1 00:00:16,155 --> 00:00:23,715 Speaker 1: Pushkin Hey West Archived listeners, I wanted to share a 2 00:00:23,715 --> 00:00:26,755 Speaker 1: story I just released over on the Revisionist History podcast 3 00:00:27,075 --> 00:00:31,595 Speaker 1: about the history of American conservatism and Halloween candy. It 4 00:00:31,635 --> 00:00:34,955 Speaker 1: felt appropriate for this election year Halloween. It's a story 5 00:00:34,995 --> 00:00:38,115 Speaker 1: that traces the rise of an ultra conservative political organization, 6 00:00:38,475 --> 00:00:41,595 Speaker 1: the John Birch Society, and its attempt in the nineteen 7 00:00:41,675 --> 00:00:45,915 Speaker 1: sixties to take over the Parent Teacher Association. I hope 8 00:00:45,955 --> 00:00:47,915 Speaker 1: you enjoy it and have a happy Halloween. 9 00:00:49,795 --> 00:00:52,275 Speaker 2: I want to read to you from a very important 10 00:00:52,915 --> 00:00:57,795 Speaker 2: historical document, the April nineteen sixty two edition of the 11 00:00:57,795 --> 00:01:04,195 Speaker 2: Welby Way Elementary School Parent Teacher Association newsletter, the Wellby Buzzings, 12 00:01:04,875 --> 00:01:08,235 Speaker 2: written of course by the PTA of the elementary school 13 00:01:08,275 --> 00:01:13,035 Speaker 2: in the West Hills area of Los Angeles. First item, 14 00:01:13,435 --> 00:01:16,315 Speaker 2: President's message. I would like to say thank you to 15 00:01:16,355 --> 00:01:18,795 Speaker 2: the ladies that work so hard on the and this 16 00:01:18,875 --> 00:01:23,515 Speaker 2: is all in caps double parking safety campaign. Second item 17 00:01:23,795 --> 00:01:27,395 Speaker 2: sing along with progress PTA meeting for April. Our hostesses 18 00:01:27,875 --> 00:01:31,195 Speaker 2: will be the sixth grade Mutters. Third item a meeting 19 00:01:31,235 --> 00:01:35,075 Speaker 2: on safety to fire prevention. Fourth item an interesting and 20 00:01:35,195 --> 00:01:38,395 Speaker 2: informative trip to the fire station. Fifth item the local 21 00:01:38,435 --> 00:01:41,435 Speaker 2: council meeting. Key detail. It's going to be a luncheon. 22 00:01:44,715 --> 00:01:49,595 Speaker 2: Are you still there? Still awake? Four announcements on school safety, 23 00:01:49,835 --> 00:01:54,595 Speaker 2: a fifth on participatory democracy, a luncheon. I'm guessing you're 24 00:01:54,595 --> 00:01:58,795 Speaker 2: poured to tears. It's all so very Pta. The only 25 00:01:58,835 --> 00:02:02,675 Speaker 2: things missing are the potluck supper, the newspaper drive, the 26 00:02:02,675 --> 00:02:09,795 Speaker 2: book fair. But that's where you're wrong. This newsletter is, 27 00:02:09,835 --> 00:02:12,955 Speaker 2: in fact the skeleton key to understanding our political moment 28 00:02:13,555 --> 00:02:17,155 Speaker 2: right now, Like this exact moment, if you're listening to 29 00:02:17,195 --> 00:02:20,395 Speaker 2: this episode soon after its release, there are two things 30 00:02:20,435 --> 00:02:23,715 Speaker 2: going on in your world, the US presidential election between 31 00:02:23,715 --> 00:02:27,915 Speaker 2: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and more Halloween candy than 32 00:02:27,955 --> 00:02:30,755 Speaker 2: you know what to do with. Well in this episode, 33 00:02:31,475 --> 00:02:37,235 Speaker 2: a story that manages to bring both together. It all 34 00:02:37,275 --> 00:02:40,675 Speaker 2: really begins with the well beway PTA newsletter from April 35 00:02:40,835 --> 00:02:46,035 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty two, and specifically with the sixth and final item, 36 00:02:46,515 --> 00:02:51,435 Speaker 2: the editor's message, which begins the power to seek the 37 00:02:51,515 --> 00:02:54,075 Speaker 2: truth is within all of us, but there are some 38 00:02:54,195 --> 00:02:58,315 Speaker 2: who abuse this freedom and cloud the answers and the issues, 39 00:02:58,675 --> 00:03:01,315 Speaker 2: so that seeking the truth and knowing it is the 40 00:03:01,395 --> 00:03:04,875 Speaker 2: truth becomes a harder task than it was ever meant 41 00:03:04,915 --> 00:03:10,035 Speaker 2: to be. You're listening to revisionist history. My podcast asked 42 00:03:10,035 --> 00:03:15,915 Speaker 2: about things overlooked and misunderstood. I'm Malcolm Gladwell. Here's our question. Why, 43 00:03:15,995 --> 00:03:19,555 Speaker 2: in this otherwise very dull PTA newsletter does the mother 44 00:03:19,675 --> 00:03:22,395 Speaker 2: who wrote it feel the need to write an urgent 45 00:03:22,515 --> 00:03:28,595 Speaker 2: defense of democracy? She doesn't say, But as my colleague 46 00:03:28,635 --> 00:03:31,515 Speaker 2: BENDADAPF Hafrey discovered, it has to do with a man who, 47 00:03:31,555 --> 00:03:35,835 Speaker 2: perhaps more than almost anyone else, is responsible for creating 48 00:03:35,875 --> 00:03:41,115 Speaker 2: the modern style of far right conspiratorial thinking running rampant today. 49 00:03:41,955 --> 00:03:45,435 Speaker 2: A man who write, at the time that Editor's note 50 00:03:45,475 --> 00:03:49,115 Speaker 2: was published, held in his hands the fate of the 51 00:03:49,155 --> 00:03:59,835 Speaker 2: PTA and American public life. Here's Ben. 52 00:04:02,275 --> 00:04:04,835 Speaker 1: The video is grainy, but you can make out an 53 00:04:04,835 --> 00:04:08,675 Speaker 1: older man, late sixties, standing in a suit and tie 54 00:04:08,755 --> 00:04:11,875 Speaker 1: against a black back, clasping his hands on the. 55 00:04:11,915 --> 00:04:15,715 Speaker 3: Lecturn, Faithful citizens, wherever. 56 00:04:15,195 --> 00:04:15,635 Speaker 4: You may be. 57 00:04:16,635 --> 00:04:19,475 Speaker 1: He's got big ears, a big nose, and a high 58 00:04:19,555 --> 00:04:23,235 Speaker 1: forehead well suited to an indignant raising of the eyebrows. 59 00:04:23,755 --> 00:04:26,235 Speaker 1: The media coverage of him lately had given him many 60 00:04:26,275 --> 00:04:30,635 Speaker 1: opportunities to do this. As he speaks, the camera pushes in. 61 00:04:31,235 --> 00:04:32,395 Speaker 1: It's a recruitment video. 