McCarthyism was bearing down on universities. Congress members attacked Hopkins Professor Owen Lattimore, who was indicted for espionage. A group of graduate students formed the Student Committee for Academic Freedom in 1953. Annual dues: $2.

Cryptic notes on a yellow legal pad detailed the battle plan: "Assess threats. Alert all concerned. Survey defenses, moral, legal, etc. Decision as to strategy, tactics. Briefing of people involved."

And, to counterattack investigators who might show up on campus, students should provide a: "Polite offer of cooperation, at the same time questioning their right to come on campus." The committee, at its height 25 members, penned a statement decrying restrictions on research based on "narrow dogma." Members invited speakers and networked with other campus groups. The group dissolved in 1955, after Sen. Joseph McCarthy's "Red Hunt" lost credibility. --JC

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