Joseph Brown "Doc" Matthews, Sr. (1894–1966), best known as J.B. Matthews, was an American linguist, and an educator, writer, and political activist. A committed pacifist, Matthews became a self-described "fellow traveler" of the Communist Party, USA through the middle-1930s, achieving national prominence as a leader of a number of the party's so-called "mass organizations." A disillusionment with communism followed towards the end of the 1930s. Matthews later became a professional anti-communist expert that served as chief investigator for the House Committee on Un-American Activities headed by Martin Dies, Jr., as a consultant on Communist affairs for the Hearst Corporation.
In June 1953, Matthews was named research director for Joseph McCarthy's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the United States Senate. This selection drew heated criticism from committee Democrats and liberal Republicans, fueled by Matthews' recently published claims that the Protestant clergy comprised a base of support of the American Communist movement, and Matthews was forced to resign.
Famous quotes containing the words brown and/or matthews:
“The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the level of the roofs.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“I was supposed to retire when I was seventy-two years old, but I was seventy-seven when I retired. On my seventy-sixth birthday a lady had triplets. It was quite a birthday present.”
—Josephine Riley Matthews (b. 1897)