One of the founding organizations of the IHEU, the American
Humanist Association, is sufficiently important as an example in the
development of organized humanism that its individual history is
worth recalling.
By the beginning of 1935, the Humanist Fellowship had evolved into
the Humanist Press Association. In 1936, however, its publication,
The New Humanist, folded. So a newsletter, The Humanist
Bulletin, under the editorship of Edwin H. Wilson, was launched
by the same organization. That was discontinued in 1941 to make way
for a new journal, The Humanist, and a new name, the American
Humanist Association. This Association's first four presidents were
all signers of "A Humanist Manifesto." One of these, Curtis W. Reese,
had, with John H. Dietrich, started the humanist movement within the
United States in 1917.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s, humanists, many of whom did not know
of the AHA or care to belong to an organization, were involved in
numerous civil liberty, birth control, and environmental protection
cases often tried in court. The most prominent of these humanists was
Corliss Lamont, the philosopher who successfully stood up to the
House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Another was Vashti McCollum, a housewife who later became president
of the AHA. Her U.S. Supreme Court victory in McCollum v. Board of
Education established that American public schools must be
religiously neutral. On the environmental front, there was interest
in the value of restraint and the damage done by runaway population
growthómatters which are still insufficiently acted upon
around the world.
During the middle 1950s, Herman J. Muller, a Nobel Laureate in
genetics, served as president. He, together with Chauncey Leake and
Anatol Rapoport, approached the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, suggesting that the AHA could appropriately
be its philosophical branch. The A.A.A.S. declined the proposal on
the basis that the AHA's membership did not include a high enough
percentage of PhDs.
Psychologists and psychiatrists including Erich Fromm, Abraham
Maslow, Albert Ellis, B.F. Skinner, Carl Rogers, and Rudolph Dreikers
all wrote extensively on humanism. One might call it their basic
philosophy. Collectively their efforts gave a naturalistic slant to
understanding and improving mental health and social well-being.
Mid-century, the AHA worked internationally through Karl Sax,
Margaret Sanger and William Vogt to slow population growth and became
the first national membership organization to stand up for the right
of a woman to have an abortion. Many of the leading abortion-law
reform groups of the time had a significant humanist
leadershipóin particular, the Religious Coalition for Abortion
Rights (now the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice) and the
National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (now the
National Abortion Rights Action League). Also during this period, the
AHA worked with the American Ethical Union to establish the rights of
nontheistic conscientious objectors to opt out of combat service.
Ernest Morgan, humanist co-founder of the Arthur Morgan School,
published A Manual of Simple Burial that soon inspired the
development of memorial and cooperative burial societies
nation-wideóalternatives to the traditional
mortuary-controlled system of burial.
Edwin H. Wilson, executive director of the AHA, as a side endeavor
established the Fellowship of Religious Humanists to keep humanism
alive and thriving within the newly-merged Unitarian and Universalist
denominations. In 1970, philosopher Paul Kurtz, editor of The
Humanist, launched Prometheus Books as a humanist publishing
house. It has grown to become the world's leading publisher of
freethought, humanist, and skeptical books.
"Humanist Manifesto II," with the editorial guidance of Edwin H.
Wilson, Roy Fairfield, and Paul Kurtz, was issued by the AHA in 1973,
receiving front-page coverage in the New York Times. This new
declaration modified the optimism of the earlier document,
acknowledging that "Nazism has shown the depths of brutality of which
humanity is capable," and expanded the application of humanist ideas,
including commenting on a broad range of social concerns.
The next year, the AHA established the National Commission for
Beneficent Euthanasia which issued the groundbreaking statement, "A
Plea for Beneficent Euthanasia." This position paper, signed by
medical, legal, and religious leaders, called for "a more enlightened
public opinion to transcend traditional taboos and move in the
direction of a compassionate view toward needless suffering in
dying." Today these ideas are a part of public discussion.
In 1975, the AHA solidified its position regarding the
pseudoscience of astrology and again earned media attention with the
publication of "Objections to Astrology." This humanist
consumer-advocacy statement was signed by 186 scientists, including
eighteen Nobel Prize winners.
Early in 1976, under the guidance of sexologists Lester Kirkendall
and Sol Gordon, the AHA issued "A New Bill of Sexual Rights and
Responsibilities," prompting Time magazine to remark that
humanists celebrate responsible sexual freedom after centuries of
bondage to church and state. Today most traditional religious
denominations continue to grapple with the sexual issues humanists
came to terms with decades ago.
In the wake of articles in The Humanist which were critical
of pseudoscience, the AHA established in May of 1976 the Committee
for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Through
its membership of humanist leaders and scientists, CSICOP launched
the Skeptical Inquirer, challenged pseudoscientific claims,
and exposed much of the faulty experimentation, frauds, and fallacies
of "psychic research." CSICOP is now a dynamic independent
consumer-information organization.
Early the next year, the AHA established itself as a major force
in the creation-evolution controversy by issuing "A Statement
Affirming Evolution As a Principle of Science" and sending copies of
it to every major school district in the country.
