What was Forrest O. Wiggins up to?

Forrest O. Wiggins
University of Minnesota Yearbook, 1949

This blogpost is preceded by

• "Timmerman attacks, Spring 1957"
•  "Timmerman attacks, Spring 1958"
• "Timmerman attacks: Allen University and Benedict College"
• "Timmerman attacks: the Benedict professors"
• "Timmerman attacks: the Allen University professors"
• Timmerman Attacks: Hoffman Update"

Forrest O. Wiggins was one of the Allen University faculty members who was dismissed in the 1950s at the insistence of South Carolina Governor Timmerman. In his public statements, Governor Timmerman made vague claims that Professor Wiggins and the other faculty members were pursuing "typical [Communist Party]" projects.  The projects, he claimed, involved teaching "hate white, hate Southern, and hate State." As evidence, he gestured to records held by the federal government.

I received Wiggins' FBI files under the Freedom of Information Act.  (Thanks, New Left!) Large parts of the file are redacted, but they give an insight into what was happening.

The early life of Wiggins

Wiggins was born in 1907 in Vincennes, Indiana to Charles and Cora Wiggins. The early 1900s saw large numbers of Blacks in the South move to Indiana, especially to its urban centers. The Wiggins family was unusual. Unlike most Blacks in the state, they had deep roots: both of Wiggins' parents and most of his grandparents were born in Indiana.

By the time Wiggins was born, his parents had established a solid middle-class household for themselves. The father worked as a barber, and he had achieved enough professional success that he owned his own barber shop. However, the marriage was evidently an unhappy one, and the parents separated while Wiggins was a child. After the divorce, Wiggins had essentially no relationship with his father. By 1920, he was living with his mother and her second husband, Andrew Haynes, in Indianapolis.

The move from Vincennes to Indianapolis was a major one. Vincennes was a small city of 17,160. Its Black population was minuscule: only 136 Blacks lived there (about 1.6% of the population). In contrast, Indianapolis was the state capitol and by far the most-populous city with 314,194 residents. Largely because of the availability of manufacturing jobs, the city's Black population was growing rapidly. By 1920, Blacks represented 11% of the city population (about 43,679 residents), making the city a regional center for Black life. 

In Indianapolis, Wiggins' stepfather Andrew worked for a railroad company. His mother also entered the workforce, first as a saleslady and later as a beauty operator. Wiggins attended Arsenal Technical High School. At the time, the student body was overwhelmingly White. Wiggins was one of only three Blacks in his graduating class of 380. 

Neither Wiggins' parents nor his stepfather had completed high school, but Wiggins appears to have done well as a student. For example, the school yearbook notes his abilities as a public speaker. Wiggins graduated from Arsenal Tech in 1924.

Portion of Wiggins' high school yearbook (Wiggins is center-top).
The Arsenal Cannon yearbook, Vol XXIII, No. 17. 
Via Ancestory.com

After graduating from high school, Wiggins attended Butler University, a small private school in Indianapolis. Politically, the university was relatively progressive. Blacks had attended the school since the 1880s, albeit in small numbers. The year Wiggins matriculated; Blacks made up about 4% of the 1,290-person student body. However, during this time, racial tensions were increasing city-wide. In the summer of 1927, the university's Board of Directors adopted a policy of limiting the number of Black students admitted to ten per year. The next year – Wiggins' senior year – the number of Black students admitted dropped by three-quarters. 

Despite an increasingly unfriendly campus climate, Wiggins graduated from Butler with his A.B. degree in 1928. He then studied in France for a year and a half. After returning to the US, he taught Moorehouse College.  While teaching, he continued his education at the University of Wisconsin. In 1931, he was awarded an A.M. degree in philosophy from the university. For his degree, he submitted the thesis "The utilitarian theory of property from Plato to J. S. Mill."

After receiving he received his Master's, Wiggins was hired as an associate professor by Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC.  Wiggins continued his studies at Wisconsin during this time. In 1938, he received his PhD in philosophy from the university. His dissertation was titled "The moral consequences of individualism."

It is unclear what Wiggins did the year after he got his PhD. FBI records state that he taught at Howard University from 1939 to 1941, but Howard University records only document that he taught there during the 1940-41 academic year. That year he was employed as an Instructor in the Humanities and Romance Languages. While in D.C., he married Ethel Doris Johnson. 

Ethel had been born in North Carolina, but she grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Her parents were middle-class. Her father worked as a public-school principal, her mother as a teacher. Ethel herself was college educated, having been a standout student at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte. Likely she met Wiggins while while he was teaching at Johnson C. Smith and she was a student. After graduating, she returned to living with her parents and worked as a teacher. However, in late 1940 or early 1941, she had married Wiggins and moved to D.C.

