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Harvard's Secret Court: The Savage 1920 Purge of Campus Homosexuals
In 2002, a researcher for The Harvard Crimson came across a restricted archive labeled "Secret Court Files, 1920." The mystery he uncovered involved a tragic scandal in which Harvard University secretly put a dozen students on trial for homosexuality and then systematically and persistently tried to ruin their lives.
In May of 1920, Cyril Wilcox, a freshman suspended from Harvard, was found sprawled dead on his bed, his room filled with gas--a suicide. The note he left behind revealed his secret life as part of a circle of (cut "young") homosexual students. The resulting witch hunt and the lives it cost remains one of the most shameful episodes in the history of America's premiere university. Supported by legendary Harvard President Lawrence Lowell, Harvard conducted its investigation in secrecy. Several students committed suicide; others had their lives destroyed by an ongoing effort on the part of Harvard to destroy their reputations. Harvard's Secret Court is a deeply moving indictment of the human toll of intolerance and the horrors of injustice that can result when a powerful institution loses its balance.
In May of 1920, Cyril Wilcox, a freshman suspended from Harvard, was found sprawled dead on his bed, his room filled with gas--a suicide. The note he left behind revealed his secret life as part of a circle of (cut "young") homosexual students. The resulting witch hunt and the lives it cost remains one of the most shameful episodes in the history of America's premiere university. Supported by legendary Harvard President Lawrence Lowell, Harvard conducted its investigation in secrecy. Several students committed suicide; others had their lives destroyed by an ongoing effort on the part of Harvard to destroy their reputations. Harvard's Secret Court is a deeply moving indictment of the human toll of intolerance and the horrors of injustice that can result when a powerful institution loses its balance.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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581 people want to read
About the author
William Wright
14 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This is William Wright (1930-2016).
This is William Wright (1930-2016).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
November 16, 2022
I loved this book and saw the play in NYC based upon it. I remember a guy I once dated in the 1970s telling me about their main library on campus where apparently a great deal of cruising took place. It was decided that restrictions to by the general public would be iniated so to limit access by outsiders on their premises. In essence he told me that Harvard's attitude was "What we do here on campus is our business and no one needs to know a thing about it."
January 23, 2019
One lesson I gleaned in thinking about the events related in this book is: When in Rome, lie your fucking ass off. Especially if you happened to be a gay student at Harvard in 1920.
In the wake of the expulsion and suicide of gay undergraduate, Cyril Wilcox, in spring 1920, his infuriated older brother, Lester, blamed Harvard and its permissiveness in allowing a gay subculture that he claimed corrupted his young brother, leading to the tragedy. To quickly quell any scandal and purge the campus of gay students -- and to placate the hotheaded Lester Wilcox -- university President Lowell and his top administrators convened a three-week "secret court" to mercilessly hunt out and banish any gay men it could find. Ironically, many gays were left untouched by the court, some who were called before it lied well enough to remain there, and most who were too honest were rewarded by expulsion for their forthrightness. Even several heterosexuals were expelled merely by fleeting associations with the so-called tainted group. For many, whose families had worked hard to get them into the school, the resulting shame (the idea of a "permanent record" was one that Harvard used with almost Javert-like cruelty for years to punish the transgressors throughout their lives) led many to suicide or to not live up to their full potential.
There are heroic people in this book, the siblings and parents of the victims in particular, who waged battles to support and defend their loved ones, campaigning tirelessly to have their kin reinstated to the school, almost always in the face of cold refusals. Perhaps the most tragic story is that of Eugene Cummings, only a week away from receiving a dental degree after five years of hard work and family sacrifice when the scandal denied him his diploma. He met a sorry end.
I would recommend this book to everyone, as yet another example of the real history of the United States that is not taught in the homogenized "official" stories of our civics classes.
What's especially good about this book is the window it gives us on gay life nearly 100 years ago, some of it surprisingly explicit as culled from the court records: sucking off, mutual masturbation, drag parties, and a crazy scandal involving gay sailors in which the "investigators" seemed to enjoy their work a little too much.
