Robert W. Iversen

Robert William Iversen (April 22, 1920 – September 28, 1988) was an American historian who wrote The Communists and the Schools in 1959, which discusses the Teachers Union, Local 5 of the American Federation of Teachers in New York City; the book is often cited by scholars on academic freedom in the 20th-century United States.

Early life and education

Robert William Iversen was born on April 22, 1920, Columbia University,

Iversen's principal work, The Communists and the Schools formed part of a Fund for the Republic series on "Communism in American Life". Clinton Rossiter oversaw the series, which also included The Roots of American Communism by Theodore Draper (1957). The book starts in 1919 and ends in the 1950s and spends considerable time on the Teachers Union, Local 5 of the American Federation of Teachers in New York City. New York Times, The Saturday Review, and National Review magazines among others.

His writings include: "Review" in Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1950) The Communists and the Schools (1959) "The Peace Corps: A New Learning Situation" in The Modern Language Journal (1963) MIDSIM: The Maxwell International Development Simulation (1971)

Legacy Iversen's book The Communists and the Schools continues to serve as source for books on academic freedom in 20th-Century American history, including Reds at the Blackboard by Clarence Taylor High Priests of Democracy by Marjorie Heins, and Many are the Crimes by Ellen Schrecker.