Roger Nash Baldwin and the American Civil Liberties Union

From Publishers Weekly
ACLU founder and longtime director Roger Nash Baldwin (1884-1981) has dimmed on the radar screen of popular reference, but his legacy has not. Cottrell's straightforward biography of this complex figure focuses on the various forces at work, and sometimes in conflict, in Baldwin's life: his privileged heritage, his egalitarian impulses (awakened by the progressive movement's growing strength and stature, bolstered by Teddy Roosevelt's presidency), his unconventional marriage, his philandering and his single-minded drive to establish the fledgling civil liberties movement. From his blue-blooded upbringing in Massachusetts and his Harvard education, to an unexpected social work career in St. Louis and imprisonment for conscientious objection during WWI, to the founding and running of the ACLU, Baldwin's life makes for a naturally compelling narrative. Baldwin oversaw early incarnations of the ACLU and helped lead them through their evolution into a mainstream progressive stronghold. Cottrell's discussion of the radical influences pulling Baldwin away from the practices of early 20th-century progressivism elucidates the popularization of radical politics that occurred in the first half of the century. Cottrell (Izzy: A Biography of I.F. Stone), an American history professor at California State University, is an empathic but not overly sympathetic chronicler. The first biographer to draw on material that surfaced after Baldwin's death, he adheres to chronology and clear, unembellished prose. Cottrell fills the pages with Baldwin's mentors, allies and foes, including Emma Goldman, Jane Addams, Norman Thomas, A.J. Muste, Douglas MacArthur and J. Edgar Hoover, providing a detailed and comprehensive understanding of 80 years of progressive activity. 37 photos not seen by PW. (Feb.) Forecast: Devotees of civil liberties and progressive causes will be drawn to this, assuring solid, though not startling, sales.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
It's a surprisingly modern story: an advocacy group pushed to national prominence by a single individual's persistence (in recent decades, think Nader, Chavez, and Brower, for example). But the man most identified with the civil liberties crusade was a Harvard-educated Boston Brahmin who began his career at a St. Louis settlement house in 1906. Baldwin was a puzzle; he was sympathetic to the most radical voices (Emma Goldman, the Wobblies, and, later, communists), yet, in his personal and public life, he was certain of his position among "the better sort" of people. He supported unionization of working people but was himself a highly tyrannical boss. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Baldwin headed the ACLU, insisting on an expansive definition of civil liberties that often annoyed even the group's strongest supporters. He remained a grand old man of the movement and worked on international civil liberties until his death at 97 in 1981. Cottrell, a California State University at Chico historian, provides an involving portrait of this often frustrating, ultimately fascinating American activist. Mary Carroll
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Review
"A rich, textured portrait highlighting Baldwin's numerous contradictions.... Highly recommended at all levels." -- Choice


Review
"Robert Cottrell's well-documented account of Roger Baldwin is a thoughtful portrait of a fascinating, commanding, courageous, yet terribly complicated figure. Cottrell's "warts-and-all" portrayal leaves no doubt, however: Baldwin is the central figure in the history of twentieth-century civil liberties. What would we have done without him?" -- Stanley Kutler, University of Wisconsin, Madison


Book Description
Baldwin's thirty-year tenure as director of the ACLU marked the period when the modern understanding of the Bill of Rights came into being. Recapturing the accomplishments and contradictions of America's greatest civil libertarian -- a staunch defender of Communist Russia who openly admired J. Edgar Hoover and Douglas MacArthur -- this riveting biography is an eye-opening view of the development of the American left.


About the Author
Robert Cottrell is professor of history and American studies at California State University, Chico. He has written numerous books and articles on American liberalism, reform, and radicalism in the twentieth century, including Izzy: A Biography of I. F. Stone.


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A biography of the cofounder of the ACLU, embedded in the history of the American left from WWI through the 1970s. Cottrell (history and American studies, California State U.-Chico) surveys Baldwin's political development, his work for civil liberties during different periods, and his controversial personal life. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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