As fascinating, infuriating and enlightening as this book and its subject are, though, I have substantial caveats with the book as a read. First, I think author Wright has opted to offer us a good work of historical archeology rather than a great work of narrative history. It often seems like he's more interested in writing to other historians than in telling a smoothly flowing narrative. He seems concerned overmuch in telling us from a distance about the quality of the historical record. So in much of the book we get phrases such as (I paraphrase): "From the context we can surmise that...", or "Given what happened before it is possible or likely that..." I say, screw that. If there are holes, use your authorial imagination. Truth is not to be found in the details. I can always cut a good historical author some slack for educated guessing and speculation, filling in details using his or her imagination based on the evidence at hand. I don't need to hear the author's thought processes in doing so or evading same. After all, there are things called footnotes and endnotes to clarify things. I want a narrative in the main text; a story, well told. Historical writers it seems to me used to be able to do this kind of thing better.
Also, I found several of the latter chapters of the book to be repetitive of concepts already well hashed out earlier; they are padded, overlong or entirely unnecessary. The book is overlong by at least 50 pages. One chapter in particular, "Homophobia's Long March" -- an attempt to encapsulate the world history of gay bashing -- is perfunctory and could have been much shorter, and is better handled in other books in more complete fashion. After the third iteration of some of these concepts I began to wonder whether there had been an editor.
Despite my problems with the less than scintillating prose and the organization of same, this is a compelling slice of history, hidden in dusty boxes of records for 80 years.
In short, great content, fair presentation.
In the wake of the expulsion and suicide of gay undergraduate, Cyril Wilcox, in spring 1920, his infuriated older brother, Lester, blamed Harvard and its permissiveness in allowing a gay subculture that he claimed corrupted his young brother, leading to the tragedy. To quickly quell any scandal and purge the campus of gay students -- and to placate the hotheaded Lester Wilcox -- university President Lowell and his top administrators convened a three-week "secret court" to mercilessly hunt out and banish any gay men it could find. Ironically, many gays were left untouched by the court, some who were called before it lied well enough to remain there, and most who were too honest were rewarded by expulsion for their forthrightness. Even several heterosexuals were expelled merely by fleeting associations with the so-called tainted group. For many, whose families had worked hard to get them into the school, the resulting shame (the idea of a "permanent record" was one that Harvard used with almost Javert-like cruelty for years to punish the transgressors throughout their lives) led many to suicide or to not live up to their full potential.
There are heroic people in this book, the siblings and parents of the victims in particular, who waged battles to support and defend their loved ones, campaigning tirelessly to have their kin reinstated to the school, almost always in the face of cold refusals. Perhaps the most tragic story is that of Eugene Cummings, only a week away from receiving a dental degree after five years of hard work and family sacrifice when the scandal denied him his diploma. He met a sorry end.
I would recommend this book to everyone, as yet another example of the real history of the United States that is not taught in the homogenized "official" stories of our civics classes.
What's especially good about this book is the window it gives us on gay life nearly 100 years ago, some of it surprisingly explicit as culled from the court records: sucking off, mutual masturbation, drag parties, and a crazy scandal involving gay sailors in which the "investigators" seemed to enjoy their work a little too much.
As fascinating, infuriating and enlightening as this book and its subject are, though, I have substantial caveats with the book as a read. First, I think author Wright has opted to offer us a good work of historical archeology rather than a great work of narrative history. It often seems like he's more interested in writing to other historians than in telling a smoothly flowing narrative. He seems concerned overmuch in telling us from a distance about the quality of the historical record. So in much of the book we get phrases such as (I paraphrase): "From the context we can surmise that...", or "Given what happened before it is possible or likely that..." I say, screw that. If there are holes, use your authorial imagination. Truth is not to be found in the details. I can always cut a good historical author some slack for educated guessing and speculation, filling in details using his or her imagination based on the evidence at hand. I don't need to hear the author's thought processes in doing so or evading same. After all, there are things called footnotes and endnotes to clarify things. I want a narrative in the main text; a story, well told. Historical writers it seems to me used to be able to do this kind of thing better.
Also, I found several of the latter chapters of the book to be repetitive of concepts already well hashed out earlier; they are padded, overlong or entirely unnecessary. The book is overlong by at least 50 pages. One chapter in particular, "Homophobia's Long March" -- an attempt to encapsulate the world history of gay bashing -- is perfunctory and could have been much shorter, and is better handled in other books in more complete fashion. After the third iteration of some of these concepts I began to wonder whether there had been an editor.
