In general, charges of disloyalty were preferred against six groups of teachers: those objecting to sign the pledge of loyalty, those whose sympathies in the War were pro-German, the pacifists, those whose speech was considered disloyal, those who opposed and obstructed the draft, and those who held membership in a political party which advocated a change in the established form of government.[347]
In the eyes of the school administrators an unwillingness to sign pledges of loyalty without qualification was but the evidence of a hybrid patriotism. In no other light did they believe could be considered the objection to a pledge which declared an “unqualified allegiance to the Government of the United States,” and which promised by “word and example” to “teach and impress” upon “the pupils the duty of loyal obedience and patriotic service as the highest ideal of American citizenship.”[348]
Opposition to signing the pledges under compulsion was led by the Teachers’ Union, and their protest against an implication of disloyalty was endorsed by eighty-seven teachers.[349] Among those refusing at first to sign a pledge were Miss Isabel Davenport of the New York Training School for Teachers and Harrison C. Thomas of the De Witt Clinton High School. The examination started to determine their fitness to teach was discontinued when they agreed to sign the pledge.[350]
In March, 1918, the charge of pro-Germanism was lodged against Miss Gertrude A. M. Pignol, a teacher in the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, and her suspension was asked by the Board of Superintendents. Miss Pignol, a native of Berlin, had been a resident of the United States since 1905. In 1911 she had taken out citizenship papers.[351] When questioned by secret service agents, it developed that, although her sympathies were with Germany, she had in no way been connected with German activities in this country. In the hope that her views might undergo a change Miss Pignol was given a leave of absence for three months. In May, 1918, however, Associate Superintendent Tildsley preferred the following charges against her before a committee of the Board of Education: that she did not believe in war, that she was under the impression that it was not necessary for the United States to be engaged in the War, that she would not pledge her coöperation in every way in her power to the United States government in its measures for the prosecution of the War against Germany.[352]
In Miss Pignol’s trial, statements from fellow-teachers were cited as proof of her pro-German bias. A remark, alleged to have been made eleven years prior, that she would be ashamed to be an American citizen, was adduced as evidence. Further proof was found in a statement that she doubted the accuracy of the accounts regarding German outrages; that she had attempted to dissuade a German woman from returning to Germany because she would eat food needed by the Germans; that she objected to the posting of a food card by the school librarian; and that she was deeply touched by the slaughter of the War. The possession of a locket, engraved by her father and carrying the picture of the Kaiser’s grandfather on one side and the cornflower on the other, was put in evidence as additional proof of her hostility to the cause of the United States.[353] Although she asserted her desire for an American victory, the confession that she did not want her native land crushed militated against her.[354] On June 26, she was dismissed from service by the Board of Education.[355]
On October 24, 1918, Fritz A. E. Leuchs was suspended from duty in the schools, charged with “conduct unbecoming a teacher.” His suspension was confirmed on October 30 by the Board of Education. According to his own testimony, he had tried for four years to enlist in the German army, but on October 25 had entered upon military service in this country. Under the circumstances the Board of Education resorted to suspension in order that he could not claim the difference in pay as a teacher and a soldier.[356]
Similar treatment was accorded pacifists serving in the schools. In this group was Miss Mary McDowell, a Quakeress, employed in the schools of Brooklyn, who was suspended from duty on March 12, 1918. She based her defense in the unrestricted exercise of religious faith as a birthright, her previous contributions to relief for American sufferers to the Red Cross and other charitable projects, as well as the distribution of thrift stamp circulars in the schools. Miss McDowell’s retention as a public school teacher was opposed on the ground that her pacifist views were ill-advised at a time when patriotism should be taught in act as well as in speech.[357] On June 19, 1918, she was dismissed from service by the Board of Education.[358] Following the close of the War Miss McDowell’s case was reopened, which resulted in her reinstatement on July 11, 1923. On reviewing the causes for Miss McDowell’s dismissal, Commissioner Bowe declared: “After full consideration of the case, the committee has decided that the punishment meted out to Miss McDowell was too severe. She was tried at a time of great public excitement. Since then public feeling has undergone considerable modification. For thirteen years she had done excellent work as a teacher....”[359]
An unwillingness to engage in active service resulted likewise in the suspension of Louis H. Blumenthal, a teacher of history and civics in Public School 148, Brooklyn, on June 19, 1918.
Nor were all teachers willing to obey a law precluding criticism of the government. To secure permanency of tenure through silent assent was to some but a bribe against their convictions. And not all were agreed that it was wise to refrain from teaching what they held true because others saw in the same belief the germs of disloyalty.
Such a disagreement as to how freely a teacher could express opinions led to investigations of the loyalty of Florence Levine, Samuel D. Schmalhausen, Thomas Mufson, and A. Henry Schneer. In the case of Miss Levine, a teacher in Public School 168, Brooklyn, the Teachers’ Council, to whom the case had been referred, recommended that she be admonished by the Acting Superintendent of Schools so that thereafter she be careful in her public utterances, but no charges were preferred against her.[360]