Background
Patrick Murphy Malin was born on May 8, 1903, in Joplin, Missouri, and was the son of Hanson Atkins Malin, a banker, and of Ida Elizabeth Murphy.
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Patrick Murphy Malin
Edit ProfileEducation
After graduating from Joplin High School in 1920, Malin entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B. S. degree in economics in 1924.
Malin continued part-time graduate studies at Columbia University, first at Union Theological Seminary and Teachers College and then in the economics department.
Career
Because of his Quaker background, Malin briefly considered a career in the ministry, but instead became private secretary to Sherwood Eddy of the International Young Men's Christian Association, a position he held until 1929. In 1930, he was appointed an instructor of economics at Swarthmore College, where he spent most of his next twenty years, rising to full professor.
During the 1920's and 1930's, Malin became involved in a number of organizations and causes, establishing a pattern that would dominate the rest of his life. In 1925, he was made a fellow of the National Council on Religion in Higher Education, later serving as a director (1937 - 1943) and as president (1939 - 1943).
From 1936 to 1938, he was vice-chairman of the American Friends Service Committee, concerned with administering relief for both sides in the Spanish Civil War. Finally, in order to devote himself to administrative work on a full-time basis, he took an extended leave of absence from Swarthmore College in 1940.
From 1940 until 1942, Malin was director of the International Migration Service, which cared for refugees in Europe and the West Indies. Then, calling himself an independent Democrat, he moved into President Franklin Roosevelt's administration, holding various posts that included associate director of the Export-Import Price Control Office in the Office of Price Administration (OPA) and price executive of the Chemicals and Drugs Branch of the OPA.
He was appointed deputy chief of the Division of Programs and Requirements, Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations, in the State Department. On February 1, 1950, he was elected its executive director, replacing the founder, Roger N. Baldwin.
Malin retired as ACLU director in February 1962 and became president of Robert College, an American-operated school of 1, 600 students in Istanbul, Turkey. In 1964, he returned to New York City, where he died on December 13, 1964.
Achievements
Views
Many within the ACLU believed that the organization had to protect itself from attack by condemning Communist activities and theories and by barring Communists from membership. Malin agreed with the majority of his board of directors on this, and as a result the ACLU continued to prohibit Communist membership and also accepted the necessity for the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Internal Security Act.
Usually they disagreed only with tactics of the committee and abuses that resulted. Malin also stated that educational institutions did not violate academic freedom by inquiring whether their teachers belonged to the Communist party. Despite these policies, the ACLU was accused of being a Communist front organization by Senator Joseph McCarthy and the American Legion.
Throughout his term as director (1950 - 1962), Malin continued to speak and write about violations of civil liberties. He opposed blacklisting, censorship of books and periodicals, loyalty-determination procedures without due process of law, universal military training, anti-contraception laws, legislation aimed against bus boycotts, questions concerning religion on federal censuses, and government wiretapping, with or without a court order.
Malin also defended the right of Senator McCarthy to make a political speech on a Seattle television channel in 1954 and the right of the fascist National Renaissance party to disseminate its views. Having taken such stands, Malin was often annoyed by the fact that many people believed he and the ACLU supported the opinions of those they defended.
Membership
Malin was a fellow of the National Council on Religion in Higher Education, senior American member of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees.
From 1943 to 1947, Malin was a senior American member of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. Malin's most significant affiliation was his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which he joined soon after the organization was established in 1920.
Personality
As director of the ACLU, Malin proved to be a less dynamic figure than his predecessor. Not surprisingly, given his training, he tended to be more of a cautious administrator. He possessed impeccable credentials, though, and had never had connections with any group that could be considered radical. All these factors were no doubt significant in his selection as director, since by 1950 many in the United States had become increasingly preoccupied with Communist subversion and conspiracy.
In this atmosphere the ACLU often experienced difficulties in maintaining its goals, and needed a leader with Malin's temperament and background. Malin never shied from becoming embroiled in vigorous debates with such detractors. In spite of these problems, Malin generally managed to maintain his administrative calm and his sense of humor. He despised both flamboyance and pomposity, and claimed that working for civil liberties was neither dramatic nor romantic, but simply a necessary task that had to be pursued.
In this style, Malin carefully guided the ACLU through one of its most difficult and troubled periods. And, while some within the ACLU believed that he was too cautious and conservative, there is little doubt that he contributed to its survival and growth. In the process he emerged as one of the nation's leading spokesmen for civil liberties.
Connections
On June 16, 1928, Malin married Caroline Cooper Biddle; they had three sons.
References
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Born
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Died
February 13, 1964 (aged 60) -
Nationality
American