Despite my problems with the less than scintillating prose and the organization of same, this is a compelling slice of history, hidden in dusty boxes of records for 80 years.
In short, great content, fair presentation.
Read
October 3, 2023this was a interesting book retelling an important history of the existence of homosexuality at elite academic institutions + their committed actions towards prosecution of students who either were gay or were associated with "gay culture." I learned a lot but i found myself sometimes wondering which side the author was on. this book did have a tendency to go off on things that i feel weren't really important, such as the specific chapter about homosexuality throughout history. it also got repetitive during the chapters that recounted the lives of the students who were involved in the scandal, and while their stories are incredibly important to be told and archived i feel like it was approached in a lackluster or lazy sort of way. towards the end i had started to skim bc it was like, i get it harvard ruined these peoples lives. it had become repetitive over and over again and idk the author did not do much to be anti-homophobic...the most incredibly important part of all of this was literally relegated to the EPILOGUE....it was the harvard newspaper The Crimson working towards uncovering these documents much to the refusal and obstacle course put on by harvard the institution. i wanted to know more about THAT and much more time spent on the critical analysis of erasing / censoring archives and how these institutions grapple with it today. anyways this book was good in helping me think more about colleges and institutional oppression against minorities + systematic prosecutions but i think i would point to the actual articles from the crimson review + the centennial articles to learn more about this case.
April 25, 2023
The essential facts of the story are fascinating and infuriating, but I really could have done without the penultimate chapter speculating that homophobia is innate to the species, to say nothing of how the author in all his lengthy discussion of the origins of anti-gay bigotry never once broaches the subject of misogyny.
December 26, 2019
Four stars for thorough research in the face of lots of people still trying to cover this up all these years later, but rather than sticking to telling the stories of the young men whose lives were crippled or destroyed altogether and the men who set themselves in judgement over them -not just at the time but years later, there is an awkward chapter about the older brother of an expelled student who had killed himself and his years in a mental institution and one of rather half-baked theories about an evolutionary basis for homophobia. So I docked it a star for not really having worked out what it was trying to say about the aftermath of these and other similar instances of sudden furious persecution
April 3, 2019
I ultimately have to give this book a two star. The material is interesting and well researched but poorly written. The author doesn't keep and good timeline, and with quite a few students lives to follow I got lost many times. In addition, there is a lot of editorializing and filling in of gaps where research failed. Coupled with his useless chapter in gay history, this book is a mess.
February 25, 2014
While this book was fascinating and informative, I found that I got weary, perhaps of the journalistic style. By the time I got to the last 40 pages, where the author decided to write a lengthy diatribe on homophobia, I gave up and just skimmed--and not too thoroughly at that. After that chapter, I returned to read--a bit more thoroughly--the account of how the scandal came to light in 2002.
February 20, 2019
I've owned this book for a very long time but never gotten around to reading it until now. I feel like this book is important to keep history alive - that Harvard would have done something like this, even in 1920, is something that should not be covered up or left unknown. Simple apologies are not enough for the pain that the Secret Court brought on gay/questioning male students in 1920. At the very least we should not forget or allow this information to be buried.
That being said...I wish this account had been written by someone else. I'm not sure if Wright is straight, or just an old school Gay not very in tune with the community, because there are so many times that he interjects his own opinion of things that just....doesn't make much sense to me. He also goes along with the Secret Court's idea that the boys who actually engaged in "gay sexual activity" = "guilty" vs the boys who were just friends/seemed to just be questioning over actually gay = "innocent". Even if this is done ironically, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There were just too many times in which he presented information in a neutral way that seems to present the long term and violent homophobia of the Secret Court as like deserving of the same kind of understanding and sympathy as the gay men whose lives they ruined ?
