership was likely 197 00:13:20,316 --> 00:13:22,636 Speaker 2: at an all time high when it hit thirty thousand 198 00:13:22,716 --> 00:13:23,996 Speaker 2: members in the sixties. 199 00:13:25,196 --> 00:13:29,796 Speaker 5: The mission was not explicitly to take over a political party. 200 00:13:30,836 --> 00:13:36,116 Speaker 5: It was not to even take over in nessilly American institutions. 201 00:13:36,236 --> 00:13:42,036 Speaker 5: It was to wage a mass education campaign to allure Americans, 202 00:13:42,196 --> 00:13:46,796 Speaker 5: to educate them about the dire nature of the communist 203 00:13:46,836 --> 00:13:49,116 Speaker 5: conspiracy inside the United States. 204 00:13:50,396 --> 00:13:53,236 Speaker 2: And so a small but influential group of right wingers 205 00:13:53,356 --> 00:13:56,476 Speaker 2: became convinced that there was a war going on at home. 206 00:13:57,796 --> 00:14:02,636 Speaker 3: A continuous, undeclared war in which our enemiests observed no 207 00:14:02,796 --> 00:14:07,156 Speaker 3: rules of international law, of civilization, or of human decency. 208 00:14:08,636 --> 00:14:12,636 Speaker 2: But where was the front in this war? Exactly two 209 00:14:12,676 --> 00:14:16,396 Speaker 2: years after its founding, the Birch Society had part of 210 00:14:16,436 --> 00:14:24,516 Speaker 2: the answer the Parent Teacher Association. Of course, we'll be 211 00:14:24,596 --> 00:14:41,236 Speaker 2: right back. The bitter Root Valley lies in the southwest 212 00:14:41,236 --> 00:14:45,316 Speaker 2: of Montana, between the Sapphire and Bitterroot Mountains. It's the 213 00:14:45,316 --> 00:14:48,716 Speaker 2: place they filmed Yellowstone Today. It's gorgeous. 214 00:14:49,236 --> 00:14:51,276 Speaker 6: Okay, so small town. 215 00:14:52,116 --> 00:14:54,796 Speaker 2: Gail Laro Munson was a little girl growing up in 216 00:14:54,796 --> 00:14:57,836 Speaker 2: the valley in the nineteen sixties in a town called Darby. 217 00:14:58,396 --> 00:15:01,636 Speaker 2: Back then, its population was three hundred and ninety eight. 218 00:15:02,196 --> 00:15:05,756 Speaker 6: Close snit neighbors looked out for each other. Kids could 219 00:15:05,796 --> 00:15:11,476 Speaker 6: be out till dark and back home they would be safe. 220 00:15:11,636 --> 00:15:15,476 Speaker 6: If you were caught doing something wrong, the neighbors would 221 00:15:15,596 --> 00:15:17,676 Speaker 6: let your parents know and they'd be ready when you 222 00:15:17,716 --> 00:15:18,236 Speaker 6: got home. 223 00:15:19,076 --> 00:15:21,596 Speaker 2: Darby was the kind of place where you knew everyone, 224 00:15:22,076 --> 00:15:24,916 Speaker 2: especially if you were in Gale's family. Her dad, or 225 00:15:24,996 --> 00:15:28,956 Speaker 2: Villa Rowe, was the superintendent of the school district, but 226 00:15:29,036 --> 00:15:32,476 Speaker 2: in the early nineteen sixties, strangers began to show up 227 00:15:32,516 --> 00:15:35,996 Speaker 2: in the valley. Orville was busy right around then getting 228 00:15:36,036 --> 00:15:38,276 Speaker 2: new Bibles for a local school because there as we're 229 00:15:38,276 --> 00:15:41,356 Speaker 2: all beaten up. He asked a local clergyman how to 230 00:15:41,396 --> 00:15:43,356 Speaker 2: get rid of the old ones in a respectful way, 231 00:15:43,756 --> 00:15:46,156 Speaker 2: and he was told to burn them. So he gathered 232 00:15:46,236 --> 00:15:49,356 Speaker 2: up the bibles and set them on fire, and all 233 00:15:49,356 --> 00:15:53,836 Speaker 2: of a sudden, those strangers leapt into action. It turned 234 00:15:53,876 --> 00:15:57,756 Speaker 2: out they were part of a club, the John Birch Society. 