Half of Committee Resigns: Appropriations Withdrawn
Mrs Mary K. Knowles, who was replaced in 1953 a« South Norwood branch librarian because she refused to deny under oath that she was or had been affiliated with the Communist Party has turned up in the little Quaker town of Plymouth Meeting, Pa„ where her employment in a Friends’ library has caused a deep rift in that otherwise peaceful community,
That the former South Norwood Branch librarian is the subject of a bitter controversy at Plymouth Meeting has been confirmed by authorities of that township.
The fact of the matter is that Mrs Knowles, who has been employed as Librarian at the William Jeanes Memorial Library in Plymouth Meeting, has steadfastly refused to sign a Pennsylvania Loyalty Oath. This has touched off a sharp conflict that has already resulted in resignations of four of the eight members of the Friends’ Library Committee which employed her.
Offer to Come to Norwood
Furthermore, the Commissioner« of Plymouth Township and the local School Board, who appropriate sums to the library, have discontinued their appropriations while the question of the loyalty of the
librarian remains unsettled.
So serious has the situation become that certain authorities of Plymouth Meeting have even offered to come to Norwood if necessary to obtain more information about Mary Knowles and her alleged communist affiliations, either past or present. They admit that information about her is extremely limited beyond the fact that she invoked the Fifth Amendment when questioned about charges made by Herbert Philbrick, former undercover agent for the FBI, that she was a former Communist.
Rumors are plentiful around Plymouth Meeting, and therefore the authorities have turned to Norwood for help.
The FBI knows that Mary Knowles is working as a librarian at Plymouth Meeting. They also know that the town is sharply divided over the question of her refusal to sign the loyalty oath. But the FBI insists that it not in a position to turn over any Information which they might have to unauthorized persons. Since Mrs. Knowles does not work for a municipal library, the municipal authorities are considered “unauthorized”, and the Friends’ Library Committee which gave her the job at least the four members who remain) insist that she be retained.
Just what satisfaction the PJymouth Meeting authorities would get by coming to Norwood is not known.
When Mrs. Knowles applied for a library position at Plymouth Meeting, the Friends’ Committee Library board wrote to Miss Edna Phillips, head librarian of the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood, for recommendations of her work, this being her last position as librarian.
Miss Phillips related to the Free Press yesterday that in her reply to the committee, she recommended Mrs. Knowles’ librarian work very highly; however, she could not go along with Mrs. Knowles attitude of neither denying or admitting the accusations of her affiliations with communist activities.
“Although Mrs. Knowles had been accused of communist activities, she was not actually convicted of such and it would be unfair to say that her library work was not well performed regardless of the accusations,” Miss Phillips said.
Mrs. Knowles first became affiliated in the Norwood public library department in 1948 when there was an opening. Miss Edna Phillips, Head Librarian, contacted the Massachusetts Division of Public Libraries, which is a State agency and a part of the Mass. Department of Education, and they in turn told her that Mrs. Mary Knowles, who had been employed by the Watertown Public Library for several years, was available. Miss Phillips contacted Miss Marters, head of the Watertown library, and she recommended Mrs. Knowles very highly. Mrs. Knowles was hired and became Librarian of the South Norwood Branch of the Norwood Public Library.
Her work, according to library officials, was excellent. She served on the Advisory Council of the Family Society, she was secretary, treasurer of the “Library Group” which is a society of librarians for young adults of which Mrs. Stewart Allen of the Norwood Library staff also belonged. She was a member of the Norwood Junior High PTA and also sponsored and guided the destinies of the South Norwood Covi Club.
Questioned By FBI Agent
However, in May, 1952, Mrs. Knowles was confronted by an FBI agent who questioned her close alii-ance with a Mr. Winner who was alleged to have been mixed up with a Professor Strulk in Communist activities. Following the FBI agent’s visit, Mrs. Knowles related the incident to Miss Phillips and at that time offered to resign from her position.
This matter was brought to the attention of Miss Maude Shattuck, chairman of the library board, and John B. Kennedy, Town Manager. Together they recommended that Mrs. Knowles not resign at this time; however, with knowledge of her background now known, they would keep her under close scrutiny, trying not to arouse her suspicions, and if anything came up in the meantime, It would be reported.
It wasn’t until approximately one year later, when Senator William Jenner, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Internal Security, and his committee, who were investigating subversive activities in the Boston area, was Mrs. Knowles’ name brought forth again as having any affiliations with communists. At this time, newspaper, radio, and television correspondents who were covering the sub-committees’ public hearings, made public Mrs. Knowles’ name in connection with the now defunct Samuel Adams School of Social Studies which was classed as subversive. Herbert Philbrick, the FBI agent who worked his way into the Communist Party as a counterspy, charged that Mrs. Knowles was secretary to the director of the Adams school. Dr. Harrison Harley, and was also a member of his Communist cell.
This, when made public, resulted in a special meeting of the Library Board who, following a four-hour meeting behind closed doors, suspended Mrs. Knowles indefinitely until such time as the sub-committee made specific charges. It was at this time that Mrs. Knowles once again offered to resign from her position as Branch Librarian at South Norwood.
The only statement she would give to the press, at that time, through the library board, was that “she did not believe that the political beliefs of anyone should be Investigated.”
The sub-committee, or the Jenner Committee as it was better known, subpoenaed Mrs. Knowles to appear before the public hearing in Washington on May 21, 1953. While on the stand, Mrs”. Knowles immediately invoked the Fifth Amendment to questions pertaining to her alleged “Red” links. She refused to answer whether or not she has served as secretary to Dr. Harrison Harley, director of the Samuel Adams School, and she neither confirmed nor denied whether she had ever been a member of the Communist Party. She was on the stand for five minutes during the public hearing.
On June, the Board of Trustees of the Morrill Memorial Library met behind closed doors, for four hours and by a unanimous vote agreed to fire Mrs. Knowles.
Since that time, Mrs. Knowles acquired the position of librarian at Plymouth Meeting, Pa., which, according to all reports, is no longer a quiet little town.
(All articles originally published in the Norwood Messenger)