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COMMUNIST TEACHER DISMISSEDJulia D. Pratt Held to be Improper Person to TeachBuffalo, N. Y., April 20.—Julia D. Pratt, teacher of drawing in the public scliols, was dismissed from tlie school department and her contract canceled by the boai*d of education at its meeting last night.Miss Pratt was suspended on January 24th following the preferring of charges against her by Superintendent Ernest C. Hartwell. Mr. Hartwell charged that the teacher was a member of the Communist party and as such was an unfit person to teach in the schols.The main witness for the government was F. F. Barnard, a secret service agent, who acted as recording secretary of the Communist party while in Buffalo. He said that Miss Pratt was !a member nf the Communist part v from September 24th to November 24th, 11)19.Miss Pratt admitted membership in the organization, but claimed not to. have taken part in political discus-. sions and said she resigned as soon i as the character of the organization j was known to her. P.y the action nf ! the board she loses all pay from the | thime of her suspension. Rhe srved 1 as a teacher for about fifteen years in J tin* Buffalo schools. |The report of the board says: I“The evidence shows that Julia D. | Pratt was a member of ihe Communist ; party ;and that she spoke at an open-1 air meeting of said party ;that she | assoeiuted at the headquarters of said party and elsewhere with its mem-1 hers; that she was a member of said 1 party for some months; that she resigned from said party and had her j name expunged from the party’s ive-1 ords and her applieation card de- , stroyt (1 on November 24th only after she was publicly accused of being a member of m*h1 party; that shlt;- : frankly stati lt;1 oil said oi casion tli.it she wished to withdraw' because she' was in danger of losing lor position in the schools hv reason of her mem- | liership in the Communist party. i“A school teacher who draws her pay from a municipality, a compo- . m-nt part of a state, which is in turn a part of the national government, should be in per cent, loyal to the government which protects her and : gives her a livelihood.“The Communist party, as the evi- j denct shows, seeks to overthrow our, government, hut. by persuading the • minds of the majority, not by the bal-jlot. but bv force: by imposing the will of a small minority on the people at large by a revolution—by a dictatorship of a few radicals; it seeks by , force to destroy our civiliaztion—our | peac and security—all that the vast , majority of this county holds dear, A j teacher who joins such a party , ] attends its meetings, associates with | those who promulgate such doctrines,. who publicly aids by her presence the J furtherance of such doctrines is not a proper person to teach in our schools.“Miss Julia P. Pratt is hereby dismissed from the department and her contract with the board of education of the city of Buffalo is cancelled forthwith,”
Newspaper Details
Little Valley Cattaraugus Republican
Little Valley, New York, US
Thu, Apr 22, 1920
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
TX, USA 02 May 2024
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