62 00:04:33,155 --> 00:04:36,915 Speaker 3: It is our deliberate and careful purpose to pull together 63 00:04:37,035 --> 00:04:41,115 Speaker 3: into one group a body of morally good and truly 64 00:04:41,155 --> 00:04:45,035 Speaker 3: responsible citizens who are proud of each other and of 65 00:04:45,075 --> 00:04:46,555 Speaker 3: the society to which they belong. 66 00:04:47,635 --> 00:04:50,755 Speaker 1: He then proceeds to reassure his viewers that the identities 67 00:04:50,755 --> 00:04:53,475 Speaker 1: of people in this group are never shared with anyone, 68 00:04:53,795 --> 00:04:56,395 Speaker 1: not least of all because their enemies abound. 69 00:04:57,155 --> 00:05:01,115 Speaker 3: The carefully coordinated attacks against us from all points of 70 00:05:01,155 --> 00:05:05,475 Speaker 3: the ideological compass have reached a crescendo stage since the 71 00:05:05,515 --> 00:05:09,195 Speaker 3: first of this year, with the surprising but visible result 72 00:05:09,875 --> 00:05:13,595 Speaker 3: of solidifying the dedication of all the numbers still further 73 00:05:14,435 --> 00:05:17,915 Speaker 3: end up stimulating the recruiting efforts. 74 00:05:19,035 --> 00:05:23,875 Speaker 1: This is Robert Welch Junior. Consider the facts. He speaks 75 00:05:23,915 --> 00:05:26,595 Speaker 1: a little like a dictator. He seems to run some 76 00:05:26,635 --> 00:05:30,755 Speaker 1: sort of secret society, and consider himself public enemy number one. 77 00:05:31,555 --> 00:05:36,795 Speaker 1: Who is this titan? Well, naturally, he's a candy tycoon. 78 00:05:38,955 --> 00:05:42,395 Speaker 1: Robert Welch Junior was born on a former plantation in 79 00:05:42,435 --> 00:05:45,515 Speaker 1: North Carolina just before the turn of the twentieth century. 80 00:05:46,275 --> 00:05:49,475 Speaker 1: As a kid, he was precocious and a daydreamer. Wanted 81 00:05:49,515 --> 00:05:52,795 Speaker 1: to be a writer, an intellectual but he felt that 82 00:05:52,875 --> 00:05:55,275 Speaker 1: before he could do so, he had to get rich. 83 00:05:56,235 --> 00:05:58,995 Speaker 1: So one night, as a young man, he had a brainstorm. 84 00:05:59,315 --> 00:06:01,835 Speaker 1: According to Edward H. Miller, who wrote a biography of 85 00:06:01,875 --> 00:06:05,835 Speaker 1: Welsh called A Conspiratorial Life, Welch stayed up late into 86 00:06:05,835 --> 00:06:09,155 Speaker 1: the evening, writing and writing to answer a single question, 87 00:06:10,195 --> 00:06:12,955 Speaker 1: what specific goods in demand would be best for me 88 00:06:12,995 --> 00:06:17,635 Speaker 1: to start manufacturing without either capital or experience. This is 89 00:06:17,675 --> 00:06:20,755 Speaker 1: a quote Miller found from an associate of Welsh's recalling 90 00:06:20,915 --> 00:06:25,155 Speaker 1: this legendary moment quote. As the sky began to show 91 00:06:25,235 --> 00:06:28,555 Speaker 1: the first streaks of dawn, Roberts stared at the notes 92 00:06:28,595 --> 00:06:32,355 Speaker 1: in front of him. One word remained amid the maze 93 00:06:32,355 --> 00:06:39,515 Speaker 1: of dark lines scratched across the pages. That word was candy. 94 00:06:40,315 --> 00:06:43,675 Speaker 1: We've arrived at the Halloween portion of our programming. So 95 00:06:44,035 --> 00:06:47,075 Speaker 1: if in your baskets this year you find the following candies, 96 00:06:47,235 --> 00:06:51,195 Speaker 1: Sugar Daddy, Sugar Baby, or the Junior Mint, you're encountering 97 00:06:51,195 --> 00:06:54,315 Speaker 1: a piece of the Welsh legacy, and actually the legacy 98 00:06:54,355 --> 00:06:57,075 Speaker 1: of his brother too, who naturally also worked in the 99 00:06:57,115 --> 00:07:01,315 Speaker 1: candy business. The Welsh nuclear family of Hit Candies, the 100 00:07:01,355 --> 00:07:03,675 Speaker 1: patriarch of which the Sugar Daddy I have to say, 101 00:07:03,715 --> 00:07:07,955 Speaker 1: I find totally inedible has been a mainstay forever. Children 102 00:07:08,075 --> 00:07:14,435 Speaker 1: of the nineteen eighties may remember the jingle subary beby for. 103 00:07:16,835 --> 00:07:18,115 Speaker 4: Shuby beerby. 104 00:07:20,795 --> 00:07:22,555 Speaker 1: Welch. Was part of what I've come to think of 105 00:07:22,795 --> 00:07:27,075 Speaker 1: as the American sweets aristocracy. I'm talking about a special 106 00:07:27,115 --> 00:07:29,795 Speaker 1: class of confectioners and bakers who turned out to have 107 00:07:29,835 --> 00:07:32,435 Speaker 1: a surprising number of ideas about how society ought to 108 00:07:32,475 --> 00:07:36,475 Speaker 1: be run. In the pantheon, we have Milton's navely Hershey, 109 00:07:36,555 --> 00:07:39,355 Speaker 1: whose chocolates were so delectable he was able to put 110 00:07:39,355 --> 00:07:43,835 Speaker 1: his social ideas to the test, building utopian town called Hershey, Pennsylvania. 111 00:07:44,475 --> 00:07:48,075 Speaker 1: Then there's Sylvester Graham, the clergyman who invented the Graham 112 00:07:48,115 --> 00:07:52,155 Speaker 1: Cracker to combat youth masturbation. John Harvey Kellogg, the Seventh 113 00:07:52,235 --> 00:07:55,915 Speaker 1: Day Adventist, who invented cornflakes to do the same. The 114 00:07:55,955 --> 00:07:59,755 Speaker 1: candy makers, in particular, tended to be extremely paranoid because 115 00:07:59,755 --> 00:08:02,395 Speaker 1: there was actually quite a bit of spying in their industry. 116 00:08:03,035 --> 00:08:06,355 Speaker 1: They had to guard their secrets, their recipes, their fortunes. 117 00:08:06,995 --> 00:08:10,235 Speaker 1: Some would even blindfold the people who repaired their mission genes. 118 00:08:11,235 --> 00:08:15,955 Speaker 1: But I digress. After establishing himself in the candy business 119 00:08:16,075 --> 00:08:19,475 Speaker 1: and drinking deeply at the trough of its paranoia, Welch 120 00:08:19,595 --> 00:08:23,115 Speaker 1: set out to elbow his way into the intellectual class, 121 00:08:23,155 --> 00:08:27,755 Speaker 1: specifically the anti communist class. Over the years, he wrote 122 00:08:27,755 --> 00:08:31,675 Speaker 1: a number of articles in books about the rise of communism, including, 123 00:08:31,755 --> 00:08:35,435 Speaker 1: per his biographer, a novel about inant society oppressed by 124 00:08:35,475 --> 00:08:38,995 Speaker 1: a monolithic state, which somehow went unpublished. But it was 125 00:08:39,035 --> 00:08:42,675 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four that one of his ideas finally 126 00:08:42,715 --> 00:08:43,315 Speaker 1: broke through. 