Back in those "good old days" of Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, my uncle bob was a professor at Oregon State College(University). We were visiting one summer and my dad and I were sitting on the patio with my uncle, chatting together. Well, my dad was chatting. I was 16 and quite shy and uncle Bob was bent over a pile of papers, furiously scribbling on the pages.
"What is all of that?" asked dad.
"I have to have this all filled out and in prior to the school year's beginning", uncle Bob replied.
After a bit uncle Bob put down his pencil and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that should do it".
My dad reached out and turned the pile around so he could see it.
What uncle Bob had been working on was a long questionnaire. It asked all sorts of questions about his private life, where he attended church, where he banked, what organizations he belonged to and what offices he held, what charities he donated to and what his wife and children did.
It ended with a Loyalty Oath, declaring that he was not now nor never was a member of the Communist Party.
"All public service folks and all teachers and professors must fill them out", uncle Bob said when my dad asked why he'd provided so much private information.
"I suppose then that the bank presidents and the business owners all fill these out, too," dad said, knowing the answer in advance.
My uncle Bob was startled. "Why no!", he said in a shocked voice. "They are the community leaders. They don't have to declare their loyalty".
That, as I said, was 1951. Even then we had a Class system.
Carl Jarvis
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