[Todos CMAT] Lee Lorch honoured at Fisk University

[Roberto Markarian]

Lee Lorch, es el joven de 90 anos que hace unos meses dono su archivo
Massera y nos visitara viniendo de Canadá. RM

> Nashville Tennessean
> Sunday, 05/07/06
> Fisk, civil rights champion fondly recall each other
> Lee Lorch's visit highlight of Class of 1956 reunion
> By NATALIA MIELCZAREK
> Staff Writer
>
> Clutching a camera and copies of photographs from 50 years ago, Lee
> Lorch,
> 90, inched his way through the crowd Saturday receiving hugs.
>
> He was one of the guests of honor at the reunion of Fisk University's
> Class of 1956 -- an accomplished mathematician, civil rights champion
> and former Fisk University professor who was fired by the school's board
> of trustees after refusing to answer the federal government about
> whether he was a Communist.
>
> Lorch has been back to Fisk since the 1955 incident. This time, though,
> he made the trip because of the love for his students and fond memories
> of his five-year tenure here.
>
> "They were very productive five years," Lorch said Saturday. "I had many
> fine students and many fine colleagues here.  Many close friendships
> were formed here. It's not the same board of directors anymore."
>
> Shortly after the 1954 court case of Brown vs. Board of Education, which
> made segregation at public schools illegal, Lorch and his wife attempted
> to enroll their daughter at an all-black school near Fisk.
>
> Subsequently, he was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. House
> Committee on Un-American Activities under the leadership of U.S. Sen.
> Joseph McCarthy. Lorch refused to answer any questions . not because he
> did anything wrong, he said, but because the questioning was illegal.
>
> Lorch, before coming to Fisk, was also dismissed from the City College
> of New York and Pennsylvania State University for leading a movement to
> desegregate a housing development in New York City. His fight against
> racism has been recognized with honorary degrees and awards by a number
> of institutions around the country, including Fisk.
>
> Lorch was in Nashville Saturday from Canada, where he moved in 1959.
>
> Robert Hunter, a retired Episcopal minister from Washington, came back
> to his alma mater especially to see Lorch and his friends from more than
> half a century ago.
>
> "Fisk was one of the most liberal institutions in the South," Hunter
> said. "We had the best of everything in a segregated environment. We had
> great leadership from the teachers. They taught us being independent in
> your thinking, acting on it and taking risks."