127 00:08:43,995 --> 00:08:47,675 Speaker 4: He was very secretive about these because Welch was always 128 00:08:48,555 --> 00:08:53,595 Speaker 4: worried about the Communists as he saw getting a hold 129 00:08:53,715 --> 00:08:54,675 Speaker 4: of what he was saying. 130 00:08:55,595 --> 00:09:00,155 Speaker 1: Historian Matthew Dallak, author of the book Bircher's, talking about 131 00:09:00,155 --> 00:09:02,635 Speaker 1: Welch's penchant for sending secret. 132 00:09:02,435 --> 00:09:07,355 Speaker 5: Letters because they exposed him and they damaged You know, 133 00:09:07,475 --> 00:09:14,115 Speaker 5: these true, this patriotic movement to destroy communism, it would 134 00:09:14,155 --> 00:09:15,075 Speaker 5: be it. 135 00:09:15,075 --> 00:09:18,395 Speaker 4: Would basically be like killing his movement in the crypt. 136 00:09:19,275 --> 00:09:19,555 Speaker 6: Now. 137 00:09:19,875 --> 00:09:23,195 Speaker 1: The letter he sent in nineteen fifty four, in particular, 138 00:09:23,315 --> 00:09:27,835 Speaker 1: merited sensitivity. It was a roughly nine thousand word attempt 139 00:09:28,035 --> 00:09:32,275 Speaker 1: to explain why he disliked Dwight Eisenhower so much. The 140 00:09:32,315 --> 00:09:37,075 Speaker 1: first Republican president in multiple decades. The letter built to 141 00:09:37,115 --> 00:09:41,475 Speaker 1: the irrefutable conclusion that Dwight Eisenhower was not really a Republican. 142 00:09:42,035 --> 00:09:47,595 Speaker 1: He was quote a dedicated, conscious agent of the communist conspiracy, 143 00:09:48,275 --> 00:09:51,875 Speaker 1: operating under the direction of his brother, the affable Milton. 144 00:09:52,795 --> 00:09:57,675 Speaker 4: They're really divorced from, you know, any semblance of the truth. 145 00:09:58,075 --> 00:10:02,875 Speaker 4: The other thing, though, is that the argument against Eisenhower 146 00:10:02,915 --> 00:10:10,275 Speaker 4: I think fits into the Joe McCarthy argument that clearly 147 00:10:10,395 --> 00:10:13,795 Speaker 4: the setbacks in the world for the United States in 148 00:10:13,875 --> 00:10:18,635 Speaker 4: the fight against communism is a result of communists in 149 00:10:18,675 --> 00:10:22,995 Speaker 4: the government, including Eisenhower, allowing the communists to win. 150 00:10:24,115 --> 00:10:27,315 Speaker 1: Where the ant book had failed, the letter succeeded wildly. 151 00:10:27,915 --> 00:10:30,715 Speaker 1: It ballooned into a book that is over four hundred 152 00:10:30,835 --> 00:10:35,395 Speaker 1: pages long, complete with an extremely tedious footnote section explaining 153 00:10:35,395 --> 00:10:39,275 Speaker 1: the sourcing for his atlandish claims. As Welch once wrote, 154 00:10:39,555 --> 00:10:43,395 Speaker 1: explanations are like government. Nobody loves them, but a minimum 155 00:10:43,435 --> 00:10:47,915 Speaker 1: amount of both is a necessary evil. But anyway, Welch 156 00:10:48,075 --> 00:10:50,195 Speaker 1: was not content to mail secret letters the rest of 157 00:10:50,235 --> 00:10:55,675 Speaker 1: his life. He wanted to build a movement. So four 158 00:10:55,795 --> 00:10:59,795 Speaker 1: years after that letter, in October nineteen fifty eight, Welch 159 00:10:59,875 --> 00:11:03,635 Speaker 1: brought together eleven of his most powerful friends to a 160 00:11:03,675 --> 00:11:08,555 Speaker 1: secret meeting in Indianapolis. He didn't say what for, but 161 00:11:08,675 --> 00:11:11,155 Speaker 1: he did tell them each book their own hotel rooms 162 00:11:11,195 --> 00:11:14,515 Speaker 1: so people wouldn't see them together. Then he promised them 163 00:11:14,635 --> 00:11:17,355 Speaker 1: that there was nothing conspiratorial about what they were about 164 00:11:17,395 --> 00:11:20,075 Speaker 1: to do, which was to gather in a secret location 165 00:11:20,355 --> 00:11:22,475 Speaker 1: for two days and conspire. 166 00:11:23,595 --> 00:11:26,195 Speaker 3: My undertaking today is to try to tell you all 167 00:11:26,235 --> 00:11:29,355 Speaker 3: about the background, methods, and purposes of the John Bird Society. 168 00:11:30,275 --> 00:11:33,035 Speaker 1: This tape is from a recruitment video he made later on. 169 00:11:33,595 --> 00:11:35,555 Speaker 1: We don't have a recording of what he said that 170 00:11:35,675 --> 00:11:38,275 Speaker 1: day in Indianapolis. I mean, it was a secret meeting, 171 00:11:38,635 --> 00:11:42,235 Speaker 1: but I think it's safe to assume he was on message. 172 00:11:42,275 --> 00:11:45,555 Speaker 1: Welch was there to start a new anti communist organization, 173 00:11:46,075 --> 00:11:48,875 Speaker 1: after all, with the Communists already in control of the 174 00:11:48,955 --> 00:11:52,035 Speaker 1: US presidency, the situation was getting a little out of hand. 175 00:11:53,075 --> 00:11:56,675 Speaker 3: As we have said many times before, the fundamentally decent 176 00:11:56,755 --> 00:12:00,875 Speaker 3: American mind simply refuse us to recognize the nature of 177 00:12:00,915 --> 00:12:05,475 Speaker 3: the cunning beasts who constitute our enemies today. This is 178 00:12:05,675 --> 00:12:10,115 Speaker 3: especially true when these criminal gangsters assume all of the 179 00:12:10,195 --> 00:12:14,115 Speaker 3: suavity and regalia of high office. 180 00:12:14,315 --> 00:12:17,635 Speaker 1: Eleven men walked into that room in Indianapolis, and the 181 00:12:17,715 --> 00:12:21,235 Speaker 1: John Birch Society walked out, named by the way for 182 00:12:21,275 --> 00:12:24,675 Speaker 1: an American missionary who'd been killed by Chinese communists and 183 00:12:24,715 --> 00:12:27,275 Speaker 1: then became a kind of patron saint for people like 184 00:12:27,355 --> 00:12:31,395 Speaker 1: Robert Welch Junior. These were important men with money and 185 00:12:31,475 --> 00:12:34,235 Speaker 1: time to burn and an axe to grind. They had 186 00:12:34,275 --> 00:12:39,195 Speaker 1: Eisenhower's former IRS commissioner, presidents of major companies, a former 187 00:12:39,235 --> 00:12:43,235 Speaker 1: aide to Douglas MacArthur, and Fred Cooch oil man and 188 00:12:43,355 --> 00:12:45,635 Speaker 1: father to the Koch brothers, was there too. 189 00:12:46,715 --> 00:12:50,835 Speaker 3: I'll wake my friends and arise now I'll be forever fallen. 