In September 1977, the AHA took a vigorous stand against age
discrimination in matters of employment and retirement. "A
Declaration for Older Persons" was signed by members of Congress,
labor leaders, housewives, business executives, and religious
leaders, stirring further media attention. Many of the principles
expressed in this statement have since become codified into law.
The 1980s was a period of vicious attacks on humanism by the
religious right. Humanists responded with public debates, media
appearances, articles, press conferences, lobbying, and in a few
instances legal action. The high profile of these attacks has
lessened, given the scandals that have rocked televangelism, but the
skills honed during these turbulent years continue to help humanist
leaders actively thwart new radical-right initiatives. Bringing new
vigor to this effort was another AHA spin-off, the Council for
Democratic and Secular Humanism (now the Council for Secular
Humanism), founded in 1980 by Paul Kurtz. Meanwhile, the journal
Creation/Evolution—the only periodical in the world devoted
exclusively to answering the religious right's creationist
arguments—was launched by AHA executive director Frederick Edwords.
In 1985, world-renowned author Isaac Asimov became president of the
AHA, serving until his death in 1992.
As humanists and the general public expressed a growing need for a
nontheistic alternative in addiction care, the AHA made Rational
Recovery a corporate division and launched it into the national
limelight. Lois and Jack Trimpey had originated this unique
substance-abuse program, originally based on the rational-emotive
behavior therapy of Albert Ellis. Today, that effort has branched
into two independent humanistic programs, Rational Recovery and SMART
Recovery.
In 1990 the AHA, with the inspired leadership of Maxine Negri,
arranged a friendly merging with the Humanist Society of Friends,
thereby reinvigorating the humanist counselor and celebrant program
that makes humanist weddings, memorial services, and personal
counseling available to a wide range of people seeking alternatives
to traditional ceremonies and pastoral care. In that same year,
humanist counselor James T. McCollum, son of Vashti McCollum,
performed the first humanist wedding service ever conducted at West
Point Military Academy.
The AHA returned to Chicago, the city of its roots, to celebrate
its 50th anniversary in 1991. Lester R. Brown, president of the
Worldwatch Institute, and Werner Fornos, president of the Population
Institute, were honored there as humanists of the year. Star
Trek creator and longtime humanist Gene Roddenberry was
recognized with the Humanist Arts Award.
In 1994 the AHA began blazing new trails on the cyber frontier.
Humanist websites, newsgroups, e-mail lists, chat areas, special
interest groups, and independent bulletin boards began springing up,
introducing humanism to a wider audience.
In 1995 the AHA, with the creative efforts of its president Edd
Doerr, joined with a variety of secular organizations and religious
groups in issuing "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement
of Current Law," which influenced policy decisions nationwide and
prompted favorable comment by the president of the United States.
The Association has stimulated the founding of chapters, groups
and conferences which bring together people who share viewpoints and
interests. Leaders of groups with innovative programs have included
Arthur Jackson in San Jose, Thomas Ferrick, and Joseph Gerstein in
Massachusetts who developed the program at Harvard University's
Philip Brooks House.
Among the Association's programs have been essay contests for
those under thirty. In the 1950s both Harper's magazine and
Galaxy were co-sponsors. Many winners are having socially
significant careers. Two of these, Annie Laurie Gaylor and Timothy J.
Madigan, now edit other important publications.
The Association's Feminist Caucus has benefited from unique
efforts of Meg Bowman, Barbara Tafler and Rosemary Matson. Many
others have in varying capacities shown by their lifestance how to
make effective contributions to society: Beverley Earles, Carol
Wintermute, Bonnie Bullough, Barbara Dority, and Gloria Steinem.
The Association has enjoyed the intellectual leadership of unique
and capable individuals. Preeminent among these have been Corliss
Lamont, a noted civil libertarian and author of The Philosophy of
Humanism. His wife Beth has added luster including her
down-to-earth TV programming. Another luminary has been Bette
Chambers, director of planned giving, whose effervescent personality
often has risen to fill an organizational need. Edd Doerr, a past
president and student of religious liberty in crisis, has kept
accurate reporting of moves to destroy the separation of church and
state.
Over the years Gerald Larue has been depended upon to provide
understanding of archeological findings relevant to Biblical and
other religious texts. From the Ozarks Lester Mondale provided
stimulating musings on living simply. Ethelbert Haskins opened new
understanding of how the crises in Afro-American leadership could be
constructively resolved. Delos McKown, Konstantin Kolenda, Paul
Edwards, Anthony Few, Roger Greeley, and Joseph E. Barnhart have
highlighted philosophical insights and understanding. Karen Ann
Gajewski has been pivotal in maintaining the quality and accuracy of
humanist publications, together with Steve McCabe and Bill
Harnack.
Throughout its history the association's primary publication,
The Humanist, has served as a major periodical, bringing
humanist viewpoints and interpretations to bear on leading issues of
personal and social concern. In the 1940s and 50s, for example, it
carved intellectual frontiers by publishing material that showed how
perceptions clinging to verbal bases limit common sense. Alfred
Korzybski, Anatol Rapoport, Harry Lee Maynard, Allen Walker Read, and
S.I. Hayakawa have been the leading humanists giving attention to
this revolutionary approach in thinking and understanding known as
general semantics.
