Communism and Toronto Schools: Contention and Politics in the Toronto School Board, 1941-1962.

Résumé

In the decades following World War II, the Toronto School Board was subjected to the Cold War anti-communist fear that permeated political, religious, and educational concerns in Toronto. Despite this continuous anxiety, communists were able to hold positions on the board and enact influence upon schools. Communists on the Board exercised a certain degree of influence in the Board’s decision making and continued to be a voice of opposition among increasingly anti-communist members until 1951. The politics of the Toronto School Board occurred within a larger context of communist anxiety related to education. Throughout the Board’s changing membership and elections during the 1940s and into the early 1950s, The Globe and Mail covered its policies and campaigns through an often anti-communist lens, reflecting the increasingly hostile public opinion towards communists in Toronto’s government and public life.