Later that year Wiggins and his wife moved to Durham, NC to teach at North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University). In 1943, while teaching in Durham, he was hired by the Department of Education to teach English in Haiti. It was in Haiti that Wiggins first drew the attention of the FBI.

Wiggins enters the FBI files

Wiggins traveled to Haiti to teach English around February 1943. He taught at a combined high school and junior college in Cap-Haïtien. Originally, he had planned to stay there until the summer. However, on August 14, 1943, he applied to extend his stay by six months.  The application appears to have triggered the FBI's interest. Five days later, on the 19th, the FBI Main Office wrote a memo about him.  The memo stated that a "reliable, confidential source" reported that Wiggins was acting as "an active anti-White and anti-British propagandist" in Haiti. On the basis of this information, the office recommended that an investigation be conducted. 

Ultimately, Wiggins did not extend his stay in Haiti. He flew back later that August. When he disembarked at the airport, he was met by an FBI Special Agent who was waiting to interview him. The interview didn't produce much. In addition to collecting basic biographical information, the agent asked about the allegations that he was engaged in propaganda activities. Wiggins acknowledged that he had written a number of newspaper articles, but he denied that any of them were anti-English or anti-White. He said that the only article that he was criticized for was a 1942 Durham Herald article. In the article, he expressed his belief that Blacks should be allowed to work in the defense industry and receive the same salary as Whites. The FBI agent does not appear to have regarded the matter worth pursuing. The report he submitted concluded: "No further inquiry in this matter is contemplated."

After his return to the U.S., Wiggins continued teaching at HBCUs. He first continued teaching at North Carolina College for Negroes. However, at some point between 1943 and 1946, he moved to Louisville, KY to teach at Louisville Municipal College.

The year 1946 marked a major professional change for Wiggins. That year he moved to Minneapolis, MN to teach at the University of Minnesota. 

Wiggins in Minnesota

In September 1946, Wiggins was appointed as a full-time instructor in the University of Minnesota's Philosophy Department.  This employment was an honor.  Wiggins was one of the first African Americans to be employed at a flagship state university. Ethel found work as a social worker.

In Minnesota, Wiggins was active in left-wing politics on campus and in Minneapolis more generally. He openly spoke out against American capitalism and militarism and promoted civil rights for African Americans. 

Starting around April 1948, political and business leaders began writing to the university administration to complain about Wiggins.  For example, a bank vice president wrote the university president to complain about a newspaper article he read about Wiggins' teaching.  According to the article, Wiggins had organized a classroom activity where students drafted blueprints for an ideal America. The vice president felt this exercise involved promoting inappropriate ideas that were critical of the U.S. government. The complaints increased over the next few years. For example, in 1950, state congressman Howard Ottinger wrote to the university president to complain about a public speech he heard Wiggins deliver.

The FBI began receiving new information about Wiggins in 1949, as complaints to the university administration were increasing.  That year the regional FBI office received a report from an informant that there was reason to believe that Wiggins was a member of the Communist Party (presumably the Communist Party of United States American or CPUSA). Later, informants said that Wiggins was a member of the Socialist Workers Party. The FBI investigated the claims, but the only supporting evidence they could collect was circumstantial. (For example, Wiggins had made public statements consistent with the "Communist Party Line," and his name was on a list found in a Minneapolis Communist Party bookstore.) A 1952 summary report on Wiggins' activities in Minneapolis reported that he had contacts with leaders in the Community Party USA and the Socialist Workers Party and gave speeches "which followed the CP line," but notably did not assert that he was a member of any revolutionary organization. 

The University of Minnesota president initially defended the university's employment of Wiggins. He responded to Wiggins' critics by distancing himself from Wiggins' political views but standing by the university's decision to employ him.

In late 1951, the president reversed his position. That December he sent Wiggins a letter informing him that his contract would not be renewed. Although his department chair had recommended him for a promotion to an assistant professorship, Wiggins was still an instructor at the time and thus he was on a contract that required yearly renewal.

The letter informing Wiggins that his contract would not be renewed gave no justification for the decision. However, when the decision was made public, it caused an uproar among students and faculty. Under public pressure, the president claimed that his decision had been made on the basis of the dean's negative evaluation of Wiggins' scholarly record. However, the chair of the philosophy department challenged this statement by issuing a signed letter stating that the department unanimously disagreed with the president and recommended Wiggins' reappointment. 