190 00:12:51,435 --> 00:12:54,315 Speaker 3: We mean business and we can still win, but we 191 00:12:54,355 --> 00:12:57,595 Speaker 3: are in our race against time, with the enemy advancing 192 00:12:57,795 --> 00:12:58,355 Speaker 3: every day. 193 00:12:59,555 --> 00:13:02,155 Speaker 1: Welch knew what he was doing. He took his show 194 00:13:02,195 --> 00:13:05,355 Speaker 1: on the road, giving versions of that speech across the country, 195 00:13:05,795 --> 00:13:08,955 Speaker 1: and a lot of the listeners, bored Americans rattled by 196 00:13:08,995 --> 00:13:13,155 Speaker 1: war and free doubt by integration, thought, hey, this guy's 197 00:13:13,155 --> 00:13:16,195 Speaker 1: got a point. He started with just his friends who 198 00:13:16,195 --> 00:13:18,915 Speaker 1: thought like he did, then his friend's friends, and then 199 00:13:18,915 --> 00:13:24,075 Speaker 1: his friends friends friends. But Welch's dreams were always much grander. 200 00:13:25,835 --> 00:13:29,675 Speaker 3: By any realistic appraisal of our size against our need. 201 00:13:29,995 --> 00:13:33,395 Speaker 3: We are still very small, but we certainly expect our 202 00:13:33,435 --> 00:13:37,075 Speaker 3: present growth to continue until we have the million members 203 00:13:37,315 --> 00:13:41,915 Speaker 3: of fervat patriotism and unassailable character, which is our goal. 204 00:13:43,115 --> 00:13:46,195 Speaker 1: Despite Welch's vision for one million patriots to join the 205 00:13:46,235 --> 00:13:49,755 Speaker 1: John Birch Society, estimates show that the membership was likely 206 00:13:49,795 --> 00:13:52,195 Speaker 1: at an all time high when it hit thirty thousand 207 00:13:52,195 --> 00:13:53,435 Speaker 1: members in the sixties. 208 00:13:54,675 --> 00:13:59,235 Speaker 4: The mission was not explicitly to take over a political party. 209 00:14:00,315 --> 00:14:04,195 Speaker 4: It was not to even take over in nes silly 210 00:14:04,195 --> 00:14:08,475 Speaker 4: American institutions. It was to wage a mass education campaign 211 00:14:09,155 --> 00:14:14,595 Speaker 4: to allure Americans, to educate them about the dire nature 212 00:14:15,155 --> 00:14:18,635 Speaker 4: of the communist conspiracy inside the United States. 213 00:14:19,875 --> 00:14:22,715 Speaker 1: And so a small but influential group of right wingers 214 00:14:22,835 --> 00:14:26,035 Speaker 1: became convinced that there was a war going on at home. 215 00:14:27,275 --> 00:14:32,035 Speaker 3: A continuous, undeclared war in which our our enemies observed 216 00:14:32,035 --> 00:14:38,115 Speaker 3: no rules of international law, of civilization, or of human decency. 217 00:14:38,155 --> 00:14:42,075 Speaker 1: But where was the front in this war? Exactly two 218 00:14:42,195 --> 00:14:45,875 Speaker 1: years after its founding, the Birch Society had part of 219 00:14:45,915 --> 00:14:53,995 Speaker 1: the answer. The Parent Teacher Association, of course, we'll be 220 00:14:54,075 --> 00:15:10,715 Speaker 1: right back. The bitter Root Valley lies in the southwest 221 00:15:10,715 --> 00:15:14,795 Speaker 1: of Montana between the Sapphire and Bitterroot Mountains. It's the 222 00:15:14,795 --> 00:15:18,395 Speaker 1: place they filmed Yellowstone Today. It's gorgeous. 223 00:15:18,715 --> 00:15:20,755 Speaker 6: Okay, so small town. 224 00:15:21,595 --> 00:15:24,275 Speaker 1: Gail Laro Munson was a little girl growing up in 225 00:15:24,275 --> 00:15:27,315 Speaker 1: the valley in the nineteen sixties in a town called Darby. 226 00:15:27,875 --> 00:15:31,115 Speaker 1: Back then, its population was three hundred and ninety eight. 227 00:15:31,675 --> 00:15:35,275 Speaker 6: Close snit, neighbors looked out for each other. Kids could 228 00:15:35,275 --> 00:15:40,355 Speaker 6: be out till dark and from back home they would 229 00:15:40,355 --> 00:15:44,115 Speaker 6: be safe. If you were caught doing something wrong, the 230 00:15:44,195 --> 00:15:46,875 Speaker 6: neighbors would let your parents know and they'd be ready 231 00:15:46,915 --> 00:15:47,715 Speaker 6: when you got home. 232 00:15:48,555 --> 00:15:51,075 Speaker 1: Darby was the kind of place where you knew everyone, 233 00:15:51,555 --> 00:15:54,955 Speaker 1: especially if you were in Gaylee's family. Her dad, Orville Row, 234 00:15:55,275 --> 00:15:58,715 Speaker 1: was the superintendent of the school district, but in the 235 00:15:58,755 --> 00:16:02,595 Speaker 1: early nineteen sixties strangers began to show up in the valley. 236 00:16:03,635 --> 00:16:06,195 Speaker 1: Orville was busy right around then getting new Bibles for 237 00:16:06,235 --> 00:16:08,435 Speaker 1: a local school because there as we're all beaten up. 238 00:16:08,915 --> 00:16:11,355 Speaker 1: He asked a local clergymen how to get rid of 239 00:16:11,355 --> 00:16:13,755 Speaker 1: the old ones in a respectful way, and he was 240 00:16:13,795 --> 00:16:16,475 Speaker 1: told to burn them. So he gathered up the bibles 241 00:16:16,595 --> 00:16:19,435 Speaker 1: and set them on fire, and all of a sudden, 242 00:16:20,075 --> 00:16:24,075 Speaker 1: those strangers leaped into action. It turned out they were 243 00:16:24,115 --> 00:16:27,275 Speaker 1: part of a club, the John Birch Society. 244 00:16:28,995 --> 00:16:31,715 Speaker 4: Merch members appeared at the regular school board meeting with 245 00:16:31,755 --> 00:16:36,195 Speaker 4: a petition demanding that Laoe not be offered a new contract. 246 00:16:36,355 --> 00:16:37,915 Speaker 1: It was all over the local radio. 247 00:16:38,395 --> 00:16:41,515 Speaker 3: The majority of the board rejected that demand, and this 248 00:16:41,675 --> 00:16:45,475 Speaker 3: action of the board intensified an already steady program of 249 00:16:45,515 --> 00:16:47,995 Speaker 3: intimidation against the Row and his family. 250 00:16:49,155 --> 00:16:52,315 Speaker 1: The Birchers were turning Orville's quiet life in Derby with 251 00:16:52,315 --> 00:16:56,395 Speaker 1: his three kids and his wife, completely upside down. Here's Orville. 252 00:16:57,275 --> 00:17:01,555 Speaker 7: There are individuals, of course the community who will drive 253 00:17:01,635 --> 00:17:06,795 Speaker 7: by and make have scene signs. There have been an 254 00:17:06,915 --> 00:17:10,315 Speaker 7: incidents where people are called the house my life had 255 00:17:10,355 --> 00:17:14,435 Speaker 7: answered and have used a'bscene language on the telephone. Basically, 256 00:17:14,435 --> 00:17:19,035 Speaker 7: it's it's a joy, simple postant harassment. 257 00:17:20,115 --> 00:17:23,475 Speaker 1: An archivist in Montana named Kristen Gates wrote an essay 258 00:17:23,475 --> 00:17:26,515 Speaker 1: about all this. She found letters from the principle of 259 00:17:26,555 --> 00:17:30,835 Speaker 1: the local school who said the Birchers were quote using 260 00:17:30,995 --> 00:17:38,675 Speaker 1: the local pta as a springboard to infiltrate the schools. 261 00:17:40,275 --> 00:17:43,155 Speaker 1: Here I'm telling you about what unfolded for the LaRose 262 00:17:43,235 --> 00:17:46,315 Speaker 1: in a tiny town in Montana. But they weren't the 263 00:17:46,315 --> 00:17:50,235 Speaker 1: only people involved in local ptas or schools who became targets. 264 00:17:50,755 --> 00:17:53,795 Speaker 1: This is not the case now, but in the nineteen sixties, 265 00:17:53,835 --> 00:17:56,995 Speaker 1: according to one study, almost half of all families in 266 00:17:57,035 --> 00:18:01,795 Speaker 1: America were represented in the PTA fifty percent. The PTA 267 00:18:01,915 --> 00:18:04,635 Speaker 1: became such a well known part of public life that 268 00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:07,515 Speaker 1: it was even the subject of a number one song 269 00:18:07,595 --> 00:18:09,875 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties, Harper. 270 00:18:11,675 --> 00:18:16,155 Speaker 3: And it was signed by the Secretary Unprevaletta. 271 00:18:20,755 --> 00:18:24,235 Speaker 1: The PTA played a huge role in modernizing American education. 272 00:18:24,915 --> 00:18:28,155 Speaker 1: Every local PTA was part of the National PTA, which 273 00:18:28,235 --> 00:18:30,915 Speaker 1: was run out of Washington, and they worked together to 274 00:18:30,915 --> 00:18:34,755 Speaker 1: petition schools to adapt and modernize, like a miniature version 275 00:18:34,795 --> 00:18:37,755 Speaker 1: of the federal government. He was actually originally called the 276 00:18:37,795 --> 00:18:42,275 Speaker 1: Congress of Mothers. Anyways, all this paid dividends. If you've 277 00:18:42,395 --> 00:18:46,515 Speaker 1: drunk fluoridated water, which you have gotten vaccinated in schools, 278 00:18:46,595 --> 00:18:48,955 Speaker 1: gone to a public kindergarten, or just been at a 279 00:18:48,995 --> 00:18:52,635 Speaker 1: school that received federal funds, you can thank the PTA 280 00:18:53,475 --> 00:18:58,155 Speaker 1: next bakesale, maybe by a cookie. As a sociologist, Robert 281 00:18:58,195 --> 00:19:02,475 Speaker 1: Putnam writes, the PTA in its day was quote one 282 00:19:02,475 --> 00:19:07,675 Speaker 1: of the most impressive organizational success stories in American history 283 00:19:08,475 --> 00:19:13,675 Speaker 1: end quote, and who at that exact moment wanted to 284 00:19:13,675 --> 00:19:17,195 Speaker 1: pull off another of the most impressive organizational success stories 285 00:19:17,235 --> 00:19:22,395 Speaker 1: in American history Dark Willy Wonka Robert Welch Junior, whose 286 00:19:22,435 --> 00:19:25,315 Speaker 1: recruiting methods were slightly more apocalyptic. 287 00:19:26,395 --> 00:19:28,995 Speaker 3: The wise and the brave do not hold back until 288 00:19:28,995 --> 00:19:29,715 Speaker 3: it is too late. 289 00:19:30,915 --> 00:19:34,235 Speaker 1: In its newsletter, the John Birch Society told its members 290 00:19:34,275 --> 00:19:37,395 Speaker 1: to quote join your local PTA at the beginning of 291 00:19:37,435 --> 00:19:40,955 Speaker 1: the school year, get your conservative friends to do likewise, 292 00:19:41,315 --> 00:19:44,075 Speaker 1: and go to work to take it over. You will 293 00:19:44,155 --> 00:19:47,475 Speaker 1: run into real battles against determined leftists who have had 294 00:19:47,515 --> 00:19:50,075 Speaker 1: everything their way. But it is time we went on 295 00:19:50,115 --> 00:19:53,835 Speaker 1: the offensive to make such groups the instrument of conservative 296 00:19:53,875 --> 00:19:57,675 Speaker 1: purpose with the same vigor and determination that the liberals 297 00:19:57,675 --> 00:20:02,635 Speaker 1: have used to the opposite aims. With encouragement from the 298 00:20:02,715 --> 00:20:06,795 Speaker 1: John Birch Society, extremists of all stripes started showing up 299 00:20:06,835 --> 00:20:10,435 Speaker 1: to local ptas across the country trying to take them over. 300 00:20:10,995 --> 00:20:13,595 Speaker 8: You know, all kinds of methods were being used. 301 00:20:14,115 --> 00:20:17,915 Speaker 1: Sarah Heath, a historian at Indiana University Kocomo. 302 00:20:17,915 --> 00:20:20,995 Speaker 8: So the Birch Society might pack cars full of people, 303 00:20:21,715 --> 00:20:24,955 Speaker 8: so if I bring thirty people to a local meeting 304 00:20:24,995 --> 00:20:25,875 Speaker 8: of a PTA. 305 00:20:26,635 --> 00:20:27,515 Speaker 6: But basically what they. 306 00:20:27,475 --> 00:20:29,555 Speaker 8: Would try to do is, if I can get thirty 307 00:20:29,595 --> 00:20:32,635 Speaker 8: people to go to this one local meeting, we can 308 00:20:32,675 --> 00:20:35,035 Speaker 8: try to take over the proceedings of that meeting. 