In the 1950s leading physicists, sociologists, psychologists, and
historians confronted in the pages of The Humanist such
theoretical issues as science and human values, global human rights,
and the problems of traditional systems of faith. Then, in the 1960s
and 70s, as America was undergoing major social change, the magazine
turned to addressing justice, racism, ways to reduce poverty, student
unrest, communes, war, abortion, women's rights, changing moral
values, and the new cults of unreason.
Attention was given to the criminal justice system and how the
building and staffing of prisons has degenerated into an employment
and construction growth industry. Years ago The Humanist
described how the criminal justice system can be effectively
humanized. Less than ten percent of prisoners are habitually
incorrigible before incarceration and these individuals can be
identified and should be separated from society. Keeping many
offenders in prison breaks their ties with family and friends, throws
them out of the mainstreams of education and employment, and leads to
lives of underachievement and despair. This is not just costly to the
individuals but to our whole society.
In the 1980s The Humanist brought new attention to the
consequences of uncontrolled immigration whereby individuals from
other lands with limited skills compete with American citizens for
jobs. The magazine also exposed the problem that population pressures
such as under-employment are linked to gender discrimination and the
traditional worldwide subjugation of women.
Three individuals, who eventually will be looked back on as
significant twentieth century pioneers, have had frequent access to
the pages of The Humanist. Fran HoskEn, perhaps more than any
other person, has kept alive and intellectually cross-fertilized the
situation of women throughout the world. Her publication The WIN
News (Women's International Network) gives current news of
women's concerns ranging from slavery, genital mutilation, labor, and
gender discrimination to childbirth and healthy children.
Another enlightening thrust has come from Riane Eisler, whose
study of how societies have historically become dominated and hence
limited by males and who is best known for her landmark book The
Chalice and the Blade.
Almost as significant as the work of Margaret Sanger is that of
Steven Mumford, who has outlined how inappropriate practices can lead
to lopsided surges in population and the quality of living. He has
revealed how the World Health Organization has knuckled under to the
Vatican and accordingly largely neglects birth control programs.
Together with health professionals in several nations, his pioneering
effort is making available quinicrine, a relatively simple, safe,
inexpensive, non-surgical female contraceptive.
As the religious right began its attacks, The Humanist
reassured readers of the value of common sense and self respect. An
example of this was an exposÈ by Gerard Straub, former
producer of Pat Robertson's 700 Club.
Then, in the 1990s, increased attention was given to applying
humanism directly to urgent issues of civil liberties and human
rights. ExposÈ articles appeared on such subjects as the drug
war, federal crime policies, employer misuse of "honesty tests,"
government attempts to censor the Internet, church-state issues
affecting the Boy Scouts of America, religious influence on national
elections, international prostitution, the global landmine problem,
and even the use of sweatshops in the toy industry. Among the social
commentators who wrote for The Humanist were Dan Rather, Noam
Chomsky, Faye Wattleton, Barbara Trent, Justice Harry Blackmun, and
Howard Zinn.
The Humanist carried articles showing how less
materialistic addictions can lead to a better sense of well-being.
The quality of life was shown to be more important than the clogging
possession-accumulation habit. Attention was given to how housing for
those in need is often blocked by bureaucratic rules and regulations
and union restrictions.
Articles were focused on the humanization of health care. Work
concentrating on the endeavors of Nathan, Ilene, and Robert Pritikin
and Linus Pauling only fifteen years ago were strongly denounced by
editors of medical journals who now are coming to recognize the need
for and value of preventive medical practices, including lowering fat
intake and increasing that of herbs, vitamins, and minerals;
practicing meditation and adopting positive mental attitudes.
Unfortunately the criminal justice system and prison reforms which
were stressed in the 1960s have not been followed. Articles detailed
our government's lack of trying to lessen the importation and use of
drugs.
Clearly, one of the roles of the AHA throughout its history has
been to inject mainstream society with energizing ideas and stimulate
the development of new endeavors. As such, the AHA serves to some
extent as a "pilot organization," an institution that initiates
pioneering social programs that sometimes take on a life of their
own; clearly The Humanist is a magazine that brings balanced
insights and analyses to a thoughtful reading audience. This helps to
explain why humanism in America has an influence out of proportion to
its number of organized adherents.
Overall the Association helps to provide the satisfaction and even
joy of having a philosophy which lets one adjust to change and is in
tune with knowledge. It provides added power to the desire to do
right. Humanists recognize that unkindnesses and iniquities toward
other people will not be remedied in an afterlife by a supreme
being.
Annually the Association recognizes Artists, Pioneers and Heroines
who have made significant contributions to human well-being. Starting
in 1953 they designated a "Humanist of the Year," with its first
honor going to Anton J. Carlson, the physiologist and former
president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Subsequent recipients of this prestigious award have been the
following humanists:
