“The New Reconstruction: America in the Seventies” was a lecture series presented by The New School and the Fund for New Priorities in America in 1973. The series of lectures, each given by a United States Senator, were held in the Fall semester at The New School. Organized by the chairman of the Fund for New Priorities, William Meyers, the lecture series followed up on a 1970 series of panel discussions at The New School held by the Fund, featuring United States congressional representatives in conversation with academics.

“The New Reconstruction” was thematically organized around a comparison between American politics in the 1970s and those of the 1870s, the Reconstruction Era in the United States. A politically tumultuous period in American history after the end of the U.S. Civil War, the “old” Reconstruction was marked by intense debate over issues surrounding the abolition of slavery and the readmission of the former Confederate states into the Union. The lecture series most immediately drew this comparison by highlighting the impeachment of the President.

President Richard Nixon’s impeachment process occurred concurrently with the series, and at the time had only a single historical precedent, in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in 1868 over his attempts to obstruct Reconstruction efforts. More broadly, the comparison also refers to the low levels of trust in the federal government and high levels of perceived state corruption that typified both the Reconstruction era and the early 1970s in the wake of the Watergate scandal, an incident where Nixon was found to have sanctioned and subsequently attempted to cover up a series of crimes; most notably a break-in, wiretapping, and kidnapping; aimed at spying on and weakening his political rivals.

The Fund for New Priorities in America was a New York-based non-profit organization started in 1968 that organized public discussion forums on important issues. In a 1979 New York Times advertisement, the group labeled itself an organization “devoted to the cause of peace and human rights.” In 1970, The Fund for New Priorities had organized a special course at the New School entitled, "Four Congressional Hearings: The People and Congress," in which various members of the United States House of Representatives (Congress) questioned experts in public policy and illustrated legislative processes.

William Meyers was a New York attorney and political activist who was a New School faculty member from 1971 to 1977. He taught a course entitled, "Workshop for New Priorities," in the fall semesters of 1971 and 1972, in addition to moderating the "The New Reconstruction: America in the Seventies" series in 1973. In 1975, Meyers became director of the National Policy Studies Program at the New School, which included a course with lectures by United States senators called "National Planning in a Free Society: A View from the Senate," as well as a course with lectures by members of the House of Representatives, "America’s Agenda: the House Speaks." The National Policy Program Studies Program at The New School lasted into the fall semester of 1976.

Sources

“Bill Meyers – Guest Availability Memo.” New School Press Release Collection, September 2, 1975. The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York.

Course Catalogs, 1971-1973, New School Course Catalog Collection, The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York.

“Farm Forum Fails to Yield Harvest, Too Few City Slickers Show Up.” Chicago Tribune, April 27, 1985. 3. https://www.proquest.com/docview/290832397/2238449534E847BCPQ/1?accountid=12261.

Fund for New Priorities in America (1970). Poverty Amidst Surplus [audio tape]. New School Adult Division Event Recordings. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070212_000011>

Fund for New Priorities in America (1973). National Growth and Development [audio tape]. The New Reconstruction: America in the Seventies Event Recordings. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070212_000047>

Fund for New Priorities in America (1973). Justice in the Seventies [audio tape]. The New Reconstruction: America in the Seventies Event Recordings. The New School Archives and Special Collections. /digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS070212_000050>

“Open Letter.” New York Times, February 22, 1979, B10. https://www.proquest.com/docview/120954784/29EBD671A5234A12PQ/22?accountid=12261.