Timmerman attacks: the Allen University professors

Photo of Edwin Hoffman
From West Virginia State University yearbook

This blogpost is preceded by 

1. "Timmerman attacks, Spring 1957"
2. "Timmerman attacks, Fall 1957"
3. "Timmerman attacks, Spring 1958"
4. "Timmerman attacks: Allen University and Benedict College"
5. "Timmerman attacks: the Benedict professors"
6. "Timmerman attacks: the Allen University professors"

In my last post, I described the Benedict faculty attacked by Governor Timmerman.  What about the faculty at Allen University?  Before describing them, I should say that it is a little artificial to separate  the faculty at the two schools.  Allen is across the street from Benedict, and at the time, the schools exchanged faculty and students.

Edwin D. Hoffman
Hoffman was a 40-year old Professor of History who'd been at Allen University since 1954.  He was born in Long Island, New York and studied at City College of New York and Columbia University, He had taught at Long Island University for seven years prior to coming to Allen.

It's unclear why he left Long Island for Columbia, SC.  A natural guess is that he'd been dismissed from LIU, but Timmerman didn't say this in his speech (and he highlighted the dismissals of the other professors).  He may have just left for personal or professional reasons.  (Update:  Hoffman wasn't dismissed from LIU.  He wanted to teach at a HBCU.  More here.)

Hoffman's highest degree was a Ed.D. (rather than a Ph.D.), but he seems to have studied African American history.  He published academic articles on the topic while at Allen.  He also seems to have been an excellent teacher.  Kay Patterson, a former state senator, speaks glowingly of being taught by him and Rideout in an interview.

After being dismissed from Allen University, Hoffman taught at Pembroke State College (a college which before the Brown decision had been for American Indians) for a few years before going to West Virginia State College (a public HBCU).

Hoffman worked in West Virginia until he retired in 1988.  He spent his retirement in California, teaching part time at Cal State Hayward.  He died in 2008.

Photo of John G. Rideout
From Thunder Bay University Yearbook

John G. Rideout
John. G Rideout was born in Vermont in 1915 and received a BA from Colby College, was a Rhodes Scholar at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and received a Ph.D. in English from Brown University in 1945.  His dissertation was on the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelly.

He taught at several colleges before receiving his Ph.D. and then started teaching at the University of New Hampshire in 1946.   In New Hampshire, he became involved with left-wing politics, chairing the New Hampshire Progressive Party and running as their 1948 candidate for U.S. Senate.  These political activities attracted the attention of school and state officials, and he was forced to resign.  His resignation was reported in the New York Times in an article on challenges to academic freedom.

After leaving New Hampshire, he was able to find a position at Idaho State College in 1949, although his experience in New Hampshire was repeated, and he was forced to reign in 1953.  He ended up in Allen University after that, reportedly telling an associate that he was "going down there until things cool off".

After being dismissed from Allen, Rideout spent the next 6 years teaching at Huston-Tillotson University (a private HBCU in Austin, Texas) and then moved to Lakehead University (in Canada). He spent the rest of his career there, serving as Chair of the English Department for 16 years (1964 to 1980).  The university has honored him with a named award, the Rideout Memorial Bursary.  Rideout died in 1991.

While at Allen, Rideout was married to Miriam Rideout, and his children George and Margaret Bard were probably living at home.  As with many of the other professors, I can't find information about the other members of the Rideout family.

Forrest O. Wiggins
Photo from the University of Minnesota

Forrest Oran Wiggins
Forrest O. Wiggins was born in Indiana in 1907.  he received his B.A. from Butler University and then received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin in 1931, writing a dissertation on "The moral consequences of individualism".

After graduating, Wiggins taught at a series of HBCUs: Morehouse College, Howard University, Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina College for Negroes (now NC Central University), and Louisville Municipal College.

He was hired by the University of Minnesota in 1946.  This was a significant event as he was the first African American professor hired at UM and one of only a handful of African Americans working a flagship state university.  He seems to have become involved with left-wing politics while at Minnesota.  Governor Timmerman, for example, says that he became an active member in the Socialist Workers Party in 1946, and he served as Vice Chairman of the Minnesota Progressive Party.  Wiggins was dismissed from Minnesota in 1952.

His dismissal was a major controversy.  The official reason for his dismissal was his poor scholarly record, although he had the support of both students and members of the Philosophy Department.  Professors in the Philosophy Department issued a 5-page report challenging the allegation's against Wiggins.  Wiggins contended that he was being dismissed because of his politics.  His job at Allen University was his first position after leaving Minnesota.

After being dismissed from Allen, he taught at Savannah State College for a few years before joining Hoffman at West Virginia State University, where he taught until he retired.  He died in Florida in 1982.


This series continues with "Timmerman Attacks: Hoffman Update."