Cover: The basis for the cover design was decided in collaboration with theeditor, t lise deLanglade. A symbol from each submission was carefully placedinto a collage representing the 1991 History Journal as a whole.

p,,,,

Editor's Note:

Our goal for this year's journal is to present a quality work that represents a wide variety ofundergraduate writings and deals with a vast array of subject material. It has been my pleasure towork with an outstanding staff, without them this journal would not contain such diversity. Iwould also like to extend my thanks to the faculty of the History Department for all their adviceand support. Special thanks to Mrs. Kneisley in Publications who offered considerable guidancein achieving the end product. Also, [ would like to thank Dr. Behrman for all her advice andexperience that helped make this publication what it is.

Elise deLanglade

History Journal Staff

Editor ................................................................................. t lise deLanglade

Secretary/Treasurer ................................................................... Don Kissock

Art Editors ........................................................................... Amy Bruemmer

Staff .............................................................................................. Erin Purdy

Doug JenksChris Jeffers

Amy TownesCharles List

Amy BrantlingerSheri Drew

Faculty Advisor .......................................................... Dr. Cynthia Behrman

Cover ...................................................................................... Katherine Coy

Table of Contents

An Investigation into the Origins of the Constitution ...................................................................... 1

by Jim Pierson

Kurt Schwitters: The Link Between Dadaism and Constmcfivism ................................................. 7

by Katherine Coy

Stalin's Purge of 1936-1938: A Tool of Totalitarianism ............................................................... 11

by John Stroeh

Review of BlackRain ..................................................................................................................... 15

by Troy Stallard

The Murders of Three Civil Rights Workers ........................................................................ . ......... 17

by Laura Dunikoski

American Theatre in the 1960's: Pal Attempt at Revolution ......................................................... 20

by Beth Snowberger

Honda Coming to Ohio .................................................................. ................................................ 24

by Jill Titmas

Address correspondence to:

EditorThe Wittenberg History JournalHistory DepartmentWittenberg UniversitySpringfield, Ohio 45501

An investigation into the Origins of the ConstitutionJira Pierson, junior, History major

Dr. Taylor, Fall 1990

The ratification of the Constitution of the United States ofAmerica in 1788 marked the birth of a "distincfly Ameri-

• can system of polities." 1 Its framers intended it to be, andit became a "novus ordo seclorum: a new order for theages." If one is to understand this novus ordo seclorum,one must understand the process by which it was created.This paper will discuss the origins of this Americansystem of politics by examining the ideas set forth byGordon S. Wood in The Creation of the AmericanRepublic, 1776-1787 and Forrest McDonald in Novusordo Seciorura: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitu-tion. These two works merit inclusion among the moreimportant works on the creation of the Constitution andyet fail to provide a complete picture of the process. Thepicture is left incomplete not because of insufficientresearch or faulty interpretation but rather because of thelimits of their approaches to the subjecL

In order to appreciate the significance of Wood's andMcDonald's works, one must examine them within thecontext of historical scholarship on the Constitution. Thisbody of scholarship has produced many impassioned,controversial pieces. M. E. Bradford encapsulates the rootcause of this development: "An academic undertaldngwith such potent implications for pardsan politics is nevereasily accomplished, and yet no other intellectual enter-prise is of such importance to the internal order of theRepublic (and therefore to our survival as a nation) as the

study of our political beginnings."3Up to 1913, historical scholarship that discussed the

origins of the Constitution can best be termed the age ofveneration of the founders. The framers of the Constitu-tion were seen as enlightened, disinterested statesmenseeking to save a nation that was drifting towards anarchyand to create a government based on the principles ofliberty and republicanism. 4

Charles Beard cast a dark shadow on this school ofinterpretation in 1913 by publishing An EconomicInterpretation of the Constitution. According to Beard,Leonard Levy claims, the Constitution was "a conserva-tive economic document framed by an unrepresentativeminority employing undemocratic means to protectpersonal property interests by establishing a centralgovernment responsive to their needs and able to thwartpopulistic majorities in the states."5 Although detailingpossible origins of the Constitution, its controversialnature was destined to bring it under intense scrutiny andattack.

This scrutiny came from many angles, but perhapsthe most thorough and credible dismantling of Beard'sthesis came from two sources: Robert E. Brown's CharlesBeard and the Constitution and Forrest McDonald's Wethe People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution.These two works were hi the forefront of the discreditingof Beard's work.

2 Ttte Wittenberg History Journal

Into the vacuum created with the destruction of theBeard thesis came a number of new and provocativeinterpretations. One group (with Jackson Turner Main andE. James Ferguson among its members) followed in theBeard tradition by continuing to stress the relationshipbetween economics and politics. A second group "led byBernard Ballyn and J. G. A. Poeock, had tamed theirattention to the role of ideology in the founding of thenation." 6 Wood's The Creation of the American Republic1776-1787 and McDonald's Novus Ordo Seclorumreceived their roots from, and extended upon the theses ofthis second group.

In the preface to The Creation of the AmericanRepublic, 1776-1787 Gordan Wood asserts that his aim isto describe and explain the creation of the unique Ameri-can system of politics that emerged by 1790.7 Woodworks on the premise that the best way to accomplish thistask is through a comprehensive study of how theevolving ideology influenced behavior. In order toconduct this study, Wood found it necessary "to steepmyself in the political literature of the period to the pointwhere the often unspoken premises of thought becameclear and explicit." a Wood sought, in other words, todiscern and explain the various definitions and connota-tions of the various terms and concepts that shaped thechanging body nf political culture from 1776 to 1787, andto link this ideology to the behavior that resulted in theConstitution. According to John Howe, in attempting tocomplete these tasks Wood's work has both received aninheritance from and provided an extension of BernardBallyn's The Ideological Origins of the AmericanRevolution.9 In this work (published in 1967), Ballyncompletely reoriented the understanding of the coming ofthe American Revolution by showing the extent to whichthe intellectual framework of colonial political lifedetermined the reaction of Americans to British policyafter 1763. ° Wood himself acknowledges that his debt toBailyn is "incalculable" and his work can best be seen aswithin this tradition, u

Forrest McDonald's mentor for Novus Ordo Seclo-rum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution, on theother hand, appears to be himself. Novus Ordo Seclorumis the climax of McDonald's three-beok series on theorigins of the Constitution. McDonald's first work, Wethe People: The Economic Origins of the Constitution(.published in 1958) was intended to test Charles Beard'sEconomic Interpretation of the Constitution. In rejectingBeard's thesis, We the People was intended, according toMcDonald, to "clear the decks: for different interpreta-tions of the making of the Constitution." 2 His firstsequel, E Pluribus Unum, "focused on the wheeling anddealing and the interplay between politics and economicswhich enabled hard-nosed practical men to establish theConstitution." 3 Due to his and others' dissatisfactionwith E Pluribus Unum, he decided to delve into theintellectual dimension of the founding. The result was the

culmination of the series, Novus Ordo Seclorum, in whichMcDonald has attempted to "make a reasonably compre-hensive survey of the complex body of political thought(including history, law, and political economy) that wentinto the framing of the Constitution." a4 According toRichard Be man, in order to make this survey McDonaldhas investigated an even more varied intellectual traditionthan Wood, including: regional variation of ideas onrepublicanism, Scottish influences, Lockean notions onnatra'al rights and natural law, the complex body ofEnglish law, and varieties of theories on political econ-omy. s From these points and with these perspectives,Wood and McDonald departed on their journey to reachconclusions on the various aspects of the origins of theConstitution.

A conclusion reached early in this investigation(possibly before it even slarted) by beth Wood andMcDonald is that ideology played a crucial role in theevents of the time period. Probably the most importantthing to understand here, according to Wood andMcDonald, is that it was an ideology in flux. According toJohn Howe, Wood demonstrates that the ideology of theAmericans after independence did not remain static butwas instead "debated, clarified, applied to the tasks ofconstitution making, evaluated against the changingrealities of Revolutionary life, and ultimately transmutedinto the distinctive federalist republicanism of 1786-1787." McDonald claims that this flux represented asorting out Of intellectual elements of the ideology that,for a period, had coexisted but, due to conflicts amongthese elements, could no longer do so. 7 As the Ameri-cans sought to define themselves and their society theideology that served as their frame of reference wasmolded and shaped.

While they agree that this constantly changingideology plays a crucial role in understanding the period,Wood and McDonald disagree as to exactly what roleideolugy played. In The Creation of the AmericanRepublic the "container" of ideology or political culturegives shape to the "liquid" of behavior. Wood claims that"all human behavior can only be understood and ex-plainod, indeed can only exist, in terms of the meanings ithas. Ideology creates behavior." 18 Men, accoMing toWood, are not free to act in response to objective reality,but instead act according to the meaning they give to thatreality. McDonald believes otherwise. McDonald claimsthat the founders "did not derive their positions fromsystems of political theory. Rather, they used politicaltheorists to justify positions that they had taken fornnntheoretical reasons." t9 The framers had alreadyformulated their positions from practical experience andonly used the ideology as source references to lendcredibility to their positions. While McDonald wouldagree that the theories and ideologies shaped the politicalperspectives of the framers, to him experience, notideology, created their behavior. 20

An Investigation into the Origins of the Constitution , 3

Of all the ideas entertained in the late eighteenthcentury perhaps none was so important to the Americans'frame of reference as republicanism. While Wood andMcDonald identify the same kinds of republican charac-teristics, they tend to differ in their categorization of thesecharacteristics. Wood identifies two schools of republicanthought, classical and modern, and seeks to demonstratethat republicanism from 1776-1787 represented a succes-sion by die latter of the former. j The predominant modeof republican theory in 1776, according to Wood, wasclassical republicanism. Classical republicanism de-manded "the sacrifice of individual interests to the greatergood of the whole" and believed that the only way toachieve this sacrifice was through the virtuous characterand spirit of individual members of society. = By 1787this theory had been replaced by modern republicanism asthe prevailing school of thought. Experience had shown,or so the founders believed, that the American characterwas incapable of suslffming the classical republic and,hence, began the search for "a republic which did notrequire a virtuous people for its sustenance." Modernrepublicanism, as identified by Wood, asserted that "onlythe institutions of government arranged in a certainmanner could manage an unvirtuons people." TheConstitution was an attempt, according to Wood, to createa republican government that could survive with or with-out a virtuous populace. For Wood, the Constitutionmarked the death of classical virtue riven republicanism, as

The continued existence of the elements of whatWood calls classica! repubficanism, beth during and afterthe ratifieatioa of the Constitution, led McDonald to stressthe evolving, yet coexistent, naWre of two versions ofideological republicaaism: puritanica! republicanism andagrarian republicanism. Bolh versions, according toMcDonald, asserted that public virtue was the crucialdeteaaninant in the preservation of a republic. Theydisagreed, however, as to what type of public virtue wasneeded and how best to eneottrage it+ Pttritanical republi-cunism "sought a moral solution to the problem ofmortality of republics." 26 It sought to m ke better, morevirtuous people through a vigilant guard against unvirtu-ons, uncommunal, and therefore unrepublican behavior.Agrarian republicanism, on the other hand, believed that"independence begat virtue, and virtue begat republicanliberty."2v The key to virtue for the agrarians, therefore,was not regulation of individual character, but ratheradequate land to provide for individual independence.McDonald believes that beth versions coexisted, inter-acted, and helped shape the perspective of the framers,+and were utilized by the founders at the ConstitutionalConvention.

Whether or not "classical republicanism" bad beeneliminated as an ideology by 1787, "modem republican-ism" had definitely won the paramount position amongrepublican ideologies by this time. Both McDonald andWood agree that this l_riumph occurred because the

practical experience of Americans between 1776 and1787 forced Americans to reexamine their politicaltheories and to reconstruct their government. In this way,both subscribe (to a degree) to the idea of a "criticalperiod."

The political result of the revolution had been a seriesof democratic, legislature-dominated state governmentsand a weak, confederal national government. The conse-

qoence of this political system was, according to Wood,the perversion of republicanism through "democraticdespotism" and "abuses of legislative power." McDonald claims that this despotism was represented bydemocratic excesses that infringed upon the security offiberty and property in American society?9

These experiences, combined with the evidentpowerlessness of the central government and the uproarover Shay's rebellion, led Americans to re-examine andredefme their political assumptions. During this period"classical political assumptions broke down in the face ofchallenges by 'modern' republican political assumptions."30 By 1787 the framers had become convinced "that gAmerican government were not radically and immediatelyreconstructed, anarchy and then tyranny were soon tocome." ; American ideology, however, dictated that onlyrepublican solutions to the problem would be satisfactory.As Americans frantically sought solutions, "republican-ism" (as an ideology) was redefined (for Wood - genu-inely; for McDonald - according to the desires of theframers), and notions intended to remedy the problemswere both in odaced and reintroduced. Both Wood andMcDonald agree that the ideology of the revolutionblended with the experience of the "critical period" of theConfederation to produce a different dominant ideologythat was to find its expression in the Constitution.

Wood and McDonald devoted their works to studyingthe creation and discovering the origins of the Constitu-tion. What do they say about the resulting document?What is the significance of The Constitution of the UnitedStates?

McDonald and Wood disagree as to whether theConstitution was a repudiation or a fulfillment of therevolution of 1776. Having just emerged from the"critical period" of the Confederation, the founders,Wood claims, sought to reverse the direction of thegovernment. They thus constructed a constitution that wascounterrevolutionary in two ways: 1) it reestablished aplace for traditional elitism in American government, and2) it replaced the basis for a commmnity-oriented (eco-nomically) society with a basis for a capitalistic, entrepre-hernial society. : It is on this basis that Wood terms theConstitution "the repudiation of 1776." 33

McDonald, on the other hand, sees the Constitutionas the fulfillment of the revolution of 1776. In theaftermath of independence the states had formed govern-ments based on state constitutions and the Articles of theConfederation. Experience had proven this system of

4 o The Wittenberg History Journal

government unsatisfactory and demanded a new type ofgovernment more in line with American principles andmore capable of protecting them. McDonald views theConstitution as the result of this seurch for workablerepublicanism. The ideology of !776 then had not beenrejected, but considered, modified, and full-filed.

The significance of the Constitution, according toMcDonald and Wood, is that it provided the foundationfor a new and unique system of government that wasforeign to the world at that time. McDonald claims that "itprovided for a government that would itself be governedby laws, and by laws that conformed to the genius and

• , 35circumstances of the people. Wood trumpets the valueof this provision: "No more revolutionary change iu thehistory of politics could have been made: the rulers hadbecome the ruled and the ruled the rnlers."

Such revolutionary changes are not without theircosts, as Wood and McDonald recognize. McDonaldclaims that the founders bad "fashioned a frame ofgovernment that necessitated a redefmition of most of theterms in which the theory and ideology of civic humanismhad been discussed." 37 One implication of this redefini-lion was that part of the tradition of civic humanism wasIosL

Wood is not so concerned with what had been lostfrom the past as with what was to be lost in the future.John Patrick Diggins claims that the redefinition of terms,according to Wood, represented "a deliberate distortiondesigned to conceal the elitist aims of the framers in anegalitarian rhetoric." : The result of this distortion was apermanent divorce in American politics between ideologyand motives which had its consequences for the Americanintellectual tradition. Never again were political ideolo-gies to be geauinely related to differing social interests.39Thus, the framers had "brought the ideology of theRevolution to consummation and created a distinctlyAmerican political theory but only at the cost of eventu-ally impoverishing later American political thought."4°These costs are also part of the significance of theConstitution,

Where, however, do The Creation of the AmericanRepublic and Novas Ordo Seclorum rate among the worksof this school of historical thought? Perhaps the best wayto demonstrate the importance of Wood's work is not byexamining what was said about it but what was doneabout it. Eighteen years after its original publication,Creation of the American Republic was still consideredimportant enough to be the topic for a forum in TheWilliam and Mary Quarterly. The existence of u sympo-sium of views and reviews of Wood's book by twelveprominent historians nearly two decades after its publica-tion stands as a tribute to Creation's lasting importance.Ruth Bloch claims that "Wood's work so overshadows allothers on the historical background of the Constitutionthat it is virtually the only book on the subject (apartfrom Charles A. Beard's classic) that all American

historians know they must lcnow."4aNevus Ordo Seclorum has glowing credentials in the

field as well. Any time a great historian, such asMcDonald, writes a piece that represents the culminationof a lifetime of study it demands the closest attention ofstudents of the subject. Nevus Ordo Sec!orum is just sucha work. S. N. ILatz claims that it is "the best singlevolume on the origins of the U. S. Constitution." 2Richard Beeman summed up the value of Nevus OrdoSeclorum Lest when he said that "like almost everythingthat Forrest McDonald has written, this book is calculatedto infuriate some readers and, at the very least, to provokealmost any reader to di gree on specific points."43 Thetree significance of McDonald's work is that it is soliderongh to present conclusions that must be consideredand yet con xoversial enough to spur the reader on to thinkfor himself.

Although all reviews of The Creation of the Ameri-can Republic and Nevus Ordo Seclourm are respectful,not all are this glowing. Some historians disagree, not somuch with the perceptions of Wood and McDonald, aswith the glasses they wear to obtain those perceptions. Inother words, some historians have problems with theapproach of intellectual history.

One such group of historians are those who can bestbe categorized as social historians. They claim that, by itsnature, intellectual history is so concerned with theideological writing of the elite that it fails to take intoaccount the rest of society. Gary Nash attacks Wood'sapproach, claiming that "the political culture of the entireRevolutionary generation cannot be derived from sourcesemanating from one stratum of the socia! structure.".4The same criticism could be made of McDonald's work.Edward Countryman calls for a less synoptic approach toreveal the many different kinds of political culture thatpervaded revolutionary era America. 5

A second criticism can be heard from those who haveinherited their approach to history from the Beard School.Their tendency is to look for other, non-ideologicalinfluences on political behavior. Jackson Turner Mainspeaks for this school when he criticizes Weed for fairingto give proper credit to the way interests, as opposed toideology, influenced the debate during the ConstitutionalConvention of 1787. In fairness to McDonald, thiscriticism is not as applicable to him as it is to Wood.McDonald provides a more "balanced view of the mixtureof ideology and interest that moved the Founding Fa-

ers." 47

Notwithstanding these criticisms, both The Creationof the American Republic, 1776-1787 and Nevus OrdoSeciorum provide masterful, important contributions tothe field of Constitutional history. In spite of the apparentfact that there are aspects of the story that have eitherbeen left out or under emphasized, one must rememberthat a historical work cannot try to do too much. The taskof a historian is to analyze the past and to attempt to make

An Investigation into the Origins of the Constitution . 5

significant generalizations about it. A generalization, bydefinition, is going to leave out some important details.The value of making these generalizations is that it allows

one to form a conceptual web that enables one to compre-hend the mass of information in a more meaningful way,Both Wood and McDonald have spun such a web.

1. Gordon S, Wood, The Creation of the American Republia, (New

Endnotes

York: W. W. Norton wad Company, 1969), Lx, 1776-i787

2. Forcest McDonald,Novus Ordo Sec!orum: The [ntellect lOrigins of the Co +stit,ation, (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of

Kansas, 1985), 262.

3. M, E. Bradfo t, "In the Hoase of oar Fathers,"Nation ++l Review.

11 April 1986, 46.

4. Leonard W. Levy, ed., Essays on the Makiag of the Co +stitution,

(New York: Oxford University press, 1987), xzozlii.

5. Ibid., x .

6. McDonald, vii.

7+ Wood, ix.

8. Poith, viii.

9. Jolm Itowe, "Gordon S. Wood and the Analysis of PoliticalCnitu re in the Amerie Revolutionary Era," The William a M MaryQuarterly 44 (July 1987): 569.

10, Jack P. Grecnle, "In AnoLhnr Time of Revolution, "The New!" ork Times Book Review, 26 October 1969, 26.

! h Wood, ix.

12. McDonald, vii.

13. lbid., vii.

14. Ibid., ix.

15. RichaM R. Beemm,, "McDonald, Nows Ordo Sealomm: TheIntellectual Origins of the Constitution," The William and MaryQuarterly 44 (July 1987): 680.

16. Howe, 573.

17. Edwmxt Count ganma,"Edrrest McDonald: Novus OrdoSeclomm: The Inte!lectual Oaigins of the Constitution," Journal ofAm rica History 73 (September 1986): 456.

18. Gordon S. Wood, "Ideology and the Origins of LiberalAmerica", The William arid Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 631.

19. McDonald, 235.

20. Ibid,, 261.

21. Ruth H+ Bloch, "The Constitution and Culture," The Williamand Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 551.

22. Wood, 53.

23. Ibid., 475.24. Ibid., 429.

25. Edward Countryman,' Of Republicanism, Capit al'sm, and the'American Mind,'" The William and Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987):559,

26. McDonald, 71.

27. Ibid., 75.

28. Wood, 396 413.

29. McDonald, 162.

30. Bloeh, 553,

31. McDonald, 144.

32. Ralph Ketchum, "Publius: Sustaining the RepublicanPrinciple," The William and Mary Quarlerly 44 (Jniy 1987): 577.

33. Wood, 519.

34. Countryman, "Forrest lVlcDonald," 455.

35. McDonald, 260.

36. Wood, 602.

37. McDonald, 262.

38. John Patrick Diggins, "Between Bailyn and Beard: ThePerspectives of Gordon S. Wood," The William and Mary Quarterly 440niY 1987): 564.

39. Wood, 562.

40. Ibid.

41. Bloch, 550.

42. S. N. Katz, "McDonald, Forrest: Novus Ordo Seclorum: the

Intellectual Origins of the Constitution," Choice. May 1986, 1450.

43. Beeman, 682.

44, GaiT B, Nash, "Also there at the Creation: Going BeyondGordon S. Wood," The William and Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987):607.

45. Countryman, "of Republicanism," 561.

46. Jackson Turner Main, "An Agenda tbr Research ea the Originsand Natm of the Constitution of 1787-1788," The WilliamandMaryQz rterly 44 Ordy 1987): 591.

47. Judith N. Shklar, "Properties of Republicanism," The TimesLiterary Supplement, 11 September 1987, 996,

Beeman, Richard R. "McDonald, Novus Ordo Seelomm: The Intellec-

tual Origins of the Constitution." The William and Mary Quarterly43 (October 1986): 679-682.

6 o The Wittenberg History Journal

Bibliography

Block, Ruth H. "The Constitution and Culture." The William and Mary

Qtmrterly 44 (July 1987): 550-555.

Bradford, M. E. "In the House of our Fathers." National Revieiv, I 1

April 1986, 46.

Countryman, Edward. "Forrest McDonald: Novus Ordo Seclomm: The

Intellectual Origins of the Constitution." Journal of American

History 73 (September 1986): 455 .

• "Of Republicanism, Capitalism, and the 'AmericanMind.'" The William and Mary QtvJrterly 44 (July 1987): 556 562.

Ketchuan, Ralph. "PubEus: Sustaining the Republican Principle." TheWilliam and Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 576-582.

Levy, Leonard W., ed. Essays on the Malting of the Constitution. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1987.

M dn, Jackson Turner. "An Agenda for Research on the Origins and

Nature oftbe Constitution of 1787-1788." The WilliamandMary

Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 591-596.

McDonald, Forrest. Novus Ordo Sealomm: The Intellectual Origins ofthe Constitution. Lawrence, Kmasas: University Press of Kansas,

1985.

1987):563-568.

Greene, Jack P. "In Another Time of Revolution." The New York TLvtes

BookReview, 26 October 1969, 26-28.

Ilowe, Holm. "Gordon S. Wood. and the AnaIysis of Political Culture inthe American Revolutionary Era." The William and Mary

Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 569-575.

Katz, S. N. "MeDonal, Forrest: Novus Ordo Sedomm: The Intellectual

Origins of the Constitution." Choice, May 1986, 1450.

Digglns, John Patrick. "Between Bailyn mid Beard: The Perspectives ofGordon S. Wcod." The William and Mary Quarterly 44 (July

Nash, Gary B. "Also there at the Creation: Going Beyond Gordon S.Wood." The William and Mary Qtarlerly 44 (July 1987): 6024Sll.

Shklar, Judith N. "Properties of Republicanism." The Times LiterarySupplement, 11 September 1987, 996.

Wood, Gordon S. 7'he Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787.New yoTk: W.W. Norton and Company, 1969.

• "Ideology and the Origins of Liberal Ametica." TheWilliam and Mary Quarterly 44 (July 1987): 628-640.

Schwitters: The Link BetweenDadaism and Constructivisrn

Katherine Coy, senior, fine arts major with a concentration i(t art history and paintingMr. Tatum, Fall 1990

Dada, as practiced by Kurt Schwitters, and the DeStijl form of the Constructivist movement were styleswith such similarities that they could be described asallies in the fight against naturalism in art. Dadaism wasan anarchical and cynical movement and Constroctivismwas considered an optimistic one; however, they wenthand in hand. Dadaist work was the destruction of theelements in an old culture but it needed Constructivism toconstruct them into a new culture. Kurt Schwitters linkedthe philosophical similarities between Dadaism and DeStijl. 2

Both Dada and De Stijl originated in neutral coun-tries during World War I. 3 Dada, meaning "yes, yes" inRussian and "rocldng horse" in German, had consistentthemes of anti-art.4 The members of the movement werenot politicians but artists searching for an expression thatwould correspond to society's demands for a new art. Asenemies of the old bourgeois society, these artists saw aculture about to crumble before the war.5

Dada was founded in both Zurich and Berlin.Because of the two different geographical areas, one citylocated in a neutral country and the other situated in themiddle of the war, Zurich Dada was quite different fromthat of Berlin. (Zurich Dada resulted from a city of"tightened stomachers" and thundering hunger, whererage was transformed into lust for money and questions offorgiveness.) The mass production and "industrializeddeath" left after the war instigated a desire to go back tothe primitive uncontaminated by an older way. 7 Childishinnocence became the metaphor for the Dada primitiveand Dada became the desire for a new morality. 8

Cabaret Voltaire was the Dadaists' first meetingplace in Zurich and in February 1918 Berfin Dada wasborn. Club Dada was launched by Richard Huelsanbeckbut Raoul Hansmann became the president. Their groupattracted a variety of personalities that were more diverse

9than the Zurich group. Together they rejected the bloodyhorrors of the Great War and disagreed with Cubism andother modern art styles. Such individuals with penetratingminds understood their existence at a turning point intime. These artists questioned representational art, theexclusivity of art when used for certain social groups, art

as a commodity, and the elevation of an artist afterachieving his or her intention. ,0

Such questions caused skepticism in the artist's ownrole in the art world. Dadaists reacted to this by pokingfun at high art. They believed the best answer to theirdoubts was to destroy the ideas of the past culture and toconcentrate and reorganize those forms found in thepresent culture. ,t The self-destructive stance of theDadaists was accompanied by a deep longing for formand structure. ,2 A longing for order attracted many Dadaartists to Constractivism.

Constructivism was an intemational movementderived from a Russian abstract movement and the DutchDe Stijl group, and eventually spread beyond Russia andHolland throughout Europe. ,3 Its influence lay in itsphilosophy which was the concept of harmony and thesuppression of individualism. '* By suppressing individualtechniques, artists created a universal style that could befound in architecture and interior design as well aspainting. One would notbe able to tell who the artist was.Thus, a more ordered society could be created. Thestruggle of the individual against the universe revealeditself in World War I as well as in the present time. Newart brought forward a new consciousness of the timewhich was a balance between die universal and theindividual. ,5

Artists began to see a trend toward collectivizationand mathematical exactitude. Technology became theclearest sign of a new age with machines exemplifying atechnical perfection that the human hand was incapable ofachieving. Through elimination of any reference toobjects in nature and any artistic styles through abstrac-tion, man moved closer to mechanization and a universalstyle. Artists were looking for a complete freedom fromexternal reality. ' Straight, horizontal, and vertical lines,fight angles and primary colors with additions of black,white, and gray became the method used to achieve thatfreedom. It was a severe restriction of creative terms tothe basic minimum. ,7

Theo yon Doesburg and Piet Mond(mn founded theDutch Constructivist movement, De Stijl, in the summerof 1917. ,8 The movement centered around the new

8 o The Wittenberg History Journal

journal "De Stijl" edited by Von Doesbarg, its mainspokesman. The idea behind the journal was that works ofpare art needed to he interpreted through theoreticalwritings. Von Doesburg explained, "This periodical hopesto make a conmbution to the development of a newawareness of beauty." 19 It was a task to make modern

man more aware and receptive to the new abstraction,also known as "plasticism?'

Kart Schwitters was a Dada artist who went in hisown direction and ended up with a Constructivist style.By comparing his works with De Stijl artist, Pier Mon-drian, one can see how their styles illustrate the alliancebetween these two movements.

Schwitters "plowed his own Dada furrow" inHanover. 21 After time spent in the army, Schwitters feltdemoralized and endured the rest of World War I inHanover as an engineering draftsman, z After severalstylistic progressimls, from impressionism to cnbo-expressionism, he soon developed his mature styleen|ffied "Marz." "'Merz" was the name for his abstractedand assembled works. These paintings and collagesclearly illustrate the ideas seen in both Dadaism, anabstraction, and Construetivism, a rebuilding.

Sehwitters spoke both for and against Dada but wasrefused membership into Berlin's Club Dada simplybecause of Hulsenbrnck's dislike for Schwitters' middleclass life-style. His absorption in fine art did not permithim to become part of the Berlin Club either. Conse-quemly, gchwitters harbored some animosity towardcertain aspects of the movement, but this did not deter hiswork with Dadaists. z

Destruction and construction together form an activepolarity that wag essential to the internal logic of muchDada art. 24 Scbwitters made a commitment to order andpurity in his work which he based on the active polaritybetween desmaefion and construction. 25 By destroyingthose materials which he found within society andrebuilding them into a work of art, or better yet, his ownsymbol of society's order, ha was directing expressionand shorteaing the interval between intuition and therealization of the work of art.

There are three crucial factors in a istie work. One isthe choice of materials. Anotber is their distribution andorganization on the surface and the third is their metamor-phosis into purely formedelements.

Schwitters explained, "The medium is as importantas I myself. Essential in only the forming. Because themedium is unimportant, I take any material whatsoever ifthe picture demands it. "He was fond of castaway ,andrubbish of "verbal garbage" from the every day materialculture that existed. His decision to work with castawaymaterials was not an accident. This way he identifiedwhat was the center of the Post-War Crisis. It was adevaluation by the war of everything held to be good.Everything had to be returned to a place of honor. 27

Schwitters commented, "I realize that all values only existin relationship to each other and that restriction to a singlematerial is one-sided and single-mindad." His "Merz"became the sum of individual forms.

His materials were placed into a general grid patternimplicit in the chosen forms. Metamorphosis of materialscan be produced by their distribution over the picturesurface and reinforced by dividing, overlapping, orpainting over them. Both formed and fabricated objectshave a kind of"common ground" as pure form, but

individual characteristics earn equal rights with paintedones. He has thrown the objects from just being them-selves and "sublimated them into a higher structure." 9

Not al! of his collages are abstract. In fact "Merzbild1A. Der Irrenarzt" (The Alienist) is a portrait of apsychiatrist whose head is filled with jumbled debris of apatient's obsessions. He has used found forms in animitation of representational painted forms. 0

"Das Arbeiterbild" was the most impressive of his"Merz" works with large material such as long planks ofwood, cardboard, and chicken wire. The lines and circlesare analogous to painted ones but they are physicallypresent in a way that painted ones cannot be. 3

Through Schwitters' collages one can see howhe wasconsidered a Dada-Constrnctivist. Dada produced a stateof Tabala Rasa which allowed reconstruction calledConstrncti'dism to begin. However, the desire to shake offstructure and to search for new structure had to arrive atthe same place. In both cases the means had to be thesame which was a rejection of traditional modes ofcomposition. 32

Pier Mondrian was one of the oldest and most matureartists of the De Stijl movement. 33 Like Schwitters,Mondrian experienced the same type of gradual andlogical development in his style. They both went througha Fauvist stage. For Mondrian, color became his convey-ance of meaning.

Due to his backgronnd, Mon&ian did not expegmeatvery early. Mondrian was born into a strict Calvinistfamily and he himself trained to be a drmving teacher.Consequently, he refrained fxom any experimentationbefore !908. His primary aim before 1908 was to repre-sent the mood of the Dutch sceaeu. Finally, at age 36, hebegan to deviate by deforming shapes and using unrealis-tic color. 35

In 1910, Mondrian veered toward form as he alliedwith the Cubists. The next year Mondrian's Cubistl ,ictures became more taut and severe. He straightenedcurves and eliminated diagonal lines and right angles. Infact, he took Cubism farther and pushed it to nearabstraction. A Cubism series of variously shaped rec-tangles on a white background began to appear. Theinterplay of the colored shapes became cut by the frmneas each painting trtrned into a direct consequence of theone before it. 36

Kurt Schwitters: The Link Between Dadaisra and Constructivism o 9

Disturbed by previous geometric paintings whereprimary colors were the foreground objects on a back-ground of black and white, Mondrian f ffand his solutionby malting the structure independent of color with heavylines moving through colored rectangles. Tins way he wasable to gain mastery over color and space. 37

"Tableau II" (1921-25) represents ins perfectedformula. The structure itself is rather emphatic. It did notsimply contain the colored rectangles but functioned as acounterpoint to them.

De Stijl aimed at "conceptions that are not onlyartistic but that pertain to the formation of a new style oflife. "By creating a new visual style it attempted to createa new style for riving?9 Mondrian took this idea and ranwith it when he began to transformhis studio into a neoplastic work of art. 4o Like Schwitters,he took material from his environment. But, instead ofreconstructing the fragment and giving them a highervalue in the form of art, Mondrian replaced what he sawwith color and line. In essence, he transformed his worldinto his idea of perfection too, but without using theactual materials themselves. Mondrian insisted that inspaintings were, like Schwitters' collages, independent oftheir sources. To him, "The abstract-real picture willdisappear as soon as we transfer its plastic beauty to thespace around us through the organization.''4

Moudrian's De Stijl works stressed the differencebetween the visual duality of the sexes and consequently,society. By combining the two sexes he created a unity ofopposites. Such an idea was his theory to create moreunity within society. Mondriun explained, "More or lessexternal femininity and masculinity are a duality ofexternai appearance and therefore cannot folln the trueunity." 42 This situation was viewed as unsatisfactory andonly a unity of an apparent duality. However, a spiritualrepresentation which Mondrian created in his paintingswas a unity of a real duality. The female, to him, wasstationar3,, horizontal, and material while the male wasmoving, vertical, and spiritual. A balance between thesetwo meant happiness and a more ordered society. 43

Both artists attempted to organize the human experi-ence in a world of doubt and chaos resulting fromindustrialization and war. The movements of Mondrian'slines and the energy in Schwitters' collected materialsattempted to reconcile order through deconstruetion,construction, abstraction, and transformation. * Duringsuch a period of hopeless chaos and demoralization, Dada"subverted traditional laws of art" and, therefore, clearedthe way for their "reformulation on new and sounderprinciples." 4s Schwitters, like Mondrian, is unique inhis confidence and equilibrium of his art. Art becamethe last refuge for constructive action in "a totally insaneworld."

Endnotes

1. Robert P. Wel h, "DeStijl: A Reintroduction," in DeStijl: 1917-1931 Visions of Utopia, ed. Mildred Friedman (New York: AbbevillePress, 1982), 32.

2. H. H. Arnson, History of Modern Art: Third Edition (New York:

Harry N. Abrams, 1986), 5-7.

3. Welsh, 19.

4. Stephen Foster, The World According to Dada (Tapd Fine Arts

Museum: University of Iowa, 1988), 7.

5. Robert Motherwell, The Dada Painlerx and Poets: AnAnthology (New york: Wittenbom, Scholtz, Inc., 1951), 279.

6. John D. Erickson, Dada Performance, Poetry, and Art (Boston:

Twayne Publishers, 1984), 32.

7. Robert Hughes, The Shock ofth New (New York: Alfred A.Knopf; 1980), 57.

8. Timothy O. Benson, Raoal Haussman and Berlin Dada (AnnAgoor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1987), 141.

9. Efickson, 33.

10. Ibid., 102.

11. Amasan, 9.

12. Bense , 41.

13. John Elderfield, Kurt Schwitters (London: Thames and Hudson

Ltd., 1985), 1.

14. Hans L. Jaffe,DeStijl (New York:Hany Abrams, Inc., 1971) 1.

15. Ibid., 18.

16. Hans L Jaffe, introduction to DeStijl: 1917-1931 Visions ofUtopia, ed. Mildred Friedman (New York: Abbeville Press, 1982), 11.

17. Jaffe, DeStijl, iI.

18. Foster, i50.

19. Jaffe DeStifl, 9.

20. Ibid.

21. Rex W. Last, German Dadaist Literature: Kurt Schwitters,Hugo Ball, Ilans Arp (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1973), 25.

22. Erickson, 48-49.

23. Foster, 126.

24. John Eldeffield, "On Dada-Cc astructavist Axis,"in DadalSurrealism No. 13, ed. Mary Caws and Rudolph E. Kuenzli (Ann Arbor,

MI: Thomas press, Inc., 1984), 7.

25. Arnason, 13.

26. Eldeffield, Kurt Schwitters, 51.

0 * The Wittenberg History Journal

27. Foster, 124-126.

28. Elderfield, Kuzt Schwitters, 49.

29. Ibid., 207, 50-51.

30. Ibid., 51.

31. Ibid., 52-54.

32. Eldeffield, "On the Dada-Constmctavist Axis," 6-7.

33. Jaffe, DeStifl, 12.

34. Carel Blotk ap, DeStijl: The Formative Years0VIA: Massachusetts Institute of Teclmoingy, 1986), 40.

35. Ibid.

36. Jaffe, DeSlijl, 13-14.

37. Amason, 333.

38. Ibid.

39. Jaffe, DeSrijl, 1-14.

40. "Mondrian's Paris Atelier 1926-1931," in DeStijl: 1917-1931Visions of Utopia, ed. Mildred Friedman (New york: Abbeville Press,

1982), 81.

41. Ibid.

42. Bintkamp, 46.

43. Ibid.

44. Elderfield, Kt rt Schwitters, 184.

45. Elderfield, "On the Dada-Contructavist Axis," 7.

46. Foster, 126.

Bibliography

Amason, H. H. History of Modern Art: Third Edition. New York: Harry

N. Abrams, 1986.

Benson, Timothy O. Raoul Hau man and Berlin Dada. Ann Arbor, MI:

UMI Research Press, 1987.

Blorkamp, Carel. De Stiff: The Formative Years. MA: Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, 1986.

Elderfield, John. Kurt Schwitters. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd..

1985.

---. "On the Dada Constructivist Axis." In Dada/Surrealism

No.13., ed. Mary Caws and Rudolph E. KuenzlL Ann Arbor, MI:

Thomas Press, Inc., 1984.

Erickson, John D. Dada Performance, Poetry, and Art. Boston: Twayne

Publishers, 1984.

Foster, Stephen. The World According to Dada. Taipei Fine ArisMuseum: University of Iowa, 1988.

Friedman, Mildred, editor. De Stiff: 1917-1931 Vbions of Utopia. NewYork: Abbeville Press, 1982.

Huelseobech, Richard. Memoirs of a Dada Drwnmer. New York:

Viking Press, 1969.

Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,

1980.

Jaffe, Hans L. DeStijl. New York: Hans Abrams, Inc., 1971.

--. "introduction?' InDeStijl: 1917-1931 Visions of Utopia, ed.Mildred Friedman, 11-16. New York: Abbeville Press, 1982.

Last, Rex W. German Dadaist Literature: Kurt Schwitters, Hugo Ball,Hans Arp. New York: Twayne Publisher , Inc., 1973.

"Mondrian's Paris Atelier 1926-1931." In DeStijl: 1917 1931 Visions ofUtopia, od. Mildred Friedman, 80-86. New York: Abbeville Press,

1982.

Motherwell, Robert. The Dada Painters and Poets: An Anthology. NewYork: Wittenbom, Scholtz, Ine,, 1951.

Welsh, Robert P. "DeStijl: A Reintroduction." In DeStijl: 1917-1931Visio of Utopia, ed. Mildred Friedman, ! 1-16. New York:Abboville Press, 1982.

The Powers qliat Be, Part 1I of The Shock of the New. Video Series.

r

Stalin's Purge of 1936-1938A Tool of Totalitarianism and StNinism

John Stroeh, senior, ma h and physics majorDr. Behrman, Fa111988

"I believe that sometime, from time to time, the mastermust without fail go through the ranks of the Party with abroom in his hands." 1 These were the words of JosephStalin, the undisputed leader of Russia from 1929-1953,in his address to the Thh'teenth Congress of the Commu-nist Party of the Soviet Union in 1924. These words werespoken just twelve years before he launched a series ofpurges within Russia which, according to ZbigniewBrzezinski, were "on a scale unprecedented in modemhistery.''= Stalin's Purge of 1936-38, distinctive in itsimmense scope, its methods, and its secrecy, was a vitaltechnique of Soviet totalitarian politics and Stalinismwhich led to a powerful ordered Soviet state. However,the purge also brought fear, terror, and mass extermina-tion to the Soviet people.

There were two main pillars of Stalin's dictatorship:totalitarianism based on his all-powerful position asleader and the ideology centering around the cult of theleader. The Purge of 1936-38 was employed by Stalin asan effective means to achieve these pillars. The aim ofStalin's totalitarianism was to bring about drastic internalchange in Russia. By utilizing his Five Year Plans andpurges, he hoped to reshape and reconstruct not only thesocial structures of Soviet society but also the outlook andthe minds of Soviet citizens. Stalin accomplished thischange with modem technology: control of communica-tions, education, and police; and mobilization of themasses. Through terror, the "constant and pe adingproeass of mass coercion," Stalin bent the people to hiswill. 3 He lived by the motto, "historical righteousness

,ill justify transient brutality." 4 Because of its nature,totalitarianism ultimately led to the isolation of theleaders, who l;ecarne out of touch with the people madinsecure. Consequendy, the leadership de(,eloped aconstant paranoia of conspiracy against it and unceasinglyendeavored to eliminate the suspicious, s The purgebecame the means not only of terror but also of elimina-tion.

Stalin's ideology was rooted in his theory of social-ism in one country. By building and perfecting socialismin Russia, the country could be used as an inspiration andbase for oppressed nations throughout the world. Stalin-

ism grew from Stalin's cult of peesofiality. His passionateconcern for the state, his emphasis on Marxist revolution,and his ambivalence in disposition are refitted both inStalinism add his purge. 6 Stalin was a pragmatist whobelieved that the will was powerless to move men; andapparatus was needed to accomplish his ideology. Hefound this apparatus in the purge. Stalin was a pragmatistwho believed that the will was powerless to move men,and apparatus was needed to accomplish his ideology. Itefound this apparatus in the purge.

What, then, is the purge, and how is it an instrumentof totafitnrianism? Brzezinski states that it is "... atechnique of government of a developed totditariandictatorship, for the achievement of specific political andsocioeconomic objectives... It manifests itself primarilyin the ruthless elimination or removal of apparently loyalsupporters of the regime." 7 The main thrust of the purgeis to eliminate ail opponents of the system in power. Itcarries out the terror essential in the totalitarian system tokeep the people insecure and the leader in total power. Itstrengthens the movement by keeping it pure fromcontamination, resolving inner struggles for power andproviding for the inflow of new members as replacementsfor those purges. In the initial struggle for totalitarianpower the purge is used to cut down competitors from

12 o The Wittenberg History Journal

influential positions, evidenced in Stalin's edging out ofTrotsky for political rule. When the struggle is resolved,the parge's bloody procedures commence is two stages,daring which remnants of the defeated opponents aredestroyed. In the first stage, all organized resistance isliquidated, as in Russia in 1930. The 1934 assassination ofKirov, Central Committee Secretary and party leader,stimulated the second stage, the elimination of potentialenemies. In 1935 the purge was aimed at weaker, passiveParty elements, and in 1936-1938 it was directed towarddangerous, active elements. 8

In his utilization of the purge, Stalin hoped to attainmany goals. Foremost in his mind was the elimination ofpotential sources of alternative leadership. The purge wasmeant to increase centralization and concentralion ofdictatorial power. A second aim was to preserve therevolutionary fervor and ideological goals of Stalinism.The third goal was the prevention of a Nzzi victory withinthe Soviet Union through destruction of any traces of anactive Fifth Column in Russia. Stalin seized this opportu-nity to justify the liquidation of the opponents who wereintent on overthrowing him. He argued that a change ofgovernment would weaken Russia's fighting capacity andthat, once in power, his opponents would appease Hider atthe expense of Russia. Viewed as the terminator ofpotential traitors, Stalin would be a hero to the people. A fourth aim was the transformation of society throughthe elimination of old elements (old administrators) andthe introduction of new elements (a new intelligentsia,bred by Stalin). This introduction would eliminatestagnation and emphasize social mobility and promotion,as well as infuse the nation with his ideology. Stalin'sfifth goal was to cleanse the Party of undesirable ele-ments, such as careerists and opportunists, in order tomaintain its purity and strength. The final aims of thepurge were to encourage public support through masspropaganda and to provide an outlet for accumulatedhostility resulting from totalitarianism (in which self-expression is suppressed). 0

The 1936-38 Purge was implemented with devicesand methods integral to its success. Propaganda func-tioned as a useful weapon in its political education andintimidation. The press, notably Pravda, and the radiocarried accounts of trials, confession, and the testimony,urging vigilance and serf-critique, allowing the masses toexpose heretics through denunciation. False denunciationand imagined plots were the result, as lower levels ofhierarchy arranged for removal of superiors, and secretpolice tried to gain favor with the upper ranks throughincreased victimization, n Yezimv, head of the NKVD(the secret police), and director of the Purge, receiveddenunciations and ordered the arrests and executionscarried out by the NKVD. For the most part, the purgeswere conducted with utmost secrecy. In special instances,however, this was not the case. The highlights of theYezhov Purge were the show trials, in which former

leaders of state and party were publicly accused of treasonor subversion. They were forced to confess crimes theyusually had not committed and to praise Stalin fervently.The majority were then sentenced to death. Trialsprovided the necessary drama for the Purge, contributingto the load of propaganda and emphasizing to the peoplethe futility of resistance, the strength of the system, andthe infallibility of the leader. According to Deutscher,Stalin never appeared in the courts but was "the invisibleauthor, manager, and producer." 3 Stalin's plan for some

of his victims ultimately resulted in a bullet in the head;for others it meant forced labor in a concenlration camp.

The 1936-38 Purge occurred in two steps: theoverhauling of the Party and the overhauling of the Partymachinery. The purge of the Party took advantage of thenew revision of Party card procedures and the directsecret elections set forth in the new constitution of 1936.The declaration of old membership cards as invalid onDecember 25, 1935, forced all members either to gothrough screening or to face expulsion. Only afterscreening, a process involving the interrogation (and thuspurging) of the members, would the new cards be issued.The May 1937 elections saw 55% of Party committeemembers and secretaries conveniently not reelected;consequently, they were replaced. 14

During the period of the purge of the party, therewere three major trials of former important Party leaders.The first, on August 1936, resulted in the death ofKamenev, Zinoviev, and fourteen other leading Commu-nists, accused of Trotskyite terrorism. The second trial ofJanuary 1937 ended with the death sentencing of thirteenmen including Radek and Pyatakov, Communists who atfirst opposed Stalin but then sided with him. Finally, inthe third trial of March 1938, twenty-one defendants, allheroes of the October Revolution, including Bulcarin,Yagoda, and Rykov, received death. 5

The overhauling of Party machinery involved thepurge of the military and the secret police. June 1937witnessed the secret trial of Marshal Tukhachevsky andthe highest generals of the Red Army, who were accusedof planning a coup d'etat. 16 Following their execution,the purge continued through the ranks of the military. Thelast to die were the officials of the NKVD, specificallyYagoda and Yezhov. Stalin justified this purge as theremoval of those who had been guilty of forcing falseconfessions and punishing innocent people. 17

Victims of the Purge, other than Party members andmachinery, included small landowners, racial minoritiesand nationalists, economic and government adminislra-tors, the mass media, writers, artists, poets, historians,engineers, factory managers, and scientists. Except for theCommunist Party, the old intelligentsia, viewed aspotentially more dangerous, suffered the most.18

The consequences and impact of the Purge of 1936-1938 can be seen in examining its positive and negativeresults, both immediate and long-term. Many of Stalin's

Stalin's Purge of 193671938: A Tool of Totalitarianism 13

goals had been met. A new intelhgentsia, well-educatedand devoted to Stalinist policies, had filled the gaps inParty and administration left by the Purge, combiningpolitica! and professional leadership and allowing forgraater control in both ureas. Stalin's new program ofsocial organization had been accomplished. The Purgebrought about the consolidation of political power, thesolidification of Stalin's control, ad the elimination ofpotential alternative role, establishing stability andsecurity in the regime. The Communist Party wasstrengthened through regulation of the composition of theParty ( lection of the best elements and discarding of allothers) and through division of Party organizations,which brought leaders closer to the work of the lowerlevels. 19 A final plus of the Purge was that it may havedestroyed the Nazi Fifth Column within Russia, for in1941 there was no evidence of any such organization. 2oIn the eyes of the Soviet people, Stalin was a saviorworthy of glorification, "the actual Sun around whichcommunist constellations evolve," according to Time,November 15, 1937.

Although the Purge achieved many positive results, itwas far from the perfect method of national improvement.It was dedicated to a meaningless terror, instigated by aparanoid despot who used meaningless methods. Thegreat horror was that no one was safe. Insecurity and

nervousness were bred among the masses as well aspersonal mental anguish resulting from loss of relativesand friends. In 1937-1938 about 50% of the Russianpeople were arrested, z Estimates of the death toll from1936-1938 vary from seven million to twenty-threemillion people, a staggering amount. 23 In that period thepurge eradicated 36% of the Party members, 70-75% ofthe secretaries of Party organizations and committeemembers, 80% of the officer corps, and almost 100% ofthe high command.

The Purge duped the world. Because of its secrecy,even Western writers and investigators present at theshow trials, such as Malcolm Cowley of New Republic,were led to believe that the defendants were actuallyguilty of all crimes and deserving of death. No one reallylmew the extent of the Purge.

Stalin's Purge remains a controversial topic today,The positive transformation of the Soviet Union throughthe Purge, as totalitarianism and Stalinism were estab-lished, is awe-inspiring, yet the great price paid by theSoviet people cannot be ignored. The powerful USSR ofmodem times had its roots in the Russia created by thePurge of 1936-1938. So, in a sense, the Purge affects theworld even today. According to Malcolm Cowley, "Theworld is still living in the shadow of Stalin's purge." zs

Endnotes

(

1. Zbigniew K. Brzezinski, The permanent Purge, (Cambridge:Harvard University Press, 1956), 38.

2. Ibid., 65.

3. Ibid., 27.

4. Ibid., 3.

5. Ibid., 14-17.

6. Hdene Carrere d'Eneausse, Order Through Terror, (New york:

Longman, 1983), 218, 219.

7. B rzezinski, 37.

8. Ibid., 8, 26-29, 107.

9. Isaac Deutscher, Stalin, a Political Biography, (London: Oxford

University press, 1949), 376-378.

10. Brzezinrki, 33, 36, 48, 65.

11. Ibid., 20, 21, 24, 43, 45.

12. Robert Payne, The Rise and Fall of Stalin, (New York: AvonBooks, I965), 474, 475, 547, 587.

13. Deutscher, 371.

14. Brezezinski, 55,64, 66, 69, 91, 92.

15. Malcolm Cowley, "Echoes from Moscow 1937-1938," TheSouthern Review 20 (January 1984): 2-4.

16. Deutscber, 379.

17. Brace Franklin, ed., The Essential Stalin: Major TheoreticalWritings, 1905-1952, (Garden City, New York: Doubleday andCompany, Inc., 1972), 29.

18. Cowley, 6.

19. Brezezinsld, 91,104-115.

20. Fran!din, 29.

21. "Our S/m!" Time, 15 November 1937, 22.

22. Cowley, 6.

23. Payne, 473.

24. Brzezinski,98 100.

25. Cowley, 11.

14 • The Wittenberg History Journal

Bibliography

Brzezinski, Zbigulew K. The Permanent Purge. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 1956.A basis for the paper, useful for its explanation of the role of thepurge in t siitariaulsm during Stalin's iule.

Carrere d' Eneausse, Helene. Stalin: Order Through Terror New

York: Longman, 1983.Beneficial for its treatment of Stalin's ideohigy, his cult of

personality.

Conquest, Robert. The Great Terror: Stalin's purge of the Thirties.Toronto, Ontario: The MaeMJJima Company, 1968,A wod¢ that details the Purge of the 1930's - its introduction washelpful for its description of the Purge as it affects Russia today.

Fitzpatridq S. "Stalin nd the Making of a New Elite 1928-1939." TheSlavic Review 38 (September 1979): 377-402.Traces Stalin' s Five Year Plans and shows how they helped createa new class - the new intelligentsia - which took over administra-

lion and Party.

Frmfldin, Bruce, ed. The Essential Stalin: Major Theoretieal Writings,1905-1952. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company,

Inc., 1972.Useful for its intreducdon in which Franldin, an avid Commtmist,talms a supportive approach toward Stalin, justifying his every

E[IOVe.

Cowley, Malcolm. "Echoes From Moscow 1937-1938." The SouthernReview 20 ( ranuary 1984): 1-I 1.Fascinating article - Cowley regrets that he was deceived by theshow trials he attended from 1936-1938 as a magazine correspon-

dent.

"Our Saul" Time, 15 November 1937, 22.Benefinial in its description of the glorification of Stalin by theCommunist people during the Purge.

"Crack! Crack?' Time, 24 February 1936, 21.Article useful for its description of how Pl vda "cracked down" onRussians Bci garin and Shostavich as anti-Partyiats.

Deatscber, Isaac. Stalin, a Political Biography. London: OxfordUniversity Press, 1949.Complete, thorough treatment of Stalin's life through 1948.

. Useful for Bs greatly detailed descriplion of the Purge.

Payne, RoberL The Rise and Fall of Stalin. New york: Avon Books,1965.Useful for its detailed treatment of the show trials and what wasbehind the scenes," as wcil as for an estimate of the Purge's death

toll.

The Boss and His People in 1938, during the terror. Front row (left to righO: Shkiryaov, Beria, Khruschehev, and Stalin.Back row: Zhdanov and Malenkov.

Review of Black FtainTroy Stal rd, senior, philosophy major

Dr. Ct "teld, Wi er 1990

Ibuse, Maanji. BlaekRain. Translated by John Buster.Tokyo: Kedansha International, 1969.

Black Rain is a powerful and moving story about thebombing of Hiroshima and its effects upon the people.But in the larger sense, the book is much more, for, inBlack Rain, we witness the forces of life that constantlyinteract, producing a tension that helps define ourexistence. Ibuse shows us the complex cycle of life anddeath, perseverance and surrender, and compassion andanger that become magnified as a result of the atomicbomb. Through the use of imagery we get a glimpse ofthese forces, which give the book a dual nature: that ofopposite xealities. Therefore, it will be necessary toexplore the use of imagery with regard to these dynamicforces, ff we want to truly undersland, both cognitivelyand emotionally, the nature of Black Rain.

Throughout the novel the images of life and death arethe most obvious to the reader, They evoke la-emeadouslyfeeling responses; because we only experience fife, andwe are afraid of death - it is the unknown. The images oflife and death are used to illustrate the cycle of creation,death, and rebirth that is cenlxal to the novel. The imageof carp-rearing is an example of rebirth and an affirmationof life after such a eataslzophie disaster. We only knowhow to live; it is constantly our overriding concern.Whether this is good or had cannot be fully known;nevertheless, it is all human beings can do. To quoteIbuse, "I glanced at the calendar with its message for theday. 'Never say die,' it said." (p.g4) Images of death,along with that horror, destruction, violence, etc., evokeemotions of sadness and pain. We feel for the victims ofsuffering, especially when we make death more personalby thinking about how we would feel if this terriblecatastrophe were happening to people we loved. Forexample, it is hard to bear the thought of my father "halfsupporting around the waist, half dragging, a womanwhose face, arms, and chest were covered with blood. Ateach step the man took, the woman's head lolled heavilybackwards and forwards or from side to side. Both lookedas though they might expire at any moment, but they werejostled mercilessly by the throng." (p.58) In personalizing

the situation, these images become particularly effectivefor me, and I lose my scientific attitude about war.Instead of presenting the image of a necessary andjustified act, Ibuse shows the other side, the reality ofdropping the bomb. It is important to note that Ibuse doesnot blame or moralize, he just describes the forces of lifeand death. This leads to the book's philosophy which "isneither pessimistic nor optimistic... [but rather] life-affirming."

The second paradox involves the conflicting imagesof perseverance and surrender. I am not merely talkingabout World War II, but of the human condition ingeneral. For, in Black Rain we see both images insturming detail. It is easy to see the connection betweenthis conflict and that of life and death, because persever-ance is an attribute of life, while surrender is central todeath. So, here again we see both sides of the scenario -not just an optimistic or pessimistic view. Often, thehuman spirit continues to persevere even in unimaginablesituations, lil¢e the situation the poor citizens of Hko-shima faced, and it is this drive to live that is especiallylife-affirming. The best of many images of perseverancecomes from the account of Dr. Iwatuke, who refused todie: "Every day I had a tempemtare of 104. My whitecorpuscle count was two thousand, and the flesh steadilyfell from me till I was a skeleton, a riving mummy. Thebums from my back were inordinately painful not tospeak of those on my wrists and ears. Even when one isonly skin and bone, one still feels pain... The debilityreached an extreme pitch; time and time again I lostconsciousness. At times my heartbeat was inaudible andmy respiration seemed to have stopped: a great soredeveloped on my back, and the membrane of the bladdercame away... But I didn't die. It was my wife's cry of

anguish at my bedside that brought me back." (p.269)This inspirational account is a good summary of one ofthe main messages of BlackRain: even after enormousevil and suffering, there is stiU hope for mankind, hopethat comes in the forms of perseverance and compassion.Tragically though, not all of the characters persevere, aswe witness through Yasuko. She gives up hope andresigns herself to death. Because this is the last image we

16 o The Wittenberg History Journal

are left with, Ibuse is trying to show that the dropping ofthe atomic bomb on Hiroshima represented more suffer-ing and death than its opposites, hope and life, althoughboth are present in the story. We are left with an empti-ness, and rightfully so. "Shigematsa looked up. 'If arainbow appears over these hills now, a miracle willhappen,' he prophesied to himself. 'Let a rainbow appear- not a white one, but one of many hues - and Yasuko willbe cured.' So he told himself, with his eyes on the nearbyhills, though he knew all the while it could never cometree." (p.300)

Finally, the images of compassion and anger areconstantly displayed throughout the book. A bond hasbeen formed between the inhabitants of Hiroshima thatwill never be broken. I received a strong sense of thecaring and compassion they each felt for each other, whileI could also sense a mostly submerged sense of anger at

what had happened. These dynamic forces, once again,work to create an atmosphere that is neither optimistic norpessimistic, but both these forces are fife-affirming, forwhat is a be .er aff'trmation of life than human emotionsand feelings. A graphic example of compassion and angeris identified when Ibuse says, "He should have been hereat 8:15 on August 6, when it had all come rote: when theheavens had been rent asunder, the earth had burned, andmen had died. 'Revolting man!'" (p.161) Unlike lbose, Iwould like to end on a note of hope, especially whenconsidering oar present crises. "The young soldiers andcivilians among the patients were all fond of her. Thosewho itched unbearably from maggots in the burns of theirbacks would even wheedle her into scratching for them.Those lonely on the verge of death would call for her, andseveral of them die with their heads cradled on her lap."(0.212)

Hiroshimaby Allan .L Koppenhaver

Chairman English Departmeni

What can a man say when he fills up to drowningwith the anguish of war?

Count off on his fingers, like clothespins, the bodies?Draw out the jagged statistical line across the blank mind?Name Auschwicz, Hiroshima...

The closest I ever got to HiroshimaWas to watch the filmThe Japanese made.The ruins in concrete and fleshMeant tittle more than Hollywood propsAnd it wasn't until the cameraman cutTo the weedpatch of haman bodies trampled on the floor

of that uneven fieldThere in the center of despairStood that childWith only moments of flesh on his arms and !egsStood that childDancing away his life in the jangled rhythm of painStood that childStood that childThe dream demolishing fire rushing through his bloodStood that childThat child.

From the Wittenberg Torch, Volume 55, No 24,1970

The Murders of Three OiviH Rights WorkersLaura A. Dt nikoskJ, junior, history major

Dr. Behrman, Fall 1990

When Michael Schwemer decided he was going to lightfor the fights of black people, he never imagined that oneday the Federal Government would be lighting for his.Schwerner and two other civil rights workers, AndrewGoodman and James Chancy, were lolled because theywanted to free the blacks from white supremacy. In asmall town deep in the uth, these three youths werearrested, lined, abducted, threatened, beaten, and ki!led allin the same night. This intolerable act of terrorismcceun'ed on June 21, 1964, in Nesboba county, in thequiet town of Philadelphia, Mississippi. The killershoped to deter the movement, but instead they gave itnational publicity, only maldng it stronger. The murderswere a violation of civil rights and an important step inthe fight against racism. These men were not only fightingfor the rights of blacks in Mississippi, but for citizenseverywhere.

At the age of twenty four Schwemer already believedin the goodness of all men and had devoted himself tohumanity. Although he had a Jewish background, hebelieved lfimself to be an atheist: IIe did not believe inGod, but he did believe in God's creation. He felt everyman had the potential to be good. Sehwerner and hiswife Rita went to Mississippi from their home in NewYork City, because they believed, like many other civilrights workers, in the slogan, "Crack Mississippi and YouCan Crack the Sooth!"3 They were assigned to a blackcommunity in Meridian by the Congress of RacialF_xtuafity, or CORE. They opened a community center andhelped blacks register to vote.

Schwcrner was not alone in his fight for humanity.James Chancy, a twenty - one year old black man fromMeridian, worked with Schwemer at the communitycenter, and also joined CORE. The other victim, AndrewGoodman, was twenty years old when he left New YorkCity to volunteer for the Mississippi Project. All threemen met first in Oxford, Ohio, at the Western College forthe Mississippi Project. They taught techniques to thevolunteers on how to get the black man to vote, and howto avoid violence from the white supremacists. 4

Schwerner and Chaney left Oxford, Ohio on June 20because they heard about the burning of the Mount Zion

Methodist Church in Longdale, Mississippi. Schwemcrhad spoken, just weeks before, at this black church "aboutthe idea of the One Man, One Vote," campaign, whichpushed for the regisbration of black voters. 5 They droveto Schwerner's home and the next day they drove intoNeshoba county to the site where the church had oncestood. On their way out of the county, Deputy SheriffCecil Price pulled them over for speeding.

Price arrested Schwerner on speeding charges around4:30 p.m., and held the other two men for investigation.They were all freed at 10:30 p.m. after Schwerner paid atwenty dollar fine. 6 The Deputy allegedly escorted themout of town, and that was the last he saw of them. Onceon the road towards Meridian, they were chased byseveral men in cars, and finally forced to pull over.Schwerner and Goodman were taken from the cur andimmediately shot. The killers thought it was a waste oftime to kill a "Mississippi coon," so they beat Chaney up,but eventually shot him anyway. Some of the conspira-tors took Schwerner's car to a swamp on the outskirts ofPhiladelphia, and burned it. The others toolc the bodies toa predetermined grave at a dam under conslxuction andburied them with a bulldozer.

Two days later a telephone tip about the car enabledthe FBI to conduct a searzh for the missing civil rightsworkers. On August 2, the FBI found the badly decom-posed bodies in the earthen dam. They paid their informer$30,000 for the information that led them to the corpses. The FBI suspected the Ku IqAnx Klan of these murders. Itwas an unfortunate coincidence that Chancy andGoodman were with him when he entered Neshobacounty. 0

Two men, James Edward Jordan, 38, and HoraceDoyle Bamelte, 26, informed the FBI of the detailedaccounts of the murders of the three civil rights workers.Jordan, a construction worker, was the White Knight ofthe Ku Klux Klan, and Bamette, a truck driver, was thestar witness, n On December 4, twenty-one men werearrested on their testimonies and charged with "conspir-acy to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate the threevictims in the flee exercise and enjoyment of rightssecured to them by the Constitution and the laws of the

18 o The Wittenberg History Journal

United States." 12 These men, Philadelphia's SheriffLaurence Rainey and Deputy Cecil price, plus otheralleged Klan members, could not be charged by theFBI with a federal crime: the violation of civil rights.The Ku Klux Klan members knew that no jury ofwhite men would convict another white man of civilrights abuses. 13

They were right. U.S. Commissioner EstherCarter dismissed the charges on the grounds that thetestimony was hearsay. It was predicted by the FBIthat no violation of civil rights ease would byprosecuted in "segregationist Mississippi." 14 Thereign of terror by white supremacists made it impos-sible for anyone to convict state law officials andKlan members. Again on January 18, 1965, the FBIarrested sixteen men, plus Rainey and Price, forconspiring to deprive Schwemer, Chaney, andGoodman of their civil rights. This time U.S. DistrictJudge William Harold Cox dismissed the felonycharges. He said, "The indictment surely states aheinous crime against the state of Mississippi, but nota crime against the United States." 1

Three years and four months after the murders,the Federal Government once again tried to prosecuteeighteen alleged conspirators. They were all membersof the KKI(, and it was very unlikely that they wouldbe found guilty by a jury of their peers. Judge Coxwas presiding over the trial. The jury was out forthree days in disagreement, and when they returnedthey had a surprising verdict. The jurors found six ofthe seven men guilty of being at the murder site,including Deputy Cecil Price, the others were foundnot guilty. Although this verdict was a compromise,it proves that Mississippians believed in justice. 16

Michael Schwerner, James Chancy, and AndrewGoodman, were killed because the white man inMississippi had so much hate for anyone who tried toprove a black man was as good as a white man. Theyfought for all humanity and believed in the civilrights that were guaranteed by law. These civil rightsworkers did not accomplish much in their short lives,but because of their deaths, nothing was to be thesame in Mississippi, for blacks or whites.

Endnotes

1. "The Grim Roster," Tbne, 3 July 1964, 19-20,

2. William Bradford, Huie, Three Lives for Mississippi (NewYork: The New Atnerican Library, 1965), 31-32

3. ]bid., 36.

4. "The Grim Roster," Time, 3 July 1964, 19 20.

5. Huie. Three Lives for Mississippi, (New york: The NewAmerican Library, 1965), 77.

6. ]bid., 14.

7. ]bid., 1-7.

8. "Race Troubles in the South: Bogies found, arrests made in a

'summer of discontent,' "U.S. News, 17 August 1964, 6.

9. Huie. ?Untold Story of the Mississippi Murders :' SattrdayEvening Post, 5 September 1965, 11.

10. Huie. Three Lises for Mississippi, 96.

11. "Very Good Fulks,"Newsweek, 25 lanuary 1965, 25-29.

12.. "Mass Arrests in Civil Rights Killing s," U.S. News, 14

Dece rnber 1964, 11.

13. "Philadelphia Indictrnents," Time, 9 October 1964, 29.

14. "Jesus, No! preliminary Hearing of Civil Rights Murder Casein Meridian, Mississippi,"Newsweek, 21 December 1964, 21,

15. "True to Form," Time, 5 March 1965, 25.

16. Huie. Three Lives for Mississippi, 160.

Bib iog 'paph '

"A Crh-n e Called Conspiracy," Time 11 December 1964, 29-30.

"The Grim Roster," Time 3 July 1964, 19-20.

Ituie, William Bradford. Three Lives for Mississippi, New York: The

New Amefican Library, 1965.

......... . "Untold Story of the Mississippi Murders." Saturday

Evening Post 5 September 1965, 11-15.

"Jesus, No! preliminary hearing of civil fights murder case in Meridiau,Mississippi," Newsweek 21 December 1964, 21-22.

Johnson, G.W. "Judgement in Mississippi," U.S. News 14 December

1964, 11.

"Mississippi Murders," America 30 Jaruary 1965, 153.

"Night and Day in Mississippi," Christian Century 16 December 1964,1550.

"Philadelphia Indictments," Time 19 October 1964, 29.

"Race Troubles in South: Bodies found, arrests made In 'suma er ofdisco atent,'" U.S. News 17 August 1964, 6.

"True to Form," Time 5 March 1965, 25.

m.

0

3

Ame iean Theatre in the 1960s: An Attempt atRevolutien°

Beth Snowberge ; senior english majorDr. Ortquist, Spring 1990

The theatre, like every other art form, exists in a constantstate of upheaval. New m-fists iebel against the conven-tions of the art that came before them, and, if successful,become the estabfishment against which the next genera-tion rebels in turn. Because of the intensity of unrest inthe ranks of youth, especially artistically-minded youth, inthe 1960's, this period stands out in the lfisto ofAmerican theatre. Although America has never beenconsidered a major force in the world of theatre, theinnovations of new companies, Off Off Broadway, andHappenings captm'ed national and international notice(though not all of it positive). New definitions of theatreenvh'onments, styles, themes, media, ,'tad audiences,however, could not be ignmwl and, indeed, insph'ed thosetheatre-lovers who were discern'aged by the commercial-ism of Broadway and Off Broadway.

Nearly eve!21 critic writing during the 1960's agreedthat Broadway was a stagnant institution, destroyed by alack of originality caused by sky-high production costs.Because every Broadway show was a multi-million dollargamble, experimentation could have been disastrous.Alfred Hansen, a creator of Happenings and experimentalart, remarked that Broadway existed "in terms of realestate and property and [was] entirely licking in nerve."In reaction against this decline, the privately subsidizedRepertory Theatre of Lincoln Center came into being in1963 in order to eliminate commercial pressures fromAmerican high thea , Unfortunately, direction of theLincoln Center company fell to Ella Kazan and RobertWhitehead, two major figures of Broadway who repeateAtBroadway's problems instead of solving them; these twodir(ctors resigned the next year. I-Ierbert Blan and JulesIrving took over, hying to pull Lincoln Center up to therepertory standards they had p eviously established at theSan Francisco Actor's Workshop.

Even Off Broadway houses, which had been the greatavant-garde creation around 1912, began to use Equityactors and elaborate sets in the 1950's, resulting in higherticket prices and, consequently, less bold experhnentation.In fact, Broadway and Off Broadway often ran the sameshows, breaking them in for each other. For this reason,the Off Broadway groats, such as Edward Albee, Samuel

Beckett, and Jean Genet, became to young playwrightsand directors a relatively conservative element in NewYork theatre. 4

The theatre movement in the 1960's, however,produced two major independent companies, the LivingTheatre and the Open The, age. The Living Theatre wascreated in 1959 by Julian Beck and his wife, JudithMarina, and became known thmughbnt the 1969's for itsconfrontational style and emphasis on non-verbal acting.tvlembers of the troul- lacked formal training in acting,but rived together as a group, studied body moverneatcontrol, and developed a profound sense of ensemble, sAlthough Beck and Maiina created plays (in a loose senseof the word) rather than relying solely on improvisation,these plays were highly unconventional and involveddh-ect verbal and occasionally physical interaction withthe audience in order to create a "new spectator.''6 Theirmost famous work, Paradise Now, is described by thecompany as "a Rite, a Vision, and an Action."7 As thisdefinition implies, they placed little emphasis on adher-ence to verbal text and often used words only for theirsound patterns. The pace of the "action" was Often veryslow and the members of the group seemed excessivelyangry and aggressive, which tried the patienso of somecritics, including James Schevill, despite his respect forthe originality of their concepts.9 In 1964, Beck and.Malina found themselves in trouble with the IRS andwere jailed for a short time for contempt of court. Upontheir release, the company regrouped and toured inEmope. They still exist, still advocate non-violent socialrevolution, and are now based in France. o

The Open Theatre, an experimental troupe led byJoseph Chaikeu, began in 1963 and was influenced by diecartier wodc of the Living Theatre. Chaikan maintaineda similar philosophy that the events of the theatre shouldbe "experienced," not watched, and that text was not themost important element of drama. 2 Like the LivingTheatre, The Open Theatre developed a ritualistic dramabased upon emotions and employed "vertical time," aconcept in which people of all historical times areconnected by myths and archetypal images. 3 Unlike theLiving Theatre, however, the Open Theatre utilized

.......... (

American Theatre in the 1960s: An Attempt at Revolution • 21

actions with quick, tense rhythms that seemed morealamnd te American urban life. They also strove for moreunity between word and action, rather titan focusing uponaction alone, i4 For this reason, the Open Thealre was amore rounded theatrical experiment than the more popolarand long-lived Living Theatre.

The heart of the theatre revointiun however, was OffOff Broadway, distinct from Off Broadway by "some$19,980 [pe predecfion] and a deep ardsfic chasm." isTiny theaters sp g up in dm coffee houses and lofts ofNew York City, the frost "official" Off Off Broadwayhouse being the Care Clue, opened by Joe Cino inGreenwich Village in !960. Most or all of the actorswere amateur, the playwrights were brand new, and thedirectors were unpracticed, but all were s clally-awamrisk-takers. Many of these artists wexe influenced by thetheories of Antonin Artaud, the most radical artisticexperimenter of the 1930's in Paris. He called for "nomore masterpieces" and the substitution of"culture," auniversal, unifying expression, for "art," a singalar,divisive expression.17

Frodnctions most often consisted of a"short, incisiveplay form dealing with the subject matters of a cultooriented underground:' and, like the Living and OpenTheatres, strove to actively involve thek small audiences,usually made up of young liberals. ,8 They also shared theview that "physical motion is spontaneous while languageis reflective," thus "repudiating words as restraints on theffeedurn of the theatrical occasion." 19 The ultimateexpression of tiffs physicality was, of course, sex, and theSexual Revolution diminished the taboos that would havestifled sexual contact as a form of theatrical communica-tion. Many productions involved nudity, several incorpo-rated miming of sexual acts, and a few resulted inaudience members s ipping to participate in "groupgropes."2° Political issues were also addressed, and anti-war drama reached its height in 1969 with the productionof three major plays: Viet Rock, a reaction against theVietnam war; Dynamite Tonight, a repudiation of theCold War; and MacBird, a parody of MacBeth usingAmerican political figures.

Politics al entered Off Off Broadway in a moresabre manner. The New Politics of most fringe artistsconsisted of a translation of their vision from a participa-tory democracy into an egalitarian approach to theatre. Inpart, they were disgusted by what they viewed as acapitalist mass mciety intent upon world domination.Fringe artists reacted by creating their own artistic worldsin which each element---actor, direeter, audience mem-

ber-was given equal creative power. Clusely-kditcompanies and small theater spaces that didn't havelighting to separate audience from stage were crucial tothe realization of this ideal. These elements, whencombined with the energy and creative spirit of newplaywrights such as Sam Sbepard, drew the admiration

of previously jaded New York critics and bohemianthealre-goem.

The Third Theatre, however, bad the paradoxicalmisfortune of becoming popular. For the first time in thetdstery of American theatre, the fringe element becamedie "glass of fashion and the mold of form." zz By 1967 or1968 (daWs arc impossible to pin down in this type ofanalysis), style became less experimental and moredepeadem upon the themes established by the avanbgardeartists earlier in the decade. Off Off Broadway tried, in itsown shueldng way, to please its own followers just asBroadway bad tried to eater to its middle class audience.

Although fringe artists claimed to be influencedby the non-conformist concepts of Polish director JerzyGrotewski, Grotowsld himself condemned them asimitative and stated that they clung to five or six"pet slogans" based upon'"group hysteria" instead ofvitalism, z Robert Braatein, one time admirer of theThird Theatre (his name for Off Off Broadway), echoesthis sentiment. He grew to feel that these productionswere dominated by "stereotyped political assertions" and"simple-minded nihilism." u

Luckily for the broad sweep of the theatre movement,artistic development did not limit itself to the New Yorkenvironment; regional experiments flourished. Eventstook place across the nation, the most publicized beingOtto Piene's Boston "sky events," George Brecht's"events," "environmental happenings" in Los Angeles,street-pasade-house events in Washington, SanFrancisco's Bread and Puppet Theatre, and the formationof Ann Haiprin's Performance Community and RichardScbachner's Performance Group in New York. z New"properties" came into use in American theatre: balloons,sculpture, and outdoor settings, to name but a few of theless shocking. In 1966, a nine-evening piece performed atthe 69th Regiment Armory Festival in New York in-volved music, dance, painting, film, television, andadvanced technology, thus introducing new combinationsof media to the stage. James Schevill even proposed a"Living Room Thence" to replace television in privatehomes, z7 As diverse as they were, all of these conceptshad in common the goal of unifying a community througha participatory theaa'ieal event.

Perbaps the most talked-about and bizarre newdevelopment of the 1960's, however, was the Happening.Historically, the concept of a Happening is reminiscent oftim Dadaist movement of the 1920's. The term was coinedin 1959 by the firat and greatest Happening-creater, AllenKaprow. Finding a concrete definition, though, is achore. Michael Kirby, for example, himself the creator ofa few Happenings, defines a Happening as "a form oftheatre in which diverse elements, including nonmallixedperforming, are organized in a compartmented structure"with an "alogical function." He explains that "nooma-trixed" refers to the ambiguity or elimination of an

22 • The Wittenberg History Journal

established time and place, while "compartmentedstructure" is the organization of a Happening intoindividual, self-contained units of action, z9 Even with theseeming complexity of this definition, Kirby admitted thatseveral Happenings do not conform to it. Martin Esslintried for a more generalized definition, stating that aHappening was a "poetic vision that was lived through inthree-dimensional space and biological time." Consid-ering the ambiguity of this attempt, perhaps the mostaccurate definition must be attributed to the New YorkPark Department, who stated in the Wall Street Journal ofNovember 14, 1966, that "if you can def'me it, it's not atrue Happening." 31

In fact, Happenings took many forms. Some, includ-ing those of Kaprow, tended to be fur more rehearsed andformal than the public realized. z Others planned only abasic action or theme and left the participants to impro-vise the rest. At a California university, for instance, aresident Happening artist invited the student body to alarge parking lot, divided them into two groups, gave onegroup a large vat of peanut butter and the other a vat ofjelly, then let them do with it what they would23 SalvadorDali created a Happening in New York in which heopened a manhole, then lowered himself down into the

sewer in a basket, inviting spectators and members of thepress to join him. In these instances, Kirby's criteria of"alogical function" seems to be satisfied. Critic NicholasCalas goes so far as to declare that "Happenings thrive onthe death of ideology." These events captured theAmerican fancy because of their eccentric, often humor-ous "themes," which relieved the tension of the moreintense avant-garde drama.

The impact of these Happenings and new theatremovements was undeniabler The conventional drama ofBroadway and Off Broadway no longer satisfied sincereart lovers who saw that intellect and emotion could bothbe expressed in bold new ways. University theaters alsobegan to value experimentation more than traditionaldramatic training.

The ultimate goals of the movement were notrealized. It did, indeed, shatter the stagnant theatricaltradition, but instead of continuing to develop in newdirections, it allowed itself to become its own stagnanttradition. By the end of the 1960's, rapid expansion andexperimentation had slowed and artists obeyed Artand'sdemand for "no more masterpieces" in its most real andnegative sense. Thus, a revolution occurred, but did notfulfill the hopes of those who had fought for it.

April 7-11, UT presented"America Hurrah" which wasdesigned by Steve Rausch. Itwas done in three parts: '°rv,""interview" and "Motel," and

is a portrait of American life asa horror story of the plasticage. Director Bob Herrig statedthat if the play were a success,it would drive the audienceaway wanting to vomit andnever wanting to enter thetheater again.

American Theatre in the 1960s: An Attempt at Revolution ° 23

Endn s

l. Alfred E. Hansen, A Primer of Happening and The /Space Art(New York: Something Else Press, Inc., 1965), 6.

2. Robert Brustffm, Seasons of Disco zte : Drara Mc Opiniom2959-1965 (New York: Alfred A, Knopf, 1965), 18-20.

3. Speech of Harvey Dzraaser, American Drama, Wittenberg,

Spring 1990.

4. Alvin B. Keman, The Modertz American Theater (Englew odCliffs, N.L: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1967), 116.

5. James Schevill, Break Out] In Search of New TheatricalEnvironments (Chin.ago: The Swallow Press, Inc., 1973), 306.

6. Bmstaln, Seasons of DL coutent. 32,

7 Schevin, 305.

8. Damaser, speech.

9. Schevill, 303, 312.

10. Damaser, speech.

11. Ibid.

12. Scbevill, 337.

13. Damaser, speech.

14. Sebevill, 337.

15. Keman, 113.

16. Ibid., 119.

17. Brustein, The Third Theatre (New York: Alfred A. Kncrpf,1969), 18-19.

18. Scbevill, 186.

t9. Bmstdm, Third Theatre, 40.

20. William L O'N(Ill, Coming Apart (New York: Times Books,1971), 211-212.

21. Bmstein, Third Theatre, 35, 39.

22. Ibid., xi.

23. Brasteha, The Culture Watch: Essays on Theutre and Society,1969-1974 (New York: Alfred A. l opf 1975), 4-5.

24. Bmsteh , Third Theatre, at.

25, Douglas Davis, "Art as Act." Art in America (March 1970), 31.

26. Lil Pieard, "Up mad Down Mad Avenue." Arts Magazine(November 1966), 8.

27. ScheviU, 121.

28. Martin EssInl, "The Happening," in Break OUt! In Search ofNew TheatricalEnvironments by James Scbeidl (Chicago: The SwallowPress, Inc., 1973), 205 and 205, and Lawrence Alloway, "Art InEscalation." Arts Magazine (December 1966), 40.

29. Michael Kirby, Happenings (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co.,Inc., 1965), 13, 16, 21.

30. Esslin, 201.

31. Quoted in Alloway, 43.

32. Hansen, 7.

33. Damaser, speech.

34, Anon, "Note From the Underground." Arts Magazine (March

1966), 13.

35. Nicholas Calas, "Spectacles for Bohemia."Arts Magazine

(February 1967), I3.

36. Bmstffm, Culture Watch, 168.

Bibliography

Alinway, Lawrence. "Art in Escalation." Arts Magazine 41:3 (December1966), 40-43.

An0 . "Note From the Underground." Arts Magazine 40:5 (March1966), 13.

Brastein, Robert. The Cdutre Watch: Essays on Theatr and Society,1969-1974, New york: Alfred A Knopf, 1975.

• Season, s of Discontetzt: Dramatic Opinions 1959-1965,New York: Simon arid Schuster, 1965.

• The Third Theatre, New York: Alfred A. IGaopf, 1969.

Calas, Nicholas. "Spectacles for Boherma." Arts Magazine 41:4

(February 1967), 13.

Speech of Harvey Damaser on American Drama, Wittenberg University,Winter 1990.

Davis, Douglas. "Art as Act."Art in America 58:2 (March 1970), 31.

Esslin, Martin. "The Happening." In Break Out! [n Search of NewTheatrical Environraeuts by James Schevill. Chicago: TheSwallow Press, Inc., 1973.

Hansen, Alfred E. A Primer of Happenings and Space/Time Art, NewYork: Something Else Press, Inc., 1965.

Lion, John. "A:Theatre of Iconogmphy." in Break Ota ! ltz Search of NewTheatricalEnvironments, by James Schevill. Chicago: TheSwallow Press, Inc., 1973.

Keman, Alvin B. The Modern Araerican Theater, Englewood CILffs,N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967.

Kirby, Michael. Happenings, New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc.,

1965.

O'Ndlll, William L. Coming Apart, New York: Times Books, 197i.

Pieard, Lil, "Up and Down Mad Avenue." Arts" Magaziee 41:!(November 1966), g.

Scbevill, James. Break Out] In Search of New Theatrical Environments,Chicago: The Swallow Press, Inc., 1973.

Honda Oomin!il to OhioJill Titmas, senior, east asian major

Dr. Ortquist, Fall J990

On a flat piece of land that was once acornfield, in one long, low beige-coloredbuilding set behind towering dale trees, moreautomobiles were being manufactured than inany other plant, in any single location, anywherein America. They were being built by tin'eethousand high-school graduates straight off thefarm, by former waitresses, barbers, and storeclerks, almost all of whom had never worked onan assembly line before. Their average age wastwenty-eight, all rived within thirty miles of theplant, and only four of them were union mem-bers.

David Gelsanliter, Jump Start

based on four different parts: 1) Now market develop-ment, in order to understand the potential needs of thecustomer and of societies; 2) Employee integrationwith management, in pursuit of a common goal;3) Internationalization and local community relations, tobe recognized as good corporate citizens; and4) Direct approaches towards corporate goals andproblem solving--free from all precedents, customs, or

popular views. 4 Moreover, when Larry Miller, author ofAmerican Spirit: Visions of aNew Corporate Culture,addressed HAM's associates during a company visit, hesaid;

The time was 1980 and the place was Marysville,Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, when Honda of AmericaManufacturing, Inc. (HAM) made the historic announce-ment that it would construct an automobile plant on a siteadjacent to the three-year old Honda motorcycle facility.The decision represented a new era in U.S. motor vehiclemanufacturing, because for the first time in history, aJapanese automaker decided to build cars in the UnitedStates. "The Honda decision was years in the making,initiated !ong before international economics and talk oftrade restraints suggested such action to others." 1 InDecember of 1980, ground was broken for the $250million, one million square foot facility. Today, the"Marysville Auto Plant is the most integrated automanufacturing plant in North America. The mammothbuilding houses stamping, welding, painting, plasticinjection molding, assembly, quality assurance and otheroperations." 2 Thus, Honda of America has given theOhio economy a "symbolic boost" and the "nearbycommunities a big shot in the arm." 3 The constructionand planning of the Marysville Auto Plant represented thefirst stage in Honda's growth a company willing to takerisks and move fast.

In essence, Honda's unique corporate philosophytowards achieving goals and solving problems is theirrecipe for success. According to Executive Vice Presi-dent, Hideo Sugiura, Honda's "Company Principle" is

I have found that in every healthy corporateculture there is a common understanding of thephilosophy, values and visions upon whichdecisions and practices arc based. The manage-ment practices the structure, systems, skills,,styles and symbols--are consistent with thephilosophy. This is clearly the case at HAM. Thus, by applying their own particular corporatephilosophy Honda has not only become thefourth largest manufacturer of automobiles in theUnited States and a leading exporter of automo-biles from the United States to Japan, but also aconsolidated corporate identity.

Unfortunately, fear and prejudice marked theattitudes fostered by several Americans and industrialleaders when the Japanese auto-companies, like Honda,made plans to build cars in the United States. Questionslike these: "So how high are the Japanese really aiming?Was it merely a foothold in the American auto industrythey were seeking when they began cars here, or domi-nance?" 7 However, to understand these questions andapparent fears, one must realize the United States' motorvehicle history throughout the late 1970's and early1980's. First of all, it was no mystery that 1980 was aterrible year for the United States' motor vehicle industry.Retail sales of domestic cars and trucks were at a 19-yearlow of 8.3 million units. For the first nine months,General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler each lost $1.5 billion

Honda Coming to Ohio o 25

before taxes. In two years' time, almost 2,300 domesticdealers [went] out of bnainess and some 140 parts plants[had] been closed. And, for most of [1980], the effects ofauto unemployment [had] been costing the Americaneconomy close to one million jobs. 8 Furthermore, theeconomy was facing a recession, associated with highgasoline prices, rising interest rates and inflation. In thespring of 1979, the Iranian Revolution convinced theAmerican public that the high gas prices were a reality,and the need for smaller, compact ears would be anecessity. The Japanese "having lived with highgasoline prices for years--had always concentrated onsmall cars and had been steadily raising productioncapacity for auto exports." 9 Thus, Japan's Honda plantwas already prepared for the change in the U.S. domesticdemand.

Yet, the widespread distress was not caused byforeign imports alone. "The H.S. International TradeCommission concluded in November 1980 that increasedauto imports to the United States had not been the causeof the American automobile industry's crisis." lo Nor didthe industry's misery represent a marketing problem forGeneral Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. The Japaneseautomakers, particularly Honda, "penelrated the veryheart of the domestic industry, challenging managerialmindsets and traditional, often obsolete, relations betweenproducers and suppliers, management and labor." 11 Thus,

while the Big Three's share of the market had droppedwithin the last twelve years, the Japanese car companieswere on the "verge of taking over the American autoindustry." 2 For several years the Detroit auto-malersdominated production, technology, labor relations, "anddrew into its orbit thousands of suppliers dedicated tostamping, welding, and forging metal. If you thonght cars,you thought Detroit." 13

In the case of Honda, their dedication and commit-ment to America was and still remains genuine. FormerGovernor James A. Rhodes spoke on December 2, 1980at the Marysville Auto Plant ground-breaking ceremoniesAt the ceremony he said,

Honda's continued investment here sends apositive signal to other companies who may wishto take advantage of the state's work force andcentralized location, is

Honda made the decision to manufactureautomobiles in America long before the questionof foreign imparts was an economic issue orconcern in this country. Ohio and Honda have arelationship that will grow stronger in the yearsahead, because we want to prove to the worldthat through cooperation and goodwill we canachieve any goal. 14

Furthermore, a 1987 Columbus Dispatch lead editorialarticle read:

Anyone who might have been skeptical aboutHonda's commitment to industrial expansion inOhio may now move to the rear of the class...