309 00:20:36,155 --> 00:20:40,675 Speaker 1: Suddenly, amid the conversations about fire safety and participatory democracy, 310 00:20:41,195 --> 00:20:43,715 Speaker 1: parents had to consider things like whether skipping the pledge 311 00:20:43,755 --> 00:20:45,595 Speaker 1: of allegiance at the start of a meeting made you 312 00:20:45,675 --> 00:20:49,835 Speaker 1: a Stalin level communist or an Eisenhower level one. Such 313 00:20:49,875 --> 00:20:53,515 Speaker 1: considerations it turned out demand quite a bit of everyone's time. 314 00:20:54,315 --> 00:20:58,355 Speaker 8: Because what they wanted to do was first get some 315 00:20:58,395 --> 00:21:00,595 Speaker 8: people to get so tired that they would just say, 316 00:21:00,635 --> 00:21:01,275 Speaker 8: I've got to go. 317 00:21:01,275 --> 00:21:01,995 Speaker 5: Home, right. 318 00:21:02,155 --> 00:21:05,475 Speaker 8: PTA meetings are usually in the early evening, so some 319 00:21:05,515 --> 00:21:08,155 Speaker 8: people would leave. Then they call the vote, and then 320 00:21:08,155 --> 00:21:09,315 Speaker 8: they have a majority. 321 00:21:10,715 --> 00:21:13,435 Speaker 1: The virtuers wanted to use the ptas to reach school 322 00:21:13,475 --> 00:21:15,755 Speaker 1: boards so they could change the textbooks and root out 323 00:21:15,755 --> 00:21:18,755 Speaker 1: all the comedy and sex education stuff. But a lot 324 00:21:18,755 --> 00:21:20,995 Speaker 1: of what they did was actual harassment. 325 00:21:21,715 --> 00:21:25,195 Speaker 8: You know, there are examples of people throwing trash on 326 00:21:25,235 --> 00:21:29,795 Speaker 8: the lawns of PTA members or threatening people by the phone, 327 00:21:30,315 --> 00:21:32,875 Speaker 8: calling them at all hours of the night, you know, 328 00:21:32,995 --> 00:21:33,915 Speaker 8: just to keep them awake. 329 00:21:34,995 --> 00:21:38,675 Speaker 1: The PTA fought back in classic PTA form, with pamphlets 330 00:21:38,715 --> 00:21:41,635 Speaker 1: and lists of meeting best practices. But this was a 331 00:21:41,675 --> 00:21:44,755 Speaker 1: little like bringing knives to a gunfight. At this point 332 00:21:44,955 --> 00:21:47,075 Speaker 1: there'd even been a report of a bombing at a 333 00:21:47,115 --> 00:21:49,475 Speaker 1: restaurant where a PTA meeting was going to be held. 334 00:21:50,035 --> 00:21:52,795 Speaker 1: This is what happens when you talk about national politics, 335 00:21:52,835 --> 00:21:57,155 Speaker 1: like Robert Welch Junior, like you're in a shadowy war, a. 336 00:21:57,315 --> 00:22:02,435 Speaker 3: Continuous, undeclared war in which our enemies observed no rules 337 00:22:02,435 --> 00:22:06,435 Speaker 3: of international law of civilization are of human decency. 338 00:22:08,155 --> 00:22:11,155 Speaker 1: The PTA kept pushing back their own way against the Birchers. 339 00:22:11,675 --> 00:22:13,835 Speaker 1: There's even a quote from the PTA president in the 340 00:22:13,875 --> 00:22:18,955 Speaker 1: congressional record saying these extremists are not really after the PTA, 341 00:22:19,715 --> 00:22:23,035 Speaker 1: but are attempting to gain control of it to get 342 00:22:23,035 --> 00:22:28,355 Speaker 1: at their real objective, the educational system. But for Orville Row, 343 00:22:28,755 --> 00:22:33,835 Speaker 1: the superintendent in Darby, Montana, these extremists weren't some faraway thing. 344 00:22:34,675 --> 00:22:37,995 Speaker 1: They were at his doorstep, and I walked home in 345 00:22:38,035 --> 00:22:38,595 Speaker 1: the evenings. 346 00:22:38,675 --> 00:22:42,275 Speaker 7: At times I have had a car follow me. Ordinarily, 347 00:22:42,315 --> 00:22:44,635 Speaker 7: they apparently are cowards because. 348 00:22:44,315 --> 00:22:44,915 Speaker 6: When I am. 349 00:22:46,355 --> 00:22:48,635 Speaker 7: Stopped and gone over to take their license them. 350 00:22:48,675 --> 00:22:51,915 Speaker 3: But there was a holy picture. 351 00:22:53,315 --> 00:22:57,915 Speaker 1: But the aggression wasn't just limited to Orville. Orville's eldest 352 00:22:57,955 --> 00:23:00,795 Speaker 1: son was a fifth grader in the local school. One day, 353 00:23:00,835 --> 00:23:03,155 Speaker 1: there was a basketball game. He was sitting in the 354 00:23:03,195 --> 00:23:07,475 Speaker 1: stands watching. He was not an unpopular kid, but midway 355 00:23:07,475 --> 00:23:11,235 Speaker 1: through the game, a couple of classmates to him. They 356 00:23:11,235 --> 00:23:13,835 Speaker 1: pulled him out of his seat and they began to 357 00:23:13,835 --> 00:23:18,115 Speaker 1: beat him mercilessly. This is Gail again, his sister. 358 00:23:18,755 --> 00:23:21,555 Speaker 6: And when they were beating him up, he was at 359 00:23:21,555 --> 00:23:25,875 Speaker 6: a basketball game in the gym and other kids were 360 00:23:25,875 --> 00:23:26,955 Speaker 6: sturing it on. 361 00:23:27,955 --> 00:23:32,115 Speaker 1: The kids weren't Birchers all they knew he was Orville, 362 00:23:32,155 --> 00:23:33,275 Speaker 1: the Bible Burner's son. 363 00:23:33,995 --> 00:23:36,315 Speaker 7: Then he's coming into the house and ask pissed why 364 00:23:36,955 --> 00:23:39,475 Speaker 7: they are calling him names. 365 00:23:39,675 --> 00:23:42,195 Speaker 3: I didn't do anything, and. 366 00:23:42,195 --> 00:23:44,275 Speaker 7: Of course it's rather had to explain forty youngster in 367 00:23:44,315 --> 00:23:45,035 Speaker 7: that age. 368 00:23:45,475 --> 00:23:49,795 Speaker 6: He came home bloodied. He was We were all confused, 369 00:23:49,795 --> 00:23:52,915 Speaker 6: Why you know, what did I do? Why did this happen? 370 00:23:54,395 --> 00:23:57,515 Speaker 1: The tipping point came when Orville A. Row was driving 371 00:23:57,555 --> 00:24:00,195 Speaker 1: his whole family along one of the roads around Darby 372 00:24:01,155 --> 00:24:04,995 Speaker 1: suddenly another car appeared and tried to run them off 373 00:24:05,035 --> 00:24:08,715 Speaker 1: the road. They all could have died, and that was 374 00:24:08,755 --> 00:24:13,915 Speaker 1: the last straw. After years of harassment, he decided it 375 00:24:13,955 --> 00:24:15,435 Speaker 1: was time to leave Darby. 376 00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:20,435 Speaker 6: He sacrificed for the family. And I know that was 377 00:24:20,475 --> 00:24:23,675 Speaker 6: a really difficult thing to not stay in fight because 378 00:24:23,715 --> 00:24:27,475 Speaker 6: my dad has so much integrity and he was a 379 00:24:27,515 --> 00:24:33,755 Speaker 6: tough guy. And if he hadn't had a family, I 380 00:24:33,875 --> 00:24:36,235 Speaker 6: firmly believe my brothers and I believe he would have 381 00:24:36,275 --> 00:24:39,195 Speaker 6: stayed and he would have fought this situation. 382 00:24:40,955 --> 00:24:43,155 Speaker 1: The people of Derby had a picnic for the LaRose 383 00:24:43,195 --> 00:24:46,875 Speaker 1: before they packed up and left. Montana had been Orville's 384 00:24:46,875 --> 00:24:49,675 Speaker 1: home since he was a kid, the place he'd loved 385 00:24:49,675 --> 00:24:52,635 Speaker 1: to fish and hunt, taught school, and raised a family. 386 00:24:53,515 --> 00:24:56,835 Speaker 1: When the LaRose left, the school system didn't just lose 387 00:24:56,875 --> 00:25:01,515 Speaker 1: its superintendent, It fell apart. There were twenty three teachers 388 00:25:01,555 --> 00:25:06,075 Speaker 1: in the Darby Consolidated School that fall, only seven went 389 00:25:06,115 --> 00:25:09,595 Speaker 1: back to work. Things were never the same for the 390 00:25:09,955 --> 00:25:13,195 Speaker 1: row family either. When I called the kids up, none 391 00:25:13,235 --> 00:25:16,155 Speaker 1: of them really wanted to talk about this. Then they 392 00:25:16,275 --> 00:25:18,875 Speaker 1: changed their mind. I think, if I had to guess, 393 00:25:19,475 --> 00:25:22,035 Speaker 1: because they wanted to stand up against the people who 394 00:25:22,075 --> 00:25:26,195 Speaker 1: did this to their family, to their father, and also 395 00:25:26,555 --> 00:25:29,555 Speaker 1: to their mother. Dorothy, my dad. 396 00:25:29,395 --> 00:25:33,715 Speaker 6: Said, before this happened, she was such a fun person, 397 00:25:33,955 --> 00:25:37,315 Speaker 6: great sense of humor. I'd love to hear my dead 398 00:25:37,395 --> 00:25:41,275 Speaker 6: stories of my mom because I didn't, I didn't witness 399 00:25:42,435 --> 00:25:45,915 Speaker 6: a lot of this, and so you know, we were 400 00:25:45,955 --> 00:25:55,475 Speaker 6: all cheated out of an amazing person. And just I 401 00:25:55,595 --> 00:26:00,155 Speaker 6: just I just can picture her kind of don't don't 402 00:26:00,155 --> 00:26:04,875 Speaker 6: tell you know the neighbors is, don't tell the neighbors that, 403 00:26:05,715 --> 00:26:08,715 Speaker 6: don't tell anybody this. Don't tell anybody this. 404 00:26:10,955 --> 00:26:14,475 Speaker 1: They moved from one small town to another, but Dorothy 405 00:26:14,675 --> 00:26:18,995 Speaker 1: never could quite trust her neighbors again. What came up 406 00:26:19,035 --> 00:26:36,395 Speaker 1: the Birch Society in the PTA after the break? A 407 00:26:36,435 --> 00:26:39,435 Speaker 1: little while ago, I stopped by a house in Los Angeles. 408 00:26:39,715 --> 00:26:41,795 Speaker 1: It was shaded by a sick More tree and there 409 00:26:41,795 --> 00:26:44,675 Speaker 1: was a Route sixty six sign leaning in the front windowsill, 410 00:26:44,795 --> 00:26:47,755 Speaker 1: facing the quiet street. I was there to talk to 411 00:26:47,795 --> 00:26:52,195 Speaker 1: a woman named Marva Felchlin. Marva grew up in California 412 00:26:52,275 --> 00:26:55,475 Speaker 1: and was a student at welby Way Elementary School. She 413 00:26:55,595 --> 00:26:58,635 Speaker 1: was a baby boomer in the classical sense. A house 414 00:26:58,675 --> 00:27:01,275 Speaker 1: in a safe and lovely subdivision, a dad in the 415 00:27:01,315 --> 00:27:04,315 Speaker 1: defense industry, and a mom in the PTA that, yes, 416 00:27:04,795 --> 00:27:09,915 Speaker 1: Birchers had tried to take over. Her mom's name was Zelda, 417 00:27:09,995 --> 00:27:11,475 Speaker 1: and she never got over what happened. 418 00:27:12,835 --> 00:27:15,515 Speaker 9: It's a big thing that happened in our lives. 419 00:27:15,875 --> 00:27:17,435 Speaker 1: Why do you think the story had added to your 420 00:27:17,435 --> 00:27:18,075 Speaker 1: mother so much? 421 00:27:22,115 --> 00:27:26,675 Speaker 9: Because I think you know, the PTA and her activities 422 00:27:26,675 --> 00:27:30,955 Speaker 9: in the PTA probably represented, as with other women in there, 423 00:27:31,155 --> 00:27:35,035 Speaker 9: a lot of what they believed in, and here they're 424 00:27:35,035 --> 00:27:42,035 Speaker 9: being accused of being liars and dishonest and Unamerican. Those 425 00:27:42,075 --> 00:27:44,955 Speaker 9: of those people were probably children of immigrants. I mean, 426 00:27:44,995 --> 00:27:48,395 Speaker 9: that's a serious accusation in those anytime. 427 00:27:48,435 --> 00:27:52,435 Speaker 1: But in those days, Zelda had always wanted to be 428 00:27:52,435 --> 00:27:55,435 Speaker 1: a writer. She once abmitted a script to the Twilight Zone, 429 00:27:55,835 --> 00:27:58,475 Speaker 1: but the place she really wrote was her Parent Teacher 430 00:27:58,515 --> 00:28:01,995 Speaker 1: Association newsletter. It's the one we read from at the 431 00:28:02,035 --> 00:28:05,555 Speaker 1: beginning of this episode, the April nineteen sixty two edition 432 00:28:06,195 --> 00:28:10,635 Speaker 1: of the welby Way Elementary School PTA newsletter web Buzzings 433 00:28:11,355 --> 00:28:16,075 Speaker 1: with the curious editor's note, Zelda wrote that when Bircher's 434 00:28:16,075 --> 00:28:18,555 Speaker 1: across the country, we're trying to take down the PTA. 435 00:28:18,995 --> 00:28:21,315 Speaker 1: She took to her newsletter to fight back. 436 00:28:22,755 --> 00:28:25,235 Speaker 9: I don't. I'm not surprised that my mother pushed back 437 00:28:25,235 --> 00:28:27,995 Speaker 9: in any way, because that's I think she's kind of 438 00:28:27,995 --> 00:28:30,795 Speaker 9: that kind of personality that she didn't stand for a 439 00:28:30,795 --> 00:28:31,715 Speaker 9: lot of crap. 440 00:28:31,955 --> 00:28:35,675 Speaker 1: You know, Marva has held on to the original copy 441 00:28:35,715 --> 00:28:39,435 Speaker 1: of that newsletter for years. I asked her to read 442 00:28:39,475 --> 00:28:40,635 Speaker 1: me the editor's message. 