In the final chapters, Wright goes on about homophobia in general and makes the claim that homophobia makes sense as an evolutionary trait innate in all of us. It's frustrating and gives violent homophobes an excuse and a ploy for sympathy - "it's not our fault, it's just our biology". Bigotry and hatred is not a biological component of humanity and oppression like homophobia is absolutely a social construction that we are raised within and learn, much like sexism, racism, etc. (He also at one point backs up the argument of biology by saying that homophobia is seen across history and across culture - then proceeds to list events that happen only over the course of a few centuries in Europe, primarily England. I have to laugh!)
The book did involve a lot of information about the lives of the gay men that were persecuted as well as direct quotations which I enjoyed. And for the preservation of LGBT+ history at least, that is important. But otherwise this book is rather disappointing and feels very out of touch with the LGBT+ community, even for a book written in 2005.
That being said...I wish this account had been written by someone else. I'm not sure if Wright is straight, or just an old school Gay not very in tune with the community, because there are so many times that he interjects his own opinion of things that just....doesn't make much sense to me. He also goes along with the Secret Court's idea that the boys who actually engaged in "gay sexual activity" = "guilty" vs the boys who were just friends/seemed to just be questioning over actually gay = "innocent". Even if this is done ironically, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There were just too many times in which he presented information in a neutral way that seems to present the long term and violent homophobia of the Secret Court as like deserving of the same kind of understanding and sympathy as the gay men whose lives they ruined ?
In the final chapters, Wright goes on about homophobia in general and makes the claim that homophobia makes sense as an evolutionary trait innate in all of us. It's frustrating and gives violent homophobes an excuse and a ploy for sympathy - "it's not our fault, it's just our biology". Bigotry and hatred is not a biological component of humanity and oppression like homophobia is absolutely a social construction that we are raised within and learn, much like sexism, racism, etc. (He also at one point backs up the argument of biology by saying that homophobia is seen across history and across culture - then proceeds to list events that happen only over the course of a few centuries in Europe, primarily England. I have to laugh!)
The book did involve a lot of information about the lives of the gay men that were persecuted as well as direct quotations which I enjoyed. And for the preservation of LGBT+ history at least, that is important. But otherwise this book is rather disappointing and feels very out of touch with the LGBT+ community, even for a book written in 2005.
October 5, 2023
Oct 5, 2023
This book isn't as interesting as some other books written on history of homosexuality (e.g. 'Forbidden Friendships' by Rocke, 'Homosexuality and Civilization' by Crompton) nor is it as eloquent or well-written as those other authors (Rocke, Crompton).
It has its moments though (there is one chapter in the book which deals with homophobia in broader historic terms, and that chapter is the best one in the book). And it is definitely worth to read this material just to know how these situations arise, and how cruel people can be towards people who love the same sex. Because this hatred isn't gone from our society.
The most interesting part about this book for me personally was the chapter dealing with homophobia in more general historic terms. It raised an interesting possibility -- and argued it credibly -- that homophobia is an innate trait of the human species. As depressing as that sounds, and as bleak a picture it paints for the future of gay people, it might be the truth.
****
Sep 29, 2023
This puts Harvard to shame. I know the times were different back then, but even so, this type of persecution of its students was extraordinary and atrocious. It can't be brushed aside as ''just the way things were back then'', because even the most strict and moralistic institutions of the time in the Western world did not come down this harsh and unforgiving of homosexuality back then!
It wasn't just the trial over the students and their expulsion, but the prolonged attempts by the university to disqualify the individuals they expelled and desire to ruin their lives decades after the fact. The extent of hatred and viciousness displayed by university officials is truly inexplicable. Disgusting behavior.
March 4, 2019
I'd heard of Harvard's Secret Court only recently and became automatically interested, so I had to read this book despite the mixed reviews. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and coupled with Amit Paley's articles in the Harvard Crimson, I now have a thorough understanding of the insane, underground events that happened at Harvard. I enjoyed how the events played out in my mind like a movie. While the author's voice was pretty neutral about the horrible mistreatment of Harvard's gay students, I didn't really find a problem with it. All I really cared about was that the story was as factual as possible. Also, I'm not sure if the author is gay or not, but his use of terms like "gayness" made me almost cringe at times, but besides that, I thought his account of the story was respectful.
My only complaint was the last few chapters. Sorry, but I honestly didn't care about the history of homosexuality and homophobia around the world, especially when I learned all this in an Intro to Sexuality course in college. I think it would have been enough just to talk about the culture of homophobia surrounding Harvard in the 20s. While the information was helpful, it didn't need to be in this specific book.
My only complaint was the last few chapters. Sorry, but I honestly didn't care about the history of homosexuality and homophobia around the world, especially when I learned all this in an Intro to Sexuality course in college. I think it would have been enough just to talk about the culture of homophobia surrounding Harvard in the 20s. While the information was helpful, it didn't need to be in this specific book.
August 16, 2017
"Harvard's Secret Court" by William Wright was an extremely intriguing read. It skillfully unraveled a secret that had been withheld from public knowledge for over eighty years. The scandal of discussion greatly illustrates the immense homophobia and disgust in the "infection" of homosexuals within Harvard's prestigious grounds in the early twentieth century. The Harvard deans who took on this supposedly cleansing project ended up destroying the lives of many young men who so evidently and obviously didn't deserve it. "Harvard's Secret Court" is very eye-opening, for it reminds you of the prevalence of behaviors carried out by the members of the Secret Court and the prominence and controversy that surrounds homosexuality, then and now. Learning of the countless Harvard students and faculty subjected to violating interrogations, severe punishments, and Harvard records that haunted them for the rest of their lives, I was deeply frustrated at the prolonged concealment of it all. It made me wonder what other big secrets in the world are currently left untold.
April 29, 2021
Trigger warning: Suicide (happens on page, discussion of methods), homophobia, transphobia, mental illness, domestic violence
This was interesting to read but looking back I can’t remember any details. I never really felt for any of the characters deeply, as they all kind of blended together. I think it may have been more cohesive to do one chapter per character.
Also, I think it’s hilariously funny that the author kept going on diatribes about how Harvard is so full of itself and how they thought they were better than everyone else and then the author’s description says he went to Yale.
This was interesting to read but looking back I can’t remember any details. I never really felt for any of the characters deeply, as they all kind of blended together. I think it may have been more cohesive to do one chapter per character.
Also, I think it’s hilariously funny that the author kept going on diatribes about how Harvard is so full of itself and how they thought they were better than everyone else and then the author’s description says he went to Yale.
March 22, 2019
God, this book is so depressing — that several gay (and straight ) men were kicked out of Harvard in 1920 for their activity and associations is abhorrent, but that they’re names went on a list that ensured damning answers to questions from potential employers for the next 30 years is beyond belief.
I felt that this book could have been tightened up a bit. The chapter toward the end on homophobia smacked of preaching to the choir. I did appreciate the follow-up with some of the expelled students, some of whom managed to move beyond this episode and many who didn’t.
I felt that this book could have been tightened up a bit. The chapter toward the end on homophobia smacked of preaching to the choir. I did appreciate the follow-up with some of the expelled students, some of whom managed to move beyond this episode and many who didn’t.
February 5, 2021
I was drawn to this book after seeing a press release about the story being developed into a podcast.
There are parts of this book that a great, particularly the story of Lester Wilcox. But the book can be long in the tooth and there are definitely a few extra paragraphs, pages and chapters than there needs to be to tell a fascinating story. That said I am glad I read the book, and am grateful for the education it provided.
There are parts of this book that a great, particularly the story of Lester Wilcox. But the book can be long in the tooth and there are definitely a few extra paragraphs, pages and chapters than there needs to be to tell a fascinating story. That said I am glad I read the book, and am grateful for the education it provided.
April 6, 2021
While informative and interesting it was a very dry book to read. It was more like reading a 12 year olds history paper than a book. The characters stories are all well told but you’re often finding that you’ve read the material in earlier chapters.
July 22, 2017
brutal, important history of hyperactive homophobia at Harvard
March 30, 2018
This book is one that is truly worth the read. The information is incredibly interesting and far from common knowledge, and the writing itself is incredibly engaging.
May 6, 2018
This was a very easy, interesting read. I wish the source material, Harvard's files surrounding these incidents, had been more complete and/or more material had survived over the course of time.
July 19, 2020
Well researched, and written with exceptional integrity. The author pointedly delineates between facts and drawn conclusions.
June 7, 2021
Important content, less than great delivery.
April 9, 2022
Fuck HARVARD.
January 23, 2016
The topic of this book is really interesting--why did Harvard form a committee to investigate a homosexual student clique, and how did their disciplinary actions affect the lives of the students?
Unfortunately, the writing is terrible: it's not ungrammatical, just speculative, horribly repetitious, and full of hyperbole. As least half the book is repetition. And while I agree that getting kicked out of Harvard for being too queer is horribly unfair, I disagree that it is like the Inquisition and Stalin together (or whatever). I'm not even sure it was "the deadly fungus that could annihilate the majestic forest, the virus that could kill off a noble race."
I really had problems with the tone and the assumptions of the author. Although there are a lot of potentially interesting issues to explore--stigma, social constructions of self, class, authority, deliberately hidden histories, social networks, what queer identities were like at the time, ideas about the uses of discipline, and the dark side of ideals (of Harvard, of manliness and virtue)--half the time these issues are only minimally and superficially explored. Instead there's a lament about the terrible destruction of these young men's lives and the unjust persecution of them. I think I would have been more moved if the author had let the outcomes speak for themselves.
Of course Harvard is a prestigious and influential institution. But come on, how many sentences can I read about how it is "one of the world's great citadels of civilization's finest strivings"? In some sense, this book is about the injustice of the privileged for once getting the shit end of the gatekeeping process (it's only exclusive if some are excluded...), and in that regard, I find this book a bit myopic--both from the perspective of the author who embeds this privileged POV throughout the framing of the events and also from the perspective of the young men who felt utterly destroyed by it.
There's also a boring and ridiculous chapter near the end about homophobia--how gayness and homophobia have persisted throughout all time everywhere, so maybe both are innate/genetic? Gah. Why didn't anyone suggest removing it entirely?
If you're seriously interested in this subject, I might recommend trying to make a study of the original documents instead.
Unfortunately, the writing is terrible: it's not ungrammatical, just speculative, horribly repetitious, and full of hyperbole. As least half the book is repetition. And while I agree that getting kicked out of Harvard for being too queer is horribly unfair, I disagree that it is like the Inquisition and Stalin together (or whatever). I'm not even sure it was "the deadly fungus that could annihilate the majestic forest, the virus that could kill off a noble race."
I really had problems with the tone and the assumptions of the author. Although there are a lot of potentially interesting issues to explore--stigma, social constructions of self, class, authority, deliberately hidden histories, social networks, what queer identities were like at the time, ideas about the uses of discipline, and the dark side of ideals (of Harvard, of manliness and virtue)--half the time these issues are only minimally and superficially explored. Instead there's a lament about the terrible destruction of these young men's lives and the unjust persecution of them. I think I would have been more moved if the author had let the outcomes speak for themselves.
Of course Harvard is a prestigious and influential institution. But come on, how many sentences can I read about how it is "one of the world's great citadels of civilization's finest strivings"? In some sense, this book is about the injustice of the privileged for once getting the shit end of the gatekeeping process (it's only exclusive if some are excluded...), and in that regard, I find this book a bit myopic--both from the perspective of the author who embeds this privileged POV throughout the framing of the events and also from the perspective of the young men who felt utterly destroyed by it.
There's also a boring and ridiculous chapter near the end about homophobia--how gayness and homophobia have persisted throughout all time everywhere, so maybe both are innate/genetic? Gah. Why didn't anyone suggest removing it entirely?
If you're seriously interested in this subject, I might recommend trying to make a study of the original documents instead.
January 28, 2011
All in all this was a very interesting book about a decision taken by the President and a Dean at Harvard in 1920 to root out a homosexual element in campus and the devastating consequences of that decision.
At times Wright's style of writing can be a little off-putting. He repeatedly uses the word 'gayness', which is a ridiculous word. He devotes a chapter towards the end to a survey of homophobia throughout history, a subject vast enough could fill a whole bookshelf, and of course only has time to gloss the bare details which I imagine anyone interested enough to read this book will already be quite familiar with. He's also slightly too eager to try and to ascribe motivations to various players in the story. Finally, while trying to prove a point about innate sexuality by pointing out that, contrary to the Harvard Administration's belief that homosexuality was a contagion that 'normal' young men could 'catch', the heterosexual men caught up in the scandal lead heterosexual lives and the homosexuals lead homosexual lives Wright omits all mention of the so-called ring leader Ernest Roberts, who after his expulsion married a girl from Brookline (whose brother he had planned to seduce) and lived together in what the bare evidence suggests was domestic harmony. Wright doesn't attempt to explain it away, he doesn't suggest bisexuality, he just leaves Roberts out, as if the reader may have forgotten him at this stage.
Probably only deserves 3.5 stars but I'll round up to four because I'm a sucker for secret histories.
At times Wright's style of writing can be a little off-putting. He repeatedly uses the word 'gayness', which is a ridiculous word. He devotes a chapter towards the end to a survey of homophobia throughout history, a subject vast enough could fill a whole bookshelf, and of course only has time to gloss the bare details which I imagine anyone interested enough to read this book will already be quite familiar with. He's also slightly too eager to try and to ascribe motivations to various players in the story. Finally, while trying to prove a point about innate sexuality by pointing out that, contrary to the Harvard Administration's belief that homosexuality was a contagion that 'normal' young men could 'catch', the heterosexual men caught up in the scandal lead heterosexual lives and the homosexuals lead homosexual lives Wright omits all mention of the so-called ring leader Ernest Roberts, who after his expulsion married a girl from Brookline (whose brother he had planned to seduce) and lived together in what the bare evidence suggests was domestic harmony. Wright doesn't attempt to explain it away, he doesn't suggest bisexuality, he just leaves Roberts out, as if the reader may have forgotten him at this stage.
Probably only deserves 3.5 stars but I'll round up to four because I'm a sucker for secret histories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 14, 2013
I’ve wanted to read this since a book group I was in when I first moved to Boston read it. They read it before I joined and I thought it sounded interesting. So keeping with my theme of expanding my reading (and apparently reading a lot more nonfiction) I requested it from the local library.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed. This book felt more like a really well written undergraduate research paper than a book than a published book (and they were typos too). Part of this I believe comes from the structure and subtitle of the book and the other part I think comes from the super-focused subject matter. I discuss both below, but before I get to that I do want to say that it was an interesting read and I found many of the stories compelling and the appalling way in which Harvard dealt with these students should be a black mark on their history and reputation regardless of the time period. Not only did the Secret Court expel a number of individuals they were so adamant in their beliefs that they expunged the records of some of the individuals completely removing them from Harvard University records and if any of those expelled attempted to get into another school or a job using their Harvard connection/credentials, Harvard had a policy of exposing explicitly why they were expelled and this continued into at least the 1970s.
Click here to continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t impressed. This book felt more like a really well written undergraduate research paper than a book than a published book (and they were typos too). Part of this I believe comes from the structure and subtitle of the book and the other part I think comes from the super-focused subject matter. I discuss both below, but before I get to that I do want to say that it was an interesting read and I found many of the stories compelling and the appalling way in which Harvard dealt with these students should be a black mark on their history and reputation regardless of the time period. Not only did the Secret Court expel a number of individuals they were so adamant in their beliefs that they expunged the records of some of the individuals completely removing them from Harvard University records and if any of those expelled attempted to get into another school or a job using their Harvard connection/credentials, Harvard had a policy of exposing explicitly why they were expelled and this continued into at least the 1970s.
Click here to continue reading on my blog The Oddness of Moving Things.
September 17, 2007
This book made me bitterly aware of how only hindsight can really prove how backwards and cruel even our most liberal and forward-thinking institutions can be. A perfect lesson on why group-thought is bad, infectious and even murderous, and a perfect microcosmic prequel to McArthyism and Patriot Acts and detention camps. A virtual inquisition took place in one of America's higher institutions of class, virtue and education, and it resulted in suicides, beatings, ruined lives and a story with precious few success stories. Bleak, unnerving and somehow timely. The most remarkable thing about the story is how the time difference between then and now disappears while reading this, and the injustice of it becomes so apparent, that there's little sympathy for the perpetrators, despite the best efforts of the fair narration at explaining the culture of the time. The most admired institution of education and higher learning made speaking to a homosexual a crime for which a small group of administrators made a life long vengeance of ruining the lives of everyone involved, carrying out that vengeance over multiple decades. The likelihood that it was all due to the school's President having latent shame over his own lesbian sister takes none of the stink out of the level of hatred and spite inflicted on dozens of men who were made victims of a legitimately victimless crime.
