Deborah Shapley talk at American Astronomical Society #AAS247 Jan 5 2026
Here are some slides from my presentation at the American Astronomical Society’s 247th meeting - #AAS247 - on Jan 5. I told the story of Harlow Shapley’s public defiance when right-wing politicians tried to discredit scientists, actors, teachers - any citizen - by accusation without due process.
Context: From the end of World War II, the power of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) grew. The movement was fueled by rising “Red Scare” fears in the public, as Stalin’s Soviet Union emerged as a military threat.
Shapley was the leader of a network of groups that charged the HUAC with using “Gestapo tactics” to stifle people’s civil liberties - right to speak, write and live in freedom. My story’s outcome is both tragic and inspiring. Thank you, AAS for the opportunity! (My previous talk was on Shapley v. Hubble. Post is here.)
President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal shaped the federal government as a benign force in society, assisting the poor and everyone hobbled by the Depression. Federal policy encouraged education, art and science. Government would be professionally administered. The Roosevelt model’s effectiveness seemed proven in our mobilization and victory in World War II. In 1944 Shapley urged other scientists to support FDR’s reelection.
But many in Congress (and the US) were suspicious of liberal scientists, artists. Even if a person was not CPUSA member they could be ‘fellow travelers’ in Soviet-Communist cause of undermining our country. narrative for rankin. Here’s one of many fine statements shapley made about “belief in fairness of character” (wang p.)
The Shapley-Rankin incident sparked outrage: 1200 Harvard students pledged support for Shapley. The American Association for the Advancement of Science elected him President.
Tn early 1947 HUAC Chair J. Parnell Thomas issued a list of eight investigations. The Right thought hunted communists among teachers who were generally suspect. HUAC action against teacher Howard Fast, sparked the teachers’ union to respond. Shapley addressed a “Crisis Meeting” in New York (“this is the beginning of fascism in the our country.) Albert Einstein phoned in in support.
When HUAC subpoenaed ten Hollywood film stars to testify before HUAC and report their friends or face consequences. Shapley went on NBC with the “parade of stars” calling for the abolition of HUAC. His quotes from 1947 and 1948 leap from the page. My talk has more. (This post skips the Condon case and events of 1948.) a
The Shapley family paid a price. So did Harlow. Being publicly targeted as “pinko” made a person’s friends and colleagues suspect. Shapley’s name was brought up in clearance procedures for Talcott Parsons and Donald Menzel of Harvard. Also when then ex president Conant was nominated High Commissoner to Germany. The next side shows Immanuel Velikovsky’s books (1950, 1952). Martha Betz Shapley had worked in a classified facility since 1941. In December 1950, her job was yanked. She appealed and got reinstated after a painful review, dozens of testimonials, and a hearing. J. Robert Oppenheimer was appointed by Conant to review the entire operation of Harvard College Observatory. Oppenheimer’s report was not favorable. Shapley retired as Director in 1953 some major programs were dismantled, His close associate Bart Bok was denied promotion due to his connection with Shapley.
When Joe McCarthy burst on the political scene in 1953 with radical charges of communists in the State Department, Shapley mocked him. He still had sass!
Closing Quotes slide is mostly text, so I won’t put it here. More on the project -