235 00:15:59,516 --> 00:16:02,236 Speaker 7: Merch members appeared at the regular school board meeting with 236 00:16:02,276 --> 00:16:06,756 Speaker 7: a petition demanding that Larree not be offered a new contract. 237 00:16:06,876 --> 00:16:08,436 Speaker 2: It was all over the local radio. 238 00:16:09,116 --> 00:16:12,596 Speaker 7: Majority of the board rejected that demand. This action of 239 00:16:12,636 --> 00:16:17,476 Speaker 7: the board intensified an already steady program of intimidation against 240 00:16:17,516 --> 00:16:18,516 Speaker 7: the role in his family. 241 00:16:19,676 --> 00:16:22,916 Speaker 2: The Butchers. Returning Orville's quiet life in Derby with his 242 00:16:22,996 --> 00:16:26,876 Speaker 2: three kids and his wife completely upside down. Here's Orville. 243 00:16:27,756 --> 00:16:32,076 Speaker 8: There are individuals, of course the community who will drive 244 00:16:32,156 --> 00:16:37,876 Speaker 8: by and make obscene signs. There have been an incidents 245 00:16:37,956 --> 00:16:41,276 Speaker 8: where people have called the house my wife had answered 246 00:16:41,316 --> 00:16:45,116 Speaker 8: and have used obscene language on the telephone. Basically, it's 247 00:16:46,516 --> 00:16:49,556 Speaker 8: a joy, simple constant harassment. 248 00:16:50,636 --> 00:16:53,956 Speaker 2: An archivist in Montana named Kristen Gates wrote an essay 249 00:16:53,996 --> 00:16:57,036 Speaker 2: about all this. She found letters from the principle of 250 00:16:57,076 --> 00:17:01,356 Speaker 2: the local school who said the butchers were quote using 251 00:17:01,516 --> 00:17:09,556 Speaker 2: the local PTA as a springboard to infiltrate the schools. 252 00:17:10,796 --> 00:17:13,676 Speaker 2: Here I'm telling you about what unfolded for the LaRose 253 00:17:13,756 --> 00:17:16,836 Speaker 2: in a tiny town in Montana. But they weren't the 254 00:17:16,836 --> 00:17:20,756 Speaker 2: only people involved in local ptas or schools who became targets. 255 00:17:21,276 --> 00:17:24,316 Speaker 2: This is not the case now, but in the nineteen sixties, 256 00:17:24,356 --> 00:17:27,476 Speaker 2: according to one study, almost half of all families in 257 00:17:27,516 --> 00:17:32,316 Speaker 2: America were represented in the PTA fifty percent. The PTA 258 00:17:32,436 --> 00:17:35,116 Speaker 2: became such a well known part of public life that 259 00:17:35,396 --> 00:17:38,036 Speaker 2: it was even the subject of a number one song 260 00:17:38,116 --> 00:17:41,596 Speaker 2: in the nineteen sixties, Harper Valley PTA. 261 00:17:42,196 --> 00:17:46,676 Speaker 3: And it was signed by the secretary Harper Valetta. 262 00:17:51,276 --> 00:17:54,756 Speaker 2: The PTA played a huge role in modernizing American education. 263 00:17:55,436 --> 00:17:58,676 Speaker 2: Every local PTA was part of the National PTA, which 264 00:17:58,756 --> 00:18:01,396 Speaker 2: was run out of Washington, and they worked together to 265 00:18:01,436 --> 00:18:05,276 Speaker 2: petition schools to adapt and modernize, like a miniature version 266 00:18:05,316 --> 00:18:08,276 Speaker 2: of the federal government. It was actually originally called the 267 00:18:08,276 --> 00:18:12,796 Speaker 2: Congress of Mother Anyways, all this paid dividends. If you've 268 00:18:12,876 --> 00:18:16,996 Speaker 2: drunk fluoridated water, which you have gotten vaccinated in schools, 269 00:18:17,116 --> 00:18:19,476 Speaker 2: gone to a public kindergarten, or just been at a 270 00:18:19,476 --> 00:18:23,156 Speaker 2: school that received federal funds, you can thank the PTA 271 00:18:23,996 --> 00:18:28,636 Speaker 2: next bakesale, maybe by a cookie. As a sociologist, Robert 272 00:18:28,716 --> 00:18:32,956 Speaker 2: Putnam writes, the PTA in its day was quote one 273 00:18:32,996 --> 00:18:38,236 Speaker 2: of the most impressive organizational success stories in American history 274 00:18:38,996 --> 00:18:44,196 Speaker 2: end quote. And who at that exact moment wanted to 275 00:18:44,196 --> 00:18:47,716 Speaker 2: pull off another of the most impressive organizational success stories 276 00:18:47,716 --> 00:18:52,916 Speaker 2: in American history Dark Willy Wonka Robert Welch Junior, whose 277 00:18:52,956 --> 00:18:55,836 Speaker 2: recruiting methods were slightly more apocalyptic. 278 00:18:56,916 --> 00:18:59,316 Speaker 3: The Wise and the Brave, do not hold back, gonna 279 00:18:59,356 --> 00:19:00,236 Speaker 3: kill it is too late. 280 00:19:01,396 --> 00:19:04,756 Speaker 2: In its newsletter, the John Birch Society told its members 281 00:19:04,756 --> 00:19:07,916 Speaker 2: to quote join your local PTA at the beginning of 282 00:19:07,956 --> 00:19:11,436 Speaker 2: the school year. Get your conservative friends to do likewise 283 00:19:11,836 --> 00:19:14,596 Speaker 2: and go to work to take it over, you will 284 00:19:14,676 --> 00:19:17,956 Speaker 2: run into real battles against determined leftists who have had 285 00:19:18,036 --> 00:19:20,596 Speaker 2: everything their way. But it is time we went on 286 00:19:20,636 --> 00:19:24,356 Speaker 2: the offensive to make such groups the instrument of conservative 287 00:19:24,356 --> 00:19:28,156 Speaker 2: purpose with the same vigor and determination that the liberals 288 00:19:28,196 --> 00:19:33,156 Speaker 2: have used to the opposite aims. With encouragement from the 289 00:19:33,236 --> 00:19:37,316 Speaker 2: John Birch Society, extremists of all stripes started showing up 290 00:19:37,356 --> 00:19:40,956 Speaker 2: to local ptas across the country trying to take them over. 291 00:19:41,516 --> 00:19:44,156 Speaker 4: You know, all kinds of methods were being used. 292 00:19:44,636 --> 00:19:47,996 Speaker 2: Sarah Heath, a historian at Indiana University Kocomo. 293 00:19:48,436 --> 00:19:51,516 Speaker 4: So, the Birch Society might pack cars full of people, 294 00:19:52,196 --> 00:19:55,476 Speaker 4: so if I bring thirty people to a local meeting 295 00:19:55,516 --> 00:19:56,396 Speaker 4: of a PTA. 296 00:19:57,156 --> 00:19:58,036 Speaker 6: But basically what they. 297 00:19:57,956 --> 00:20:00,076 Speaker 4: Would try to do is, if I can get thirty 298 00:20:00,076 --> 00:20:03,156 Speaker 4: people to go to this one local meeting, we can 299 00:20:03,196 --> 00:20:05,556 Speaker 4: try to take over the proceedings of that meeting. 300 00:20:06,676 --> 00:20:11,196 Speaker 2: Suddenly, amid the conversations about fire safety and participatory democracy, 301 00:20:11,716 --> 00:20:14,276 Speaker 2: parents had to consider things like whether skipping the pledge 302 00:20:14,276 --> 00:20:16,116 Speaker 2: of allegiance at the start of a meeting made you 303 00:20:16,196 --> 00:20:20,356 Speaker 2: a Stalin level communist or an Eisenhower level one. Such 304 00:20:20,396 --> 00:20:23,956 Speaker 2: considerations it turned out demand quite a bit of everyone's. 305 00:20:23,556 --> 00:20:28,676 Speaker 4: Time, because what they wanted to do was first get 306 00:20:28,716 --> 00:20:31,076 Speaker 4: some people to get so tired that they would just say, 307 00:20:31,116 --> 00:20:33,916 Speaker 4: I've got to go home, right. PTA meetings are usually 308 00:20:33,996 --> 00:20:37,316 Speaker 4: in the early evening, so some people would leave. Then 309 00:20:37,356 --> 00:20:39,836 Speaker 4: they call the vote, and then they have a majority. 