The letter issued by the Wiggins' chair was part of an outpouring of public support. Student support was particularly strong. Student groups submitted petitions protesting the president's decision. By February 1952, over 500 students had joined protests against the administration. They were supported by other organizations including the state branch of the NAACP, the Negro Labor Council, and the Progressive Party of Minnesota.

One organization was notable in its failure to support Wiggins. The local chapter of the AAUP announced that the evidence it reviewed did not establish a violation of academic freedom and thus they did not recommend further action. The chapter explained its decision in a 22-page report written by a 3-person committee. The report reads as a whitewash. Although state politicians had written letters to the president complaining about Wiggins, the report does not mention them and instead states that the committee found no evidence that the decision been made for political reasons. The committee members acknowledged that the university president might have acted, in part, out of a concern over negative publicity. However, they downplayed the significance if this, writing that "It would be difficult, if not impossible, for a conscientious administrator to isolate" Wiggins' research from his political statements when assessing someone's scholarship.

The AAUP committee reported that it found the decision not to reappoint Wiggins had been made on the basis of his scholarly record and that the assessment of his record was done properly. This is a remarkable statement. Wiggins had the unanimous support of the philosophy faculty, and the negative evaluation was based on the dean's personal evaluation. The dean appears to have been unfit to analyze the work of philosophy professor as he had no training in the field. He worked exclusively in Library Science (his dissertation was "Conditions affecting use of the college library"). In their report, the committee addressed this issue by simply dismissing it: "even unanimous opinion of any so-called department does not necessarily represent the opinion of the best informed colleagues." 

The support for Wiggins was successful in getting the issue into the spotlight. His non-reappointment made national news and was reported by the New York Times, for example. However, it unsuccessful in reversing the administration's decision. Wiggins left Minnesota in June 1952.

Wiggins moved to Columbia, SC to work at Allen University as a Professor of Philosophy and Romance Languages. 

A student asks the UM Regents to reappoint Wiggins
The Gopher, Volume 65, 1952

Wiggins in South Carolina

Once Wiggins had moved to South Carolina, the responsibility for monitoring him passed from the Minnesota FBI office to the Savannah, GA office. In October 1953, the Minnesota office provided the Savannah office with a summary report on Wiggins.

The Savannah office of the FBI collected information on Wiggins, but they found little of interest. A confidential informant reported that he had no information about Wiggins engaging in subversive activities. The only information offered was that Wiggins made a comparison between democracy in the U.S. and in Russia in a class. 

In May 1953, after his first year at Allen, Wiggins took a yearlong leave of absence to study in Mexico. He traveled to Chahhuila, Guanajuato, Morelia, and Mexico City. During this period, Wiggins marriage was under severe strain. Ethel did not join him, and in February 1954, while Wiggins was still in Mexico, she divorced him for desertion.

Wiggins' international travel increased the FBI's interest in him. However, the FBI's efforts were largely limited to documenting where in Mexico Wiggins traveled to and reporting that they had no evidence that he was participating in subversive activities. 

Wiggins appears to have enjoyed the trip. After he returned to South Carolina, he published an article in the Indianapolis Recorder about his experience. He celebrated Mexico as a county where Blacks can travel without experiencing pervasive racial discrimination. He contrasted this with the United State, where a Black man traveling on vacation has to constantly worry about being refused service at restaurants and hotels. White Americans, Wiggins wrote, also benefit from the climate in Mexico as they soon shed their racial prejudices 

Wiggins returned to Allen University to teach in Fall 1954. In September, the Minneapolis office of the FBI issued an important memorandum. The memorandum announced that an informant who had been submitting information on Wiggins was deemed "unreliable." Attached to the memorandum were amended copies of a report that had been sent to the Savannah office. Furthermore, they advised that the information given by the informant should be regarded as questionable and not disseminated unless corroborated by other sources. It is unclear if the existing records reflect the information from the unreliable informant.

That Spring the Savannah office of the FBI made a major effort to collect information on Wiggins. In January, the office applied for a 30 day mail cover surveillance. (A mail cover surveillance involves the Post Office recording information on the outside (or cover) of letters and sending it to the FBI). However, the application was denied. Shortly after the mail cover request was denied, the Savannah office produced a report on the information offered by an informant in Columbia, but the informant simply reported that he was unaware of Wiggins being involved in any Communist Party activities.  The office also received a report from the Charlotte office reporting on Wiggins' activities in the 1940s.  The final action the office took was a request for permission to interview Wiggins, but this too was denied.  

