[1] In 1979, the New York State Board of Higher Education formally apologized to Foner and other persons who lost their jobs as a result of the Rapp-Coudert Committee, saying it had seriously violated academic freedom.
[4] Philip Foner had three brothers, who also became important figures in the American Left, coming to adulthood during the Great Depression.
Two other brothers were leading unionists: Moe Foner was active in 1199 of the United Healthcare Workers and was particularly notable for running the union's cultural programs.
Foner obtained his bachelor's degree from the City College of New York (CCNY) in 1932, where he and his brother Jack were both students of historian Allan Nevins.
[1] Foner was one of 26 faculty and staff members of City College who were fired from their jobs by the end of 1942 as a result of an investigation of communist influences in higher education by the New York State Legislature's Rapp-Coudert Committee.
[5] Foner and 40 other faculty members at CCNY were subsequently brought under investigation for supposed associations and membership with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) on March 7, 1941.
One historian described his work as presenting "a formidable challenge to the orthodox John R. Commons interpretation of labor history.
[3] By contrast, according to historian