The Ecole Libre at the New School 1941-1946

Social Research, Winter, 1998 by Aristide R. Zolberg

Their plans set, the organizers enlisted not only refugees but also French and Belgian patriots eager to contribute to the war effort (Pour la Victoire, March 13, 1943). One was Henri Focillon, an art historian who since the early 1930s split his time between the College de France and Yale. In June 1940, while on a governmental mission to Argentina, he heard de Gaulle's call, and decided to return to the United States, where he might write and speak freely to prepare the way for American intervention in the war. Hence despite his grave illness he agreed to become the founding president of "the university of Free France." In addition to Focillon, the explicitly Gaullist group included Claude Levi-Strauss, Alexandre Koyre, and Boris Mirkine-Guetzevitch, all of whom served as Ecole officials.

The announcement of the launching of the Ecole Libre was timed for November 11, 1941, the date commemorating the 1918 Allied victory over Germany. Disclaimers to the contrary notwithstanding, this choice enhanced the undertaking's Gaullist character, as clearly signaled by the headline in the next day's New York Times, "French Here Mark First Armistice. 2,000 Attend Ceremony of De Gaulle Adherents in Manhattan Center." In addition to Focillon, the program included appearances by the British military attache, the vice president of France Forever, and the director of labor for de Gaulle's government. A subsequent issue reported in the same vein: "Belgian Institute Established Here; Government in Exile Reported to Be Backing Unit at New School for Social Research," and indicated that, according to Alvin Johnson, the "Free Belgian Government" had provided $10,000 toward the new Franco-Belgian institution he was about to host (New York Times, December 12, 1941).

However, other reports were more ambiguous. The New York Herald-Tribune (November 12, 1941) announced similarly that the Franco-Belgian School for Advanced Study, to be known also as the "Ecole Libre des Hautes Etudes," would start operating at the New School in January 1942, but emphasized that it would be a nonpolitical institution, designed to defend and preserve Latin culture now under attack in Europe, and to defy fascist repression of the spirit of free inquiry, particularly in the social sciences, history, and jurisprudence. To this end, its faculty planned to publish a monthly review in the French language. Under the headline "Free French College Opens Here in January," the Daily News (November 12, 1941) also reported that the university "has taken no formal stand against Vichy. As an institution of pure scholarship, it will carry a big stick only for freedom." However, it concluded in a quite different vein: "But there is little balm for Marshal Petain on 12th street. One of the university's most prized possessions is a cable of congratulations from the leader of Free France, Gen. Charles de Gaulle."

Peering through the lenses provided by the Times, the Rockefeller Foundation was not happy with what it saw. Addressing his colleagues, Tracy B. Kittredge reported that "The inaugural meeting, Saturday, was more of a political than academic manifestation," with speeches not only from General de Gaulle but also from the exiled governments of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Holland. He commented further that "The atmosphere was tragically pathetic. France and French culture must go on as the world cannot do without French thought and science: this was the theme reiterated by a series of venerable scholars...." Later on he informed them further that the directing board of the "French Institute of Higher Studies" to be established at the New School--note his pointed omission of "Free" in the title--