Honda took a risk in constructing the MarysvilleHonda Plant and realized that the company could proba-bly be more successful in the United States, consideringJapan's "land prices had skyrocketed, the government wasstill unfriendly, and Toyota and Nissan had a monopolyon the best sales outlets." 16 In 1972, Honda's purchasingadvisor, Shige Yoshida, came to the United States topossibly buy American companies to make parts forcertain Honda products. Yoshida met with GovernorRhodes who pitched Ohio, and James Danrk (director ofthe state economic and community departmea0, whodis buted a packet of inducements. "The inducementsdetailed why Ohio was the place to build an auto plant.The state was the transportation center of America; it waswithin five hundred miles of two thirds of the U.S. andCanadian populations. It had low taxes, a skilled workforce, and had been among the first states to complete anatwork of interstate highways." 7 Eventually, the plants'construction culminated six years of planning, "duringwhich many factors were weighed. Those which tippedthe scale in favor of an Ohio location were a ready supplyof skilled labor, close proximity to a large number of partssuppliers, and a genuine pro-business attitude at the stateand local levels." 1 Eventually, Honda's executivesreached their final decision, also at a time when the U.S.auto manufactures were "drtunming up congressionalsupport for restrictions on automobile imports, which [in1980 accounted] for 20 percent of the U.S. market." 19Nonetheless, at the slant of 1980, Honda had built itsMarysville motorcycle, auto and engine plants with a totalcapital investment of $2 billion.2°

The second stage in HAM's successful growth periodwas on November 1, 1982, with the production of theAccord 4-door sedan. Soon after, the Reagan administra-tion imposed import quotas on Japanese cars. Yet, theappeal for the new Honda Accord, in addition to othermodels, was so incredible that "[In 1985,] buyers [waited]up to six months to get their hands on one, and buyerswould pay dealers $500 to $3,000 more than the stickerprice for some models." 2

In fact, Car and Driver magazine had picked theHonda Accord as one of its "Ten Best Cars of the Year."The HondaAccord bad been rated in Car and Driversince 1983 and continued through 1984, '85, '86, '87, and'88, every year manufactured at Marysville. In making its1988 selections, the magazine editors wrote: "In case youhaven't noticed, Honda is rapidly becoming an Americancar company... The car that has made much of thispossible is the Accord. This is the compact sedan thatfeels right to both import and domestic buyers." z By

26. The Wittenberg History Journal

1989 the Honda Accord was rated as America's numberone selling car, according to industry sales reports, withsales of 362,707 units. Gelsanliter said that an article inThe Washington Post described tile Honda Accord as"America's dream car." The writer said:

Two ldds, a cat or a dog, cable TV, a healthclub, a home in the suburbs, and a Honda in thedriveway. It doesn't get any better than that formost Americans. The car in the drive way wouldhave been a 1957 Chevy once, or a 1965Mustang, but last year 362,707 Americanfanfilies bought a new Accord. That's 14,000more than bought a Ford Taurus and almost30,000 more than bought a Ford Escort,America's best-selling car in 1987 and 1988. 23

The main issue for Honda in the discrimina-tion complaint was that the company had a"restricted hiring radius that excluded Columbus,thirty eight miles to the Southeast, which hadcenlral Ohio's largest black population. It alsoexchded nearby Springfield and Lima, thatlikewise had sizable black populations." 32 Thus,the people not wilting to move within the hiringradius and risk not getting a guaranteed job,complained instead to the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission.

Eventually, Honda resolved the issue byenlarging its hiring radins "to include Columbus,Lima, and Springfield, agreed to stop givingpreference to applicants referred by its ownassociates, and began seeking references fromblack ministers in the area." 33

Throughout the past twelve years, HAM has sus-tained quality and a strong reputation by structuring itsU.S. operations oo its Japanese companies. For example,before it started building the t986 Accord, Honda "flew200 workers representing all areas of the factory fromMarysville to its plant in Sayama, Japan, near Tokyo,where the new Accord had been in production since thespring [of 1985]."z4 The workers from the Marysvilleplant stayed from two weeks to three months in Japan,and learned the Japanese way of production and manage-menL Hence, when they returned to the United States theytaught their co-workers "how to do it the Sayama way." After only three years of auto production HAM officiallybecame the fourth largest automaker in the United States,"surpassing American Motors Corporations, Volkswagenand Nissan in domestic production."

Honda had also managed to keep the United AutoWorkers (UAW) out of its operations, even though "therewere constant struggles with union organizers." 27 In theearly 1980's, the Big Three and the UAW pressured theJapanese "to build cars in America with anion labor,management and labor assumed they would quicklycreate a level playing field.''= Yet, Honda was notinterested in the UAW and successfully resisted theirorganized attempts at the Honda factory.

Honda had several reasons for not unionizing. Firstof all, Honda generally hires young workers with littleindustrial experience and also hires relatively fewminorities. "As a result, the transplants enjoy lowerhealth care costs and less cosily pension liabilities." 29In 1988, the Equal Employment Opportunity commissionbrought job discrimination charges against HAM. Thus,HAM "paid $6 million to about 370 blacks and women asa result of the charges." 30 According to David Gelsan-liter, in his book Jump Start, "these were people who'were offered and have accepted positions.., but werepreviously not hired at the time of their original applica-tions.'" 3

Of the seven Japanese transplants in America, onlythree are unionized, because they have business relationswith the Big Three companies. HAM workers have notexperienced the rewards of lifelong devotion to thecompany that their Japanese counterparts have. "If theUAW's blandishments persuade enough of them, some ofHonda's cost advantage over Detroit rivals wouldevaporate." 4 Honda prefers to remain neutral, letting theemployee decide whether or not he/she would like to jointhe UAW.

The success of Honda in the United States alsoheavily depended on how they blended their culture withAmericans. Honda took a lot of risks, untypical of mostJapanese companies who were characterized for theirtradition of conformity. Honda can also be seen as the"most entrepreneurial and the least bureaucratic of theJapanese companies." 35 Honda tried to do things inAmerica that it bad not been practicing in Japan. Forinstance, while Nissan was manufacturing its simplest andeasiest-to-build car and truck models in Smyrna, andToyota's NUMMI and Georgetown plants were clones ofits plants in Toyota City, Honda brought to America ahuge production engineering staff as well as combiningseven-engine-maldng operations--a feat it had neverattempted before. Therefore, it was vital to send a largenumber of key Japanese managers and other executives tostay in America for as long as three to five, sometimesseven years or more. "Some [executives] may never gohome." 3v A 1988, April edition of Business Week maga-zine, cited in its cover story that HAM plants are the forcethat "catalyzed a process that can be called the Ameri-canization of Honda." Still, the east-west cultural transi-tion has been difficult for several reasons. According toCleveland's Plain Dealer:

Marysville never did warm up to die idea ofJapanese living in their midst, and consequently

Honda Coming to Ohio • 27

the company's center of operations shifted toBellefontaine, where local residents established acultural center and went out of their way to makethe Japanese feel comfortable. Such courtesycounts for a lot with the Japanese.

According to Gelsanliter, residents of Marysville wereurged to develop the international friendship center. TheMayor of Marysville, Tom Nuckles, told Gelsanliterabout "receiving hate mail, and his wife, Patficia, of beingaccosted in the supermarket and criticized for belping'those people.''3

Furthermore, it is also difficult for some Ar eficansto work with the Japanese because they have troublecommunicating with them. Problems in communicationare caused by the Japanese's ability to understand oneanother without words, and not being direct or up front."Having lived packed together in one small part of a notvery large island, they have learned not to be confronta-tional." ,o Americans feel uncomfortable with theJapanese behavior of being vague and ambiguous.According to Kinko Ito, a former professor of Sociologyat Wittenberg University in 1987/1988, "the Japanese areafraid to call a spade a spade.''4t

In an article from the magazine Business Marketingthe author explained how difficult it was to achieveintercultural understanding. The author compared thesituation to the scenario in the movie "Gang Ho," whichis about how American and Japanese cultures clash in asmall industrial town. "A failing automobile factory hasclosed because of competition from imported Japanesecars. The employees invited a Japanese car maker toreopen the plant and manufacture Japanese cars inAmerica." 42

The movie delineated clashing work ethics in acomical exaggeration. The author of the article saidthat he "wasn't laughing; there was too much truth in it.'Gang Ho' portrayed character u'alts which are amusingonly if you are not assoeiated with those who havethem." 43 Fortunately, at Honda, intercultural misunder-standings have not been a serious problem. According toGelsanfiter, many "Americans at Honda prefer working

for the Japanese to the Americans they had worked forbefore.., and like the identical unifmurs "44

Honda's individualism as a Japanese auto makercould be also reflected in the way the company supportsand promotes environmental issues. For instance, accord-ing to a March issue of Forbes Magazine, Honda iscurrently planning to "reforest most of Ohio." 45 Thewriter poetically described shivering in the knifelike Ohiowinter winds, 1,300 scrawny pines lining the frozen earthoutside Hnnda's Marysville, Ohio manufacturing com-plex. 46 Each tree was planted by a new employee "whosename tag is securely fastened to the trunk." 47 BobWatson, Honda's former plant manager, explained inForbes Magazine that the idea originated in the UnitedStates and as "quickly as the employees' tiny pines takeroot, the factory is growing." *

Evidence has proven that Honda is growing rapidly."In 1983 Marysville produced a mere 55,000 cars." Bythe end of 1984 the auto production rate almost tripled.Honda's growth continued in 1984 by building a factoryin nearby Anna, Ohio, "to make Civic engines; before all1984 Honda engines had been built in Japan." 49 InJanuary of 1986, HAM increased its auto production by20% to a total of 360,000 Accords and Civics a year until1988. "On September 17, 1987, Honda announced itsfive-part strategy for establishing in the United States aself reliant motor vehicle company which would be animportant part of Honda's international operations thathave resources to compete in the world market." 50 Inorder to maintain Honda's competitive edge, the companyhas invested "about 5% of gross sales [in research anddevelopment], compared with an average of 4% for U.S.carmakers. 51

These advances represent Honda's fast-moving andambitious executives and associates. Moreover, itrepresents Honda's determination to be a leader in theindustry that has developed a strong corporate presence inMarysville, Ohio, as well as all over the United States.The company is committed to "innovative products of thehighest quality," and has thus become a model of Ameri-can industry for today's generation and for those tofollow.

Endn tes

(l) HAM History, (MarysviUe: Honda of America Mfg., Inc.,September 1989), 2.

(2) HAM History, 2.

(3) The Spfin eld News and Sun. 3 December 1980.

(4) Robert E. Cole, Work, Mobifity, and Participation (LosAngeles: Universliyof California Press, 1979),43.

(5) Honda Wing, "10th Anniversary 1979-1989" (MarysviUe:Honda of America Mfg,, Inc., September 1989) 2.

(6) Cole, Work, Mobility, and Parlicipalion, 43.

(7) Joe Dirck, "Slow but sure headway." The Plain Dealer, 26August 1990, 9E.

(8) Robert E, Cole, ed., The Japanese Automobile Industry: Modeland Chailenge for the Future? (Michigan Papers in Japanese Studies, no.3, 1981), 43.

(9) Cole, "the Japanese Automobile Industry, 14,

(10) Tetsuo Sakiya, Honda Motor: The Men the Management the

28 • The Wittenberg History Journal

Machines. (Tokyo: Kodansha International Lid., 1982), 14.

(11) James Treece, "Shaking up Detroit." Business Week. 14

August 1989, 30 31.

(12) David Gelsaxfliter, Jump Stare Jawm Comes to the Heartland.(New York: Farrar, Straus & Girou×, 1990), 5.

(13) Treeee, 31.

(14) Honda Wing. 2.

(15) The Columbus Dispatch, January 1981, 5C.

(16) Gelsanliter, 16.

(17) Ibid., 18.

(18) The Springfield News and Sun, 3 December 1980.

(19) Ibidi

(20) HAM History, 2.

(21) Faye Rice, "America's New No. 4 Automaker Honda."Fortune, 28 October 1985, 30-33.

(22) HAM History, 3.

(23) Gelsanliter, 234.

(24) Rice, 31.

(25) Ibid.

(26) Honda Wing, 2.

(27) David Haiberstan, The Reckoning (New York: WilliamMarrow and Company Inc., 1986), 717.

(28) Treece, 3L32.

(29) Ibid., 32.

(30) Ibid., 32.

(31) Gelsanliter, 92,

(32) Ibid., 93.

(33) Ibid., 95.

(34) Rice, 33,

(35) Halberstan, 717.

(36) Gelsanliter, I62.(37) Ibid., 229.

(38) Dirck, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 9E.

(39) Gelsanliter, 230.

(40) Ibid., 170.

(41) Ibid., 157.

(42) James S. Nortellaro, "Japan's Management Imperialism."

Business Ma edng. February 1989, 62.

(43) NorteUaro, 66.

(44) Gelsanfiter, 230.

(45) Michael Cieply, "Meanwhile, back in Marysville." Forbes. 12

March 1984, 127.

(46) Cieply, 127.

(47) Ibid.

(48) Ibid.

(49) Ibid.

(50) Rice, 32.

(51) Ibid.

(52) HAM History, 3.

(53) Ibid., 5.

(54) Ibid.

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