William Jeanes Memorial Library Controversy Papers

Mary Knowles (b. 1910), a librarian at the William Jeanes Memorial Library in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and Plymouth Monthly Meeting were the center of a “Red Scare” controversy in 1953-56 when Mrs. Knowles was accused of being a member of the Communist Party. Mary Knowles had pleaded the Fifth Amendment in 1953 before the Jenner Committee (Senate Internal Security Subcommittee) regarding her employment as secretary at the Samuel Adams School in Boston Mass. When she refused to take the Pennsylvania Loyalty Oath in 1954, the controversy and criticisms escalated. The William Jeanes Memorial Library was established in 1926 as a gift by Mary Rich Jeanes Miller, in memory of her first husband, granted to a Board of Trustees to be appointed by the Plymouth Preparative Meeting (Quaker), Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. By 1953, the Jeanes Library received much of its budget from various public sources. Mary Knowles was hired as a temporary librarian and became permanent in 1954. The Library Committee and Plymouth Monthly Meeting remained staunchly behind Mary Knowles's civil rights and retained her as librarian. She was convicted of contempt of Congress in 1955 for refusing to answer questions arising out of the Senate subcommittee. She successfully appealed the conviction in 1960. This collection includes legal papers, correspondence, and other materials relating to the controversy. It also contains background material concerning the William Jeanes Memorial Library, Plymouth Monthly Meeting, and the hiring of Mary Knowles.