310 00:20:41,196 --> 00:20:43,956 Speaker 2: The virtuers wanted to use the ptas to reach school 311 00:20:43,996 --> 00:20:46,236 Speaker 2: boards so they could change the textbooks and root out 312 00:20:46,276 --> 00:20:49,276 Speaker 2: all the commune and sex education stuff. But a lot 313 00:20:49,276 --> 00:20:51,516 Speaker 2: of what they did was actual harassment. 314 00:20:52,236 --> 00:20:55,676 Speaker 4: You know. There are examples of people throwing trash on 315 00:20:55,716 --> 00:21:00,316 Speaker 4: the lawns of PTA members, or threatening people by the phone, 316 00:21:00,796 --> 00:21:03,396 Speaker 4: calling them at all hours of the night, you know, 317 00:21:03,516 --> 00:21:04,436 Speaker 4: just to keep them awake. 318 00:21:05,516 --> 00:21:08,996 Speaker 2: The PTA fought back in classic PTA form, with pamphlet 319 00:21:09,236 --> 00:21:12,116 Speaker 2: and lists of meeting best practices, but this was a 320 00:21:12,196 --> 00:21:15,276 Speaker 2: little like bringing knives to a gunfight. At this point, 321 00:21:15,436 --> 00:21:17,596 Speaker 2: there'd even been a report of a bombing at a 322 00:21:17,636 --> 00:21:20,356 Speaker 2: restaurant where a PTA meeting was going to be held. 323 00:21:20,516 --> 00:21:23,316 Speaker 2: This is what happens when you talk about national politics, 324 00:21:23,356 --> 00:21:26,516 Speaker 2: like Robert Welsch Junior, like you're in a shadowy. 325 00:21:26,036 --> 00:21:32,236 Speaker 3: War, a continuous, undeclared war in which our enemies observed 326 00:21:32,356 --> 00:21:36,956 Speaker 3: no rules of international law of civilization are of human decency. 327 00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:41,076 Speaker 2: The PTA kept pushing back in their own way against 328 00:21:41,076 --> 00:21:44,156 Speaker 2: the virtures. There's even a quote from the PTA president 329 00:21:44,196 --> 00:21:48,556 Speaker 2: in the congressional record saying, these extremists are not really 330 00:21:48,636 --> 00:21:52,716 Speaker 2: after the PTA, but are attempting to gain control of 331 00:21:52,756 --> 00:21:57,236 Speaker 2: it to get at their real objective, the educational system. 332 00:21:57,676 --> 00:22:02,396 Speaker 2: But for Orville Row, the superintendent in Darby, Montana, these 333 00:22:02,436 --> 00:22:06,276 Speaker 2: extremists weren't some faraway thing. They were at his doorstep. 334 00:22:07,556 --> 00:22:09,956 Speaker 8: And I walked home in the evening. At times I've 335 00:22:10,036 --> 00:22:14,396 Speaker 8: had a car follow me. Ordinarily, they apparently are cowards 336 00:22:14,396 --> 00:22:18,556 Speaker 8: because when I stopped and gone over to take their 337 00:22:18,596 --> 00:22:22,436 Speaker 8: license them But there was how the picture. 338 00:22:23,796 --> 00:22:28,476 Speaker 2: But the aggression wasn't just limited to Orville. Orville's eldest 339 00:22:28,476 --> 00:22:31,316 Speaker 2: son was a fifth grader in the local school. One day, 340 00:22:31,356 --> 00:22:33,676 Speaker 2: there was a basketball game. He was sitting in the 341 00:22:33,716 --> 00:22:37,996 Speaker 2: stands watching. He was not an unpopular kid, but midway 342 00:22:37,996 --> 00:22:40,996 Speaker 2: through the game, a couple of classmates walked up to him. 343 00:22:41,596 --> 00:22:44,196 Speaker 2: They pulled him out of his seat and they