Full-bred Communism or Run-of-the-Mill Leftism: The Institute of Pacific Relations and Benjamin H. Kizer from 1947 to 1952

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2020-11-12

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en

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As McCarthyism truly took hold in the late 1940s, accusations of Communist allegations abounded. One institution affected by such accusations was the Institute of Pacific Relations, or IPR. The 1940s and 1950s, and the culture of McCarthyism proved to be its downfall, due to ever-increasing allegations of Communist subversion within the institute. At the state level McCarthyism also proved pervasive, with Washington State being one of the most affected through the establishment of the Canwell Committee. Albert Canwell’s anti-Communist crusade in Washington State provides a poignant reflection of Washington D.C.’s McCarthyism at a state and individual level. A link between this federal and state level McCarthyism can be found in Benjamin Kizer, a Washington State lawyer and active member of the IPR. This thesis finds the balance between individual and institutional Communism at the IPR, looks at subsequent investigations and prosecution of the IPR and Kizer, and lays out how McCarthyism related to this balance.

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