443 00:28:41,835 --> 00:28:45,075 Speaker 9: Okay, the power to seek the truth is within all 444 00:28:45,115 --> 00:28:47,595 Speaker 9: of us. The way in which we seek it is 445 00:28:47,715 --> 00:28:50,995 Speaker 9: privilege and write of all of us. We are fortunate 446 00:28:51,155 --> 00:28:54,555 Speaker 9: enough to live under a system of government that secures 447 00:28:54,675 --> 00:28:58,275 Speaker 9: and protects that right. But there are some who abuse 448 00:28:58,355 --> 00:29:01,795 Speaker 9: this freedom and cloud the answers and the issues, so 449 00:29:01,835 --> 00:29:05,035 Speaker 9: that seeking the truth and knowing it is the truth 450 00:29:05,275 --> 00:29:07,875 Speaker 9: becomes a harder task than it was ever meant to be. 451 00:29:08,915 --> 00:29:12,235 Speaker 9: I say this, Give me the right to seek the truth, 452 00:29:12,475 --> 00:29:16,755 Speaker 9: but justly and rationally and kindly. Give me the wisdom 453 00:29:16,875 --> 00:29:20,755 Speaker 9: to understand and recognize the truth simply, without unseen or 454 00:29:20,795 --> 00:29:24,475 Speaker 9: unknown factors behind it. Give me the wisdom to use 455 00:29:24,515 --> 00:29:29,395 Speaker 9: the truth properly, openly, knowingly, and in its entirety, without 456 00:29:29,475 --> 00:29:32,875 Speaker 9: bending or twisting said truth to fit my own purposes. 457 00:29:33,915 --> 00:29:37,155 Speaker 9: Give me the graciousness to accept the truth, although it 458 00:29:37,195 --> 00:29:41,995 Speaker 9: may disagree with or disapprove my own personal opinions and beliefs. 459 00:29:42,555 --> 00:29:46,075 Speaker 9: And last, give me the wisdom and right to seek 460 00:29:46,115 --> 00:29:50,155 Speaker 9: the truth in whatever manner I so choose, so long 461 00:29:50,195 --> 00:29:52,835 Speaker 9: as I in the manner I have chosen, do not 462 00:29:52,915 --> 00:29:56,355 Speaker 9: belittle or deface the object of my search, so long 463 00:29:56,395 --> 00:29:59,315 Speaker 9: as I can honestly say to myself it is the 464 00:29:59,395 --> 00:30:03,075 Speaker 9: truth alone that I am seeking. So the last off editor. 465 00:30:08,355 --> 00:30:12,275 Speaker 1: During those same years when were mobbing PTA meetings, the 466 00:30:12,315 --> 00:30:15,595 Speaker 1: PTA as a national organization began to die for good. 467 00:30:16,315 --> 00:30:19,915 Speaker 1: It just kept losing members until it became effectively a 468 00:30:19,915 --> 00:30:25,035 Speaker 1: loose group of local organizations. It still exists, but you 469 00:30:25,075 --> 00:30:28,835 Speaker 1: wouldn't write a number one song about it anymore. I 470 00:30:28,875 --> 00:30:31,155 Speaker 1: don't think that was all the doing of the Birch Society, 471 00:30:31,195 --> 00:30:34,555 Speaker 1: though it certainly didn't help. The rise of the Birchers 472 00:30:34,675 --> 00:30:36,955 Speaker 1: in the fall of the PTA were both part of 473 00:30:36,955 --> 00:30:40,555 Speaker 1: the backlash to Brown versus Board of Education, a response 474 00:30:40,595 --> 00:30:44,595 Speaker 1: to integration and civil rights. The Birch Society went into 475 00:30:44,595 --> 00:30:48,195 Speaker 1: decline then too. It had become radioactive, mocked to death 476 00:30:48,195 --> 00:30:51,875 Speaker 1: in the press, repudiated by even William F. Buckley, turned 477 00:30:51,915 --> 00:30:56,315 Speaker 1: on my mainstream Republicans, torn by its own infighting investigated 478 00:30:56,315 --> 00:31:00,315 Speaker 1: by the Anti Defamation League in the FBI, but it 479 00:31:00,355 --> 00:31:04,075 Speaker 1: never vanished. Robert Welch Junior was involved with the Birch 480 00:31:04,155 --> 00:31:07,155 Speaker 1: Society almost until his death in nineteen eighty five. Under 481 00:31:07,155 --> 00:31:11,195 Speaker 1: the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who, true to Welsh, once 482 00:31:11,235 --> 00:31:16,075 Speaker 1: called the communist Lackeye. His society lives on in diminished 483 00:31:16,115 --> 00:31:19,995 Speaker 1: form these days. They're a lot less notable. They're just 484 00:31:20,035 --> 00:31:23,715 Speaker 1: one in a sea of right wing groups. But why 485 00:31:23,715 --> 00:31:26,955 Speaker 1: did people like Welsh hate the Parent Teacher Association so much? 486 00:31:27,955 --> 00:31:30,515 Speaker 1: It seems to me like the Birch Society and the 487 00:31:30,555 --> 00:31:33,115 Speaker 1: PTA were locked in that kind of death match between 488 00:31:33,195 --> 00:31:37,755 Speaker 1: two visions of American civil society. The PTA was the 489 00:31:37,835 --> 00:31:42,675 Speaker 1: vision of the American vital center, progressive, orderly, incremental, and 490 00:31:42,715 --> 00:31:47,115 Speaker 1: evidence based. Its model was the US federal system, local 491 00:31:47,115 --> 00:31:51,875 Speaker 1: and national working patiently together. But the John Birch Society 492 00:31:52,475 --> 00:31:56,595 Speaker 1: was modeled on communist cells, secretive with hard caps on 493 00:31:56,635 --> 00:32:00,835 Speaker 1: membership to keep things decentralized rather than optimistic. It was 494 00:32:00,875 --> 00:32:04,715 Speaker 1: paranoid rather than incremental. They called for kind of revolution. 495 00:32:06,275 --> 00:32:09,595 Speaker 1: The PTA was about trusting your neighbors to share your 496 00:32:09,835 --> 00:32:14,475 Speaker 1: trusts too. The John Birch Society was about always suspecting 497 00:32:14,515 --> 00:32:18,315 Speaker 1: them of betraying you. I don't know if that sounds 498 00:32:18,315 --> 00:32:33,675 Speaker 1: familiar to you, but it shore does to me. Revisionist 499 00:32:33,715 --> 00:32:36,795 Speaker 1: History is produced by me Ben That Ofhaffrey and Lucy 500 00:32:36,835 --> 00:32:41,195 Speaker 1: Sullivan with Nina Bird Lawrence. Our editor is Karen Schakerji. 501 00:32:41,715 --> 00:32:45,635 Speaker 1: Fact checking on this episode by Sam Russick. Original scoring 502 00:32:45,835 --> 00:32:50,795 Speaker 1: by Louis Gara, mastering by Jake Gorsky. Our executive producer 503 00:32:51,075 --> 00:32:54,755 Speaker 1: is Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nix, the State 504 00:32:54,835 --> 00:32:58,755 Speaker 1: Historical Society of North Dakota, the University of Montana, and 505 00:32:58,795 --> 00:33:09,915 Speaker 1: the UCLA Library Special Collections. I'm ben That of Aaffrey.