began 344 00:22:44,276 --> 00:22:48,236 Speaker 2: to beat him mercilessly. This is Gail again, his. 345 00:22:48,276 --> 00:22:51,916 Speaker 6: Sister, and when they were beating him up. He was 346 00:22:51,956 --> 00:22:56,236 Speaker 6: at a basketball game in the gym and other kids 347 00:22:56,236 --> 00:22:57,436 Speaker 6: were sturing it on. 348 00:22:58,476 --> 00:23:02,636 Speaker 2: The kids weren't Birchers all they knew he was Orville, 349 00:23:02,676 --> 00:23:03,796 Speaker 2: the Bible Burner's son. 350 00:23:04,476 --> 00:23:06,876 Speaker 8: Then he's coming into the house and ask pissed why 351 00:23:07,436 --> 00:23:09,996 Speaker 8: they are calling him names? 352 00:23:10,036 --> 00:23:11,436 Speaker 3: Is I didn't do anything? 353 00:23:12,556 --> 00:23:14,636 Speaker 8: And of course it's rather had to explain, very youngster 354 00:23:14,716 --> 00:23:15,556 Speaker 8: in that age. 355 00:23:15,996 --> 00:23:20,316 Speaker 6: He came home bloodied, he was We were all confused, 356 00:23:20,316 --> 00:23:23,436 Speaker 6: why you know, what did I do? Why did this happen? 357 00:23:24,916 --> 00:23:28,036 Speaker 2: The tipping point came when Orville le Rowe was driving 358 00:23:28,036 --> 00:23:30,756 Speaker 2: his whole family along one of the roads around Derby. 359 00:23:31,676 --> 00:23:35,516 Speaker 2: Suddenly another car appeared and tried to run them off 360 00:23:35,556 --> 00:23:39,236 Speaker 2: the road. They all could have died, and that was 361 00:23:39,276 --> 00:23:44,436 Speaker 2: the last straw. After years of harassment, he decided it 362 00:23:44,476 --> 00:23:45,996 Speaker 2: was time to leave Derby. 363 00:23:47,076 --> 00:23:50,916 Speaker 6: He sacrificed for the family. And I know that was 364 00:23:50,956 --> 00:23:54,156 Speaker 6: a really difficult thing to not stay in fight, because 365 00:23:54,236 --> 00:23:58,556 Speaker 6: my dad has so much integrity and he's a tough guy, 366 00:23:59,476 --> 00:24:05,156 Speaker 6: and if he hadn't had a family, I firmly believe 367 00:24:05,276 --> 00:24:07,596 Speaker 6: my brothers and I believe he would have stayed and 368 00:24:07,636 --> 00:24:09,716 Speaker 6: he would have fought this situation. 369 00:24:11,476 --> 00:24:13,676 Speaker 2: The people of Derby had a picnic for the LaRose 370 00:24:13,716 --> 00:24:17,396 Speaker 2: before they packed up and left. Montana had been Orville's 371 00:24:17,396 --> 00:24:20,156 Speaker 2: home since he was a kid, the place he'd loved 372 00:24:20,196 --> 00:24:23,156 Speaker 2: to fish and hunt, taught school, and raised a family. 373 00:24:23,996 --> 00:24:27,356 Speaker 2: When the LaRose left, the school system didn't just lose 374 00:24:27,396 --> 00:24:32,036 Speaker 2: its superintendent, It fell apart. There were twenty three teachers 375 00:24:32,076 --> 00:24:36,596 Speaker 2: in the Derby Consolidated School that fall, only seven went 376 00:24:36,636 --> 00:24:40,236 Speaker 2: back to work. Things were never the same for the 377 00:24:40,276 --> 00:24:43,716 Speaker 2: Lereaux family either. When I called the kids up, none 378 00:24:43,756 --> 00:24:46,716 Speaker 2: of them really wanted to talk about this. Then they 379 00:24:46,796 --> 00:24:49,396 Speaker 2: changed their mind, I think, if I had to guess, 380 00:24:49,996 --> 00:24:52,556 Speaker 2: because they wanted to stand up against the people who 381 00:24:52,596 --> 00:24:56,796 Speaker 2: did this to their family, to their father and also 382 00:24:57,076 --> 00:24:57,676 Speaker 2: to their mother. 