The Future of Liberalism in America: Eugene McCarthy lecture recordings
Online Access
Available digital items: https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/collections/NS070224
Abstract
In 1973, Former United States Senator and Democratic Party presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy delivered a series of lectures at The New School on the topic of "The Future of Liberalism in America." This collection consists of audio recordings of four lectures held at the university in February.
Dates
- 1973 February 7-28
Creator
- McCarthy, Eugene J., 1916-2005 (Speaker, Person)
- New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y. : 1919-1997) (Host institution, Organization)
Extent
10 1/4 inch Audio Tape
Language of Materials
English
Scope and Contents
Collection consists of 1/4 inch reel-to-reel audio tape recordings.
The New School's Adult Division (continuing education) Spring 1973 course catalog advertised a series of six lectures by former U.S. senator from Minnesota, Eugene J. McCarthy, who was appointed Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of Political Science at the New School for Social Research in January 1973.
The last two advertised lectures, originally scheduled for March 7 and March 14 are absent from The New School Archives collection of recordings. New School Archives staff do not know if those lectures were never held, or if they were not recorded, or if they were recorded and tape reels were lost.
The first three lectures are captured on three audio reels each, with the first reels containing the first part of the main lecture and the second reels containing the remainder of the main lecture, plus the beginning of the question-and-answer portion of the lecture. The third reels contain the remainder of the question-and-answer period. The fourth lecture is missing its first two reels. Only the end of the question-and-answer period is documented.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use. Researchers must use digital access copies.
Conditions Governing Use
To publish material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the New School Archives and Special Collections. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.
Biographical note
Eugene Joseph McCarthy was a United States Senator and New School professor in political science. Born in Watkins, Minnesota in 1916, McCarthy had originally been an instructor in economics and sociology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota before he was elected as a Democratic Party Congressional representative for Minnesota in 1948. In 1958, he was elected to the United States Senate, where he became known for his championing of liberal causes, and in particular for his opposition to the Vietnam War. He ran as a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination on an anti-war platform in 1968, but lost to Hubert Humphrey.
McCarthy had first spoken at The New School in 1961, delivering a lecture on “The Shape of the Future: National and World Affairs” as part of the inauguration of Henry David as university president. In 1966, he was appointed as the “Adlai E. Stevenson Lecturer,” a position that was created for McCarthy and named for his then-recently deceased political mentor and ally whom he had nominated for President in 1960. The position entailed giving two-to-four public lectures per semester, along with a series of informal seminars for students and faculty. The lectures were held until 1968, when it seems they were discontinued due to inadequate funding: McCarthy demanded a speaking fee of $12,500 per semester, and the amount was only fully paid by The New School by 1970.
After a second failed bid at presidential nomination, McCarthy was hired by the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in 1973, this time being appointed as the “Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of Political Science.” In this position, he also taught courses for the Adult Division, most notably “The Future of Liberalism in America” in Spring 1973. McCarthy appears to have resigned, and the Adlai E. Stevenson professorship dissolved, after Spring 1975, ahead of his third and final unsuccessful presidential bid in 1976.
McCarthy died on December 10, 2005 in Washington, D.C.
Sources
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. Who is Eugene J. McCarthy?. Accessed July 2, 2024. /www.csbsju.edu/mccarthy-center/about-the-center/who-is-eugene-j-mccarthy>
John Everett (1966-1973). Adlai Stevenson Lectureship on International Affairs. John Everett Records (NS.01.01.02, Box 7, Folder 7), The New School Archives and Special Collections.
The New School (1961). New School Bulletin Vol. 19, No. 04 [bulletin]. New School Bulletin Collection. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS030102_bull1904>
The New School (1966). New School Bulletin 1966 Fall Vol. 24 No. 3 [bulletin]. New School Bulletin Collection. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS050101_ns1966fa>
The New School (1973). McCarthy Appointed Stevenson Professor [press release]. New School Press Release Collection. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS030107_001690>
Historical note
“The Future of Liberalism in America” was a course offered by the Adult Division of The New School for Social Research, taught in 1973 by former United States Senator and Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of Political Science Eugene McCarthy. The course was advertised as six lectures by McCarthy on the subject of the future of liberalism (referring here to modern American liberalism, a political ideology that pairs support for civil liberties with support for economic regulation and social programs) in the United States, each followed by a question and answer section. The course proved popular due to McCarthy’s prominent public profile, and much of the lectures and many of the questions concern McCarthy’s own political views and experience.
Sources
The New School (1973). The Future of Liberalism in America, 1st lecture (1 of 3) [audio tape]. The Future of Liberalism in America: Eugene McCarthy Event Recordings. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070224_000037>
The New School (1973). McCarthy Appointed Stevenson Professor [press release]. New School Press Release Collection. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS030107_001690>
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date of lecture.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The staff of The New School Archives and Special Collections assembled this collection from a larger set of legacy recordings transferred from The New School's Raymond Fogelman Library following the establishment of The New School Archives, circa 2012.
Processing Information
New School Archives staff listened to the digitized recordings to create lecture descriptions in this finding aid.
- Liberalism (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Sound recordings (Type of Material) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- United States--Politics and government (Subject) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to The Future of Liberalism in America: Eugene McCarthy lecture recordings
- Status
- In Process
- Author
- Jack Wells, Jason Adamo, and Jenny Swadosh
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin