Samuel J. Tilden High School - Tilden and The Red Scare

Tilden and The Red Scare

During the 1940s and 1950s, individuals and organizations all over the United States were accused of affiliations with socialists, communists, and radicals. At Tilden High School, students and teachers were accused of radicalism. Even the then principal Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz was accused of being a radical for distributing a statement to teachers and students that denounced complete free enterprise and called upon students to think critically about their role in America.

Students were also affected by the Red Scare and were warned by administrators that affiliation with Communist-linked clubs such as the American Youth for Democracy would adversely affect their future careers.

During testimony before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security, a former student claimed that both Mr. Eugene Jackson, a language teacher at Tilden, and Mr. Terry Rosenbaum had expressed sympathy toward student Red groups. The former student alleged that an American Youth for Democracy unit at school was asking to obtain speakers for the unit’s meetings. Apparently, Mr. Jackson told them that he agreed with their point of view and thought it was very good.

By the late 1940s, students had to pledge an oath of loyalty to the United States and State of New York in order to receive a diploma. The oath read as follows:

“I hereby declare my loyalty to the Constitution and Government of the United States and the State of New York and promise to support their laws.”