NC
NC
April 9, 2015
It's an account of the purges of gay students from the campus after the suicide of one of them that occurred in the nineteen-twenties. Very shocking, especially considering that the purges themselves led to more suicides and completely ruined the lives of the students in question. Not only did Harvard purge their names from the permanent records, they also sent out letters to explain why they dismissed this students if they chose to associate themselves with the university in any CV they wrote for an application to other schools or jobs. This meant that many of these students could not hope for further education at other schools at all or for jobs. The last of these letters was sent in the early seventies.
What struck me as very strange is Wight's last chapter which outlines the possibility that homophobia may be as genetically induced as homosexuality. While I get that he probably had to include something of the sort to stop him from being in trouble with the renowned university, it was still rather baffling to see him struggling to explain and absolve these decisions which had ruined the lives of some twenty students for decades to come, sometimes on the basis of mere association with gay students.
What struck me as very strange is Wight's last chapter which outlines the possibility that homophobia may be as genetically induced as homosexuality. While I get that he probably had to include something of the sort to stop him from being in trouble with the renowned university, it was still rather baffling to see him struggling to explain and absolve these decisions which had ruined the lives of some twenty students for decades to come, sometimes on the basis of mere association with gay students.
May 29, 2016
If the chatty bartender at my local gay bar wrote a book about some hot goss I think it would read something like this. With lines like "there was something sad about America's preeminent university losing what surely must have been one of the country's preeminent queens" how could I give it less than four stars?
This is not a serious academic work on homosexuality or academia or the way the two have interacted. The later chapters that discuss genetics and religion were clearly written by someone out of their depth so I skimmed. But if you want to read a story about how a psychotic cocaine addict set off a witch hunt that resulted in two (maybe three) suicides but one savvy queen was able to save himself by lying about his desperate need for a tuxedo this is the book for you!
This is not a serious academic work on homosexuality or academia or the way the two have interacted. The later chapters that discuss genetics and religion were clearly written by someone out of their depth so I skimmed. But if you want to read a story about how a psychotic cocaine addict set off a witch hunt that resulted in two (maybe three) suicides but one savvy queen was able to save himself by lying about his desperate need for a tuxedo this is the book for you!
April 28, 2012
This book is a very compelling and detailed account of the interrogation and expulsion of seven gay Harvard students in 1920. The book gives some information as to the broader treatment of gay men in the early 20th century, but I would like to have seen more about the larger social context for gay men during this time period.
My biggest critique is that the author attempts to fill in many of the gaps in his research with details that make me question the validity of some descriptions. Also, the book overall is written a very dramatized way. This certainly makes the book more readable, but again makes me question the author's scholarly approach.
My biggest critique is that the author attempts to fill in many of the gaps in his research with details that make me question the validity of some descriptions. Also, the book overall is written a very dramatized way. This certainly makes the book more readable, but again makes me question the author's scholarly approach.
September 24, 2014
This is a sad story, but unfortunately not one that is incredibly shocking. The author does a good job of balancing the narration with historical context and also relating events to the current climate. He focuses on the people involved and demonstrates the impact on the expelled students, which is, I think, more interesting and heartbreaking than the actual events of the court's proceedings. The best part of the book is the chapter in which the author discusses homophobia throughout history and explores some theories of the cause of such feelings.
July 23, 2008
Harvard has always seemed to be a bastion of liberal thought and human rights study. So I was quite understandably scandalized when I saw this book!
As Joyce Carol Oates said, this book is "disturbing and illuminating... reads like a tragic mystery from an era uncomfortably close to our own."
I loved reading this book -- if for no other reason that it provided insight into the queer underground of 1920s Cambridge/Boston. Excellent for summer reading!
As Joyce Carol Oates said, this book is "disturbing and illuminating... reads like a tragic mystery from an era uncomfortably close to our own."
I loved reading this book -- if for no other reason that it provided insight into the queer underground of 1920s Cambridge/Boston. Excellent for summer reading!
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