383 00:24:57,796 --> 00:25:03,516 Speaker 6: Dorothy, mydad said before this happened, she was such a 384 00:25:03,516 --> 00:25:07,396 Speaker 6: fun person, great sense of humor. I'd love to hear 385 00:25:07,436 --> 00:25:11,796 Speaker 6: my dead stories of because I didn't, I didn't witness 386 00:25:12,956 --> 00:25:16,436 Speaker 6: a lot of this, and so you know, we were 387 00:25:16,476 --> 00:25:25,956 Speaker 6: all cheated out of an amazing person. And just I 388 00:25:26,116 --> 00:25:30,676 Speaker 6: just I just can picture her kind of don't don't 389 00:25:30,676 --> 00:25:35,396 Speaker 6: tell you know, the neighbors this, don't tell the neighbors that, 390 00:25:36,236 --> 00:25:39,236 Speaker 6: don't tell anybody this, don't tell anybody this. 391 00:25:41,476 --> 00:25:44,996 Speaker 2: They moved from one small town to another, but Dorothy 392 00:25:45,236 --> 00:25:49,476 Speaker 2: never could quite trust her neighbors again. What came of 393 00:25:49,556 --> 00:26:06,876 Speaker 2: the Birch Society and the PTA after the break? A 394 00:26:06,916 --> 00:26:09,956 Speaker 2: little while ago I stopped by a house in Los Angeles. 395 00:26:10,236 --> 00:26:12,356 Speaker 2: It was shaded by a sycamore tree, and there was 396 00:26:12,396 --> 00:26:15,156 Speaker 2: a root sixty six sign leaning in the front windowsill, 397 00:26:15,276 --> 00:26:18,236 Speaker 2: facing the quiet street. I was there to talk to 398 00:26:18,276 --> 00:26:22,716 Speaker 2: a woman named Marva Felchlin. Marva grew up in California 399 00:26:22,796 --> 00:26:25,996 Speaker 2: and was a student at welby Way Elementary School. She 400 00:26:26,116 --> 00:26:29,116 Speaker 2: was a baby boomer in the classical sense, a house 401 00:26:29,196 --> 00:26:31,796 Speaker 2: in a safe and lovely subdivision, a dad in the 402 00:26:31,836 --> 00:26:34,836 Speaker 2: defense industry, and a mom in the PTA that, yes, 403 00:26:35,316 --> 00:26:39,716 Speaker 2: Bircher's had tried to take over. Her mom's name was Zelda, 404 00:26:40,476 --> 00:26:41,996 Speaker 2: and she never got over what happened. 405 00:26:43,356 --> 00:26:45,596 Speaker 9: It's a big thing that happened in our lives. 406 00:26:46,396 --> 00:26:47,956 Speaker 5: Why do you think the story had banded to your 407 00:26:47,956 --> 00:26:48,556 Speaker 5: mother so much? 408 00:26:52,636 --> 00:26:57,196 Speaker 9: Because I think you know, the PTA and her activities 409 00:26:57,196 --> 00:27:01,476 Speaker 9: in the PTA probably represented, as with other women in there, 410 00:27:01,676 --> 00:27:05,516 Speaker 9: a lot of what they believed in. And here they're 411 00:27:05,556 --> 00:27:12,556 Speaker 9: being accused of being liars and dishonest and Unamerican. Those 412 00:27:12,596 --> 00:27:15,476 Speaker 9: of those people were probably children of immigrants. I mean, 413 00:27:15,476 --> 00:27:18,876 Speaker 9: that's a serious accusation in those anytime. 414 00:27:18,956 --> 00:27:22,916 Speaker 2: But in those days, Zelda had always wanted to be 415 00:27:22,956 --> 00:27:25,956 Speaker 2: a writer. She once submitted a script to the Twilight Zone, 416 00:27:26,356 --> 00:27:28,996 Speaker 2: but the place she really wrote was her Parent Teacher 417 00:27:29,036 --> 00:27:32,516 Speaker 2: Association newsletter. It's the one we read from at the 418 00:27:32,516 --> 00:27:36,076 Speaker 2: beginning of this episode, the April nineteen sixty two edition 419 00:27:36,676 --> 00:27:40,476 Speaker 2: of the welby Way Elementary School PTA newsletter The Well 420 00:27:40,476 --> 00:27:45,076 Speaker 2: be Buzzings With the curious editor's note, Zelda wrote that 421 00:27:45,956 --> 00:27:48,556 Speaker 2: when Bircher's across the country were trying to take down 422 00:27:48,556 --> 00:27:51,836 Speaker 2: the PTA, she took to her newsletter to fight back. 423 00:27:53,276 --> 00:27:55,716 Speaker 9: I don't I'm not surprised that my mother pushed back 424 00:27:55,756 --> 00:27:58,516 Speaker 9: in any way, because that's I think she's kind of 425 00:27:58,516 --> 00:28:01,316 Speaker 9: that kind of personality that she didn't stand for a 426 00:28:01,316 --> 00:28:02,236 Speaker 9: lot of crap. 427 00:28:02,476 --> 00:28:06,196 Speaker 2: You know, Marva has held on to the original copy 428 00:28:06,236 --> 00:28:09,956 Speaker 2: of that newsletter for years. I asked her to read 429 00:28:09,996 --> 00:28:12,116 Speaker 2: me the editor's message. 430 00:28:12,316 --> 00:28:15,596 Speaker 9: Okay, the power to seek the truth is within all 431 00:28:15,636 --> 00:28:18,116 Speaker 9: of us. The way in which we seek it is 432 00:28:18,236 --> 00:28:21,556 Speaker 9: privilege and right of all of us. We are fortunate 433 00:28:21,676 --> 00:28:25,076 Speaker 9: enough to live under a system of government that secures 434 00:28:25,196 --> 00:28:28,796 Speaker 9: and protects that right. But there are some who abuse 435 00:28:28,876 --> 00:28:32,316 Speaker 9: this freedom and cloud the answers and the issues, so 436 00:28:32,356 --> 00:28:35,556 Speaker 9: that seeking the truth and knowing it is the truth 437 00:28:35,796 --> 00:28:38,396 Speaker 9: becomes a harder task than it was ever meant to be. 438 00:28:39,396 --> 00:28:42,756 Speaker 9: I say this, give me the right to seek the truth, 439 00:28:42,956 --> 00:28:47,316 Speaker 9: but justly, and rationally and kindly. Give me the wisdom 440 00:28:47,396 --> 00:28:51,236 Speaker 9: to understand and recognize the truth simply, without unseen or 441 00:28:51,316 --> 00:28:54,996 Speaker 9: unknown factors behind it. Give me the wisdom to use 442 00:28:55,036 --> 00:28:59,916 Speaker 9: the truth properly, openly, knowingly, and in its entirety, without 443 00:28:59,996 --> 00:29:03,356 Speaker 9: bending or twisting said truth to fit my own purposes. 444 00:29:04,436 --> 00:29:07,676 Speaker 9: Give me the graciousness to accept the truth, although it 445 00:29:07,716 --> 00:29:12,676 Speaker 9: may disagree with or disapprove my own personal opinions and beliefs. 446 00:29:13,076 --> 00:29:16,596 Speaker 9: And last, give me the wisdom and right to seek 447 00:29:16,636 --> 00:29:20,676 Speaker 9: the truth in whatever manner I so choose, so long 448 00:29:20,716 --> 00:29:23,316 Speaker 9: as I in the manner I have chosen, do not 449 00:29:23,396 --> 00:29:26,876 Speaker 9: belittle or deface the object of my search, so long 450 00:29:26,916 --> 00:29:29,836 Speaker 9: as I can honestly say to myself it is the 451 00:29:29,916 --> 00:29:33,596 Speaker 9: truth alone that I am seeking. So the last off editor. 452 00:29:38,836 --> 00:29:42,236 Speaker 2: During those same years when Bircher's were mobbing PTA meetings, 453 00:29:42,676 --> 00:29:46,116 Speaker 2: the PTA as a national organization began to die for good. 454 00:29:46,836 --> 00:29:50,396 Speaker 2: It just kept losing members until it became effectively a 455 00:29:50,436 --> 00:29:55,556 Speaker 2: loose group of local organizations. It still exists, but you 456 00:29:55,596 --> 00:29:59,356 Speaker 2: wouldn't write a number one song about it anymore. I 457 00:29:59,356 --> 00:30:01,676 Speaker 2: don't think that was all the doing of the Birch Society, 458 00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:05,076 Speaker 2: though it certainly didn't help. The rise of the Butchers 459 00:30:05,196 --> 00:30:07,476 Speaker 2: in the fall of the PTA were both part of 460 00:30:07,476 --> 00:30:11,076 Speaker 2: the backlash to Brown versus Board of Education, a response 461 00:30:11,116 --> 00:30:15,116 Speaker 2: to integration and civil rights. The Birch Society went into 462 00:30:15,116 --> 00:30:18,716 Speaker 2: decline then too. It had become radioactive, mocked to death 463 00:30:18,716 --> 00:30:22,396 Speaker 2: in the press, repudiated by even William F. Buckley, turned 464 00:30:22,436 --> 00:30:26,796 Speaker 2: on by mainstream Republicans, torn by its own infighting, investigated 465 00:30:26,836 --> 00:30:30,836 Speaker 2: by the Anti Defamation League in the FBI, but it 466 00:30:30,876 --> 00:30:34,596 Speaker 2: never vanished. Robert Welch Junior was involved with the Birch 467 00:30:34,636 --> 00:30:37,676 Speaker 2: Society almost until his death in nineteen eighty five. Under 468 00:30:37,676 --> 00:30:41,396 Speaker 2: the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who, true to form wels 469 00:30:41,476 --> 00:30:46,076 Speaker 2: once called a communist Lackeye, his society lives on in 470 00:30:46,116 --> 00:30:50,396 Speaker 2: diminished form these days. They're a lot less notable. They're 471 00:30:50,436 --> 00:30:53,876 Speaker 2: just one in a sea of right wing groups. But 472 00:30:53,996 --> 00:30:56,876 Speaker 2: why did people like Welsh hate the Parent Teacher Association 473 00:30:57,036 --> 00:31:00,716 Speaker 2: so much it seems to me like the Birch Society 474 00:31:00,836 --> 00:31:02,956 Speaker 2: and the PTA were locked in a kind of death 475 00:31:03,036 --> 00:31:07,676 Speaker 2: match between two visions of American civil society. The PTA 476 00:31:08,116 --> 00:31:13,076 Speaker 2: was the vision of the America and Vital Center, progressive, orderly, incremental, 477 00:31:13,116 --> 00:31:17,036 Speaker 2: and evidence based. Its model was the US federal system, 478 00:31:17,276 --> 00:31:21,836 Speaker 2: local and national working patiently together. But the John Birch 479 00:31:21,916 --> 00:31:26,996 Speaker 2: Society was modeled on communist cells, secretive with hard caps 480 00:31:26,996 --> 00:31:31,236 Speaker 2: on membership to keep things decentralized rather than optimistic. It 481 00:31:31,276 --> 00:31:35,196 Speaker 2: was paranoid rather than incremental. They called for kind of revolution. 482 00:31:36,756 --> 00:31:40,196 Speaker 2: The PTA was about trusting your neighbors to share your 483 00:31:40,236 --> 00:31:44,996 Speaker 2: interests too. The John Birch Society was about always suspecting 484 00:31:45,036 --> 00:31:48,836 Speaker 2: them of betraying you. I don't know if that sounds 485 00:31:48,836 --> 00:32:04,196 Speaker 2: familiar to you, but it shure does to me. Revisionist 486 00:32:04,236 --> 00:32:07,276 Speaker 2: History is produced by me Ben Att, Fhaffrey, and Lucy 487 00:32:07,356 --> 00:32:11,676 Speaker 2: Sullivan with Nina Bird Lawrens. Our editor is Karen Schakerji. 488 00:32:12,236 --> 00:32:16,156 Speaker 2: Fact checking on this episode by Sam Russick. Original scoring 489 00:32:16,356 --> 00:32:21,316 Speaker 2: by Luis Gara, mastering by Jake Gorski. Our executive producer 490 00:32:21,596 --> 00:32:25,236 Speaker 2: is Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nix, the State 491 00:32:25,356 --> 00:32:29,276 Speaker 2: Historical Society of North Dakota, the University of Montana, and 492 00:32:29,316 --> 00:32:33,276 Speaker 2: the UCLA Library Special Collections. I'm Ben Mattafaffor