Jack D. Foner

Jack Donald Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 10, 1999) was an American historian best known for his work on the labor movement and the struggle for African-American civil rights. A professor of American history with a doctorate from Columbia University, he established one of the first programs in black studies in the United States at Colby College. He was fired from his job at City College of New York and blacklisted in academia from the 1940s through much of the 1960s after being investigated in 1941 by a New York State legislative committee for his suspected former membership in the Communist Party, which he officially refused to either confirm or deny. In 1979, the New York State Board of Education officially apologized to Foner and other teachers and staff who were fired and whose lives were disrupted by the activities of the Rapp-Coudert Committee, which it described as having egregiously violated academic freedom. He was the twin brother of historian Philip S. Foner and the father of historian Eric Foner. Early life and education Jack Foner was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1910 to Jewish parents who had immigrated from the Russian empire. He was one of four brothers: his twin brother, Philip Foner, would later become a Marxist labor historian and political activist, while their younger brothers Henry Foner and Moe Foner would both become labor union organizers. Jack Foner attended Eastern District High School and graduated from City College of New York in 1929. He and Philip both studied under historian Allan Nevins there. Foner earned a master's degree in 1933 and a doctorate in 1967 in American history, both from Columbia University. Early career Jack Foner taught history in 1935 at Baruch College (then called the downtown branch of the City College of New York). He actively supported the Second Spanish Republic against the Nationalist faction, and stood for the rights of African Americans.