Ralph Young - Dissent: The History of an American Idea

Dissent: The History of an American Idea is my personal take on how dissenters shaped American history. Although the interpretation is mine, many people have contributed to broadening my insights and sharpening my thinking during the research and writing.

My colleagues at Temple University David Farber, Bryant Simon, and Heather Ann Thompson, as well as Krytof Kozk of Charles University in Prague, generously offered their time to read several chapters and offer valuable suggestions that have improved this book. Drew Isenberg, Elizabeth Varon, David Waldstreicher, David Wrobel, and Gregory Urwin read portions of the early chapters when I first set out to write the history of American dissent and made many recommendations that helped guide my way. This book is better because of their insights and criticism. Any errors are solely mine.

My thinking about dissent also benefited from conversations with Richard Immerman, Bob Wintermute, Istvan Varkonyi, and Jim Hilty at Temple; Leopoldo Nuti, Leila Tavi, Azzurra Meringolo, and Renato Moro at the University of Rome (Roma Tre); and Gyorgy Toth and Barbara Capinska at Charles University.

Teaching Dissent in America and leading the weekly teach-ins at Temple University since 2002 has been the most amazing experience of my professional career. Dissent: The History of an American Idea is the product of the course, the teach-ins, and the extraordinary discussions I participated in with my students. I especially want to thank former students Brianne Murphy, Sierra Gladfelter, Sarah Khan, Evan Hoffman, Wafai Dias, Lauren Spahr, Armond James, and Julia Foley, as well as my colleagues Richard Immerman, Vlad Zubok, Beth Bailey, Arthur Schmidt, Lila Corwin Berman, Ken Kusmer, Phil Evanson, Howard Spodek, Mohammad Kiani, Rebecca Alpert, Laura Levitt, Ruth Ost, Terry Halbert, and Teresa Scott Soufas, who have supported and participated in the teach-ins despite efforts to silence us by two political organizations that objected to the teach-ins dissenting point of view. Discussing and analyzing controversial subjects, even in the United States, even in the twenty-first century, evidently has its detractors.

I wish also to thank the Fulbright Specialist Program for the grant to teach my Dissent in America seminar in 2009 at Universit Degli Studi Roma Tre, Scuola Dottorale in Scienze Politiche, in Rome, and the American embassy in Prague for supporting the seminar in 2012 at Univerzita Karlova. Thanks also to Alison Young, Margaret Cronan, and Kerry Sautner at the National Constitution Center for bringing me in for talks and workshops on dissent and the Constitution.

Ashley Dodge and Priscilla McGeehon were the driving forces behind pushing me to write about American dissent when I first began collecting and editing hundreds of documents of American dissenters. I am forever indebted to them for their suggestions and their inspiration. At New York University Press Clara Platter instantly saw the value of this book the first time we spoke about it. I am very grateful to her as well as Constance Grady for their indispensable role in bringing Dissent: The History of an American Idea to fruition.

Many other people had a more personal impact. I want to thank Daniel Wood for teaching me to fall in love with words, Leif Skoogfors for showing me how to look at the world through an artists eyes, Ellen Gibson and Cyndy Jahn for their always-lively opinions that seemed to touch on every subject under the sun, the Friday Night Gang for taking us under their collective wing, Peter Hiler for his unbounded generosity, Millie for being my sister, Cara and Sean for letting me be a part of their lives, my late parents, Ralph Eric Young and Emily Mildred Young, for making sure I did not become part of the military-industrial complex, and my wife, Pat, for her constant energy, compassion, and love.

I first met Pete Seeger in 1969 and over the years between then and 2012 spoke with him on several occasions at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Clearwater Hudson River Revival. He was always accessible, always willing to talk about his latest cause (and there were many). He graciously read my Dissent in America reader of dissenting documents and offered suggestions as well as a blurb for the books cover. In February 1980 I spent a day and evening in lively conversation with Allen Ginsberg and continued a correspondence with him for the next eight years. These two men had, before we met and then for a long time thereafter, a profound influence on me and the way I perceive the joys and the sorrows and the complexities of this planet we all share. Dissent: The History of an American Idea is dedicated to their memory and to all the other courageous dissenters who have inspired us to live up to the better angels of our nature.