Benedict College Mystery Solved, Part 4

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"
• "What was Forrest O. Wiggins up to?"
• "What's in an FBI record?"
• "Benedict College Mystery Solved, Part 1"
• "Benedict College Mystery Solved, Part 2"
• "Benedict College Mystery Solved, Part 3"

Horace B. Davis in 1961
The Shaw University Bear [1961]

"I have a letter with his name signed to it. He is teaching at Benedict College in Columbia, S. C., my State. . . . I don't know why he should keep that a secret. That is a colored college down in my state." These were the words of South Carolina Senator Olin D. Johnston upon reading the letter that Horace B. Davis had submitted to Judge Whittaker's nomination hearing.

Horace had asked his former lawyer Fyke Farmer not to tell the Senate Judiciary Committee where he was teaching. Fyke had not divulged this information, and it is not entirely clear how the Johnston obtained it, although it would not have taken a lot of work. Horace was listed in the Columbia city directory as "[teacher] Benedict College."

In any case, Horace certainly had good reason to keep his employer a secret. The day after Judge Whittaker's hearing (on March 19), someone in South Carolina, probably Senator Johnston or someone connected to him, contacted the FBI for information about Horace. The letter isn't currently available, but some FBI internal communications discussing it are. The letter stated that information was being requested "so steps deemed advisable may be taken for protection public interest and youth of state." However, FBI officials immediately connected the request to Judge Whittaker's hearing.

The person requesting the information did not limit his request to Horace. He also requested information on Forrest O.Wiggins, a professor at Allen University. It is unclear why Forrest was targeted. His name hadn't been mentioned at Whittaker's nomination hearing. His political activities had been subject to public scrutiny in 1952 when he was dismissed from the University of Minnesota, but the same was true of other professors such as John G. Rideout.

Photo of John G. Rideout that accompanied the newspaper article "Allen Professor Trouble Aired Before Legislature"
Florence Morning News [SC], January 16, 1958. pg. 1.

Whoever requested the information on Horace and Forrest received it from the FBI. On March 27 (about a week after the initial request), the FBI Director instructed the Savannah Field Office to provide the information over the telephone. The Director explained that the public should not know that the FBI was disclosing information: 

you should emphasize the fact that none of the information furnished is to be attributed to the FBI, that the information is furnished in the strictest confidence and no reference is to be made to the FBI in any manner in connection with any action taken upon the information being furnished. Additionally, you should clearly define to him the confidential nature of Bureau files and the responsibilities and jurisdiction of the FBI in the security field.

For Horace, the impact of the FBI's disclosure was limited. By the time the Bureau shared information, he'd already resigned from Benedict. He'd also been subject to intense scrutiny in the press. The day before Judge Whittaker's hearing, Senator Eastland informed the press of Horace's letter. In an article published the next day, The State newspaper not only reported on the letter, but they also identified Horace as a professor at Benedict College. Indicative of the newspaper's attitude on the matter is the title of an article announcing Judiciary Committee's approval of Whittaker: "Whittaker Okayed for Top Court. Benedict Man Raps Choice; Lawyer Rants."

The day of Whittaker's hearing, Senator Johnston announced that he planned to call Horace before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (which the senator was a member of). He also made an implicit threat against Benedict College if they failed to dismiss Horace

I believe any eleemosynary institution or tax-free endowed school that insists on keeping in its employment a person that refuses to tell any state or federal investigative body whether or not he is or every has been a Communist could and should be required by a state to pay taxes and have its eleemosynary tax-exempt status revoked.

By March 25, Horace had resigned from Benedict College. Horace said that, once Benedict was put under public pressure, he offered his resignation to President Bacoats, and the president immediately accepted it.  According to Horace, many of his colleagues were sad to see him go. President Bacoats was supportive of him and helped Horace secure a job at Shaw University in North Carolina.

Senator Johnston told reporters that he'd ask to have Horace investigated even after he'd resigned from Benedict.  He said that he was still going to request that Horace be called before the Internal Security Subcommittee and that an investigator for the subcommittee was going to look into Horace's background. Nothing seems to have come of this, however. At least publicly, Johnston seems to have lost interest in investigating South Carolina Communists by April.

Allegations of Communists at Benedict and Allen would remain a topic of public interest for the next year. The issue would make national news in January 1958 after Governor Timmerman denounced Allen faculty at his state of the union address. Yet, on this issue, Johnston would remain out of the public eye. There was also little further mention of Horace. Although Horace's wife Marion was among those that Governor Timmerman publicly accused of promoting "racial hatred" with an "ultimate communist goal of creating civil and racial disorder," Timmerman only briefly mentioned Horace once in his speeches. (He said that Horace had aided Lewis Smith, one of the accused professors at Benedict.) The press said nothing about Horace after he'd left the state.

Johnston's apparent loss of interest in South Carolina Communists is anomalous. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he was well-positioned to advocate on this issue. He could have remained silent during later developments because he recognized that Timmerman's accusations were groundless. Alternatively, he could have allowed Timmerman to act as the public face of anti-Communism in South Carolina for, say, personal or political reasons. 

Horace B. Davis in 1962
The Shaw University Bear [1962]