Half a year of efforts in collecting information on Wiggins yielded nothing of substance. This seems to have convinced the FBI that Wiggins was not worth monitoring. In May, Wiggins was removed from the FBI's security index (used to track individuals deemed dangerous to national security) at the recommendation of the Savannah office. For next 2 years, there were no interactions between the FBI and Wiggins.

Wiggins' apartment near Allen University in 2020
Photo courtesy of author

The State Government Attacks

Wiggins next appears in FBI records in March 1957.  That month the Savannah office of the FBI received a letter regarding Wiggins. The letter is unavailable, but it was a request for information about Wiggins and Horace Davis (a professor at neighboring Benedict College). 

The request was taken seriously. The Savannah office was instructed to respond to the letter by telephone and communicate information with the caveat that it was to be made clear that the information was furnished in the strictest confidence and that it cannot be attributed to the FBI.

The request was almost certainly made by South Carolina Senator Olin D. Johnston or a representative of his office. Internal communications show that the FBI quickly connected the request to a nomination hearing that Johnston had participated in. Johnston served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Davis had written to the committee to protest against a nomination to the Supreme Court. Davis had written the letter because the nominee had ruled unfavorably in a lawsuit he had filed. Davis had sued to challenge his dismissal from Kansas City University for refusing to answer questions about whether he'd been a communist. 

The committee not only disregarded Davis's protest, but Johnston grew concerned that universities in his state might be employing communists. The day of the hearing Johnston told news reporters that he thought this should not be allowed and that he was going to investigate the matter.

It is unclear why information about Wiggins was requested. He was completely uninvolved in the nomination hearing and had only tenuous ties to communism. Wiggins may have simply been the only other professor Johnston had heard about. Wiggins dismissal from the University of Minnesota had made national news.

Johnston himself appears to have had little interest in Wiggins. Johnston publicly spoke out against Horace Davis's employment at Benedict College. However, he seems to have largely lost interest in the matter after Horace resigned in late March. While the controversy about alleged communist infiltration of Benedict and Allen would continue to be debated for over a year, Johnston would play no role in that debate.

As the public spotlight focused on Wiggins again, the FBI renewed its surveillance of him. In addition to collecting information from confidential informants, the Savannah office reapplied for mail cover surveillance on Wiggins. This time the application was approved. Larges parts of the FBI's reports are redacted, so it is unclear exactly what information was collected. For example, an August 14, 1957 report contains information by a source at Allen University who apparently witnessed something involving Wiggins while working late at night. However, it is impossible to figure out what was reported since most of the text is redacted. The redactions were made under Exemptions 7(c) and 7(d). This indicates that the text was collected for law enforcement purposes and is withheld to protect people's privacy and the identities of confidential sources.

An August 14, 1957 FBI report on Wiggins. Much of the text is redacted
Photo courtesy of the author

The FBI closely followed the goings-on at Allen and Benedict, but they did not seem to find much relevant information. The most incriminating information collected about Wiggins was that he promoted communist ideas in an essay he published in the Spring 1985 Benedict College Bulletin, and he subscribed to American Socialist. The American Socialist was a publication of the Socialist Union of American (a group that splintered off from the Socialist Workers Party). In February 1958, an FBI agent recommended that the investigation of Wiggins be closed. 

While the FBI did not find Wiggins to be a subject of interest, both the press and the state government remained closely engaged with the issues surrounding his employment at Allen. Ultimately, the state government was successful in pressing the university to remove Wiggins. The 1957-58 academic year was his last in Columbia. In October 1958, the FBI reported that Wiggins had moved to Dallas, TX and was working at Bishop College.

Photo of Forrest O. Wiggins in FBI file

Life after Allen

Wiggins only stayed in Texas for a year. After the 1958-59 academic year, he left to teach at Edward Water College in Jacksonville, FL. He moved a second time in summer of 1961. In June 1961, he was appointed Professor of Languages and Literature at Savannah State College (in Georgia). He stayed at Savannah State for most of the 1960s. In January 1968, he moved to West Virginia State University. There he rejoined his friend and former Allen University colleague Edwin D. Hoffman. He remained at West Virginia State for the rest of his career. 

The FBI continued monitoring Wiggins for most of the 1960s. However, their actions were largely limited to transferring files between field offices and performing a routine review (e.g. checking Wiggins' credit rating and arrest record). The last extent FBI report on Wiggins was issued in February 1968, shortly after he moved to West Virginia.

Wiggins remained at West Virginia State until he retired. He then moved to Brevard County, Florida. He lived there until his death on October 26, 1981.

Forrest O. Wiggins, ca. 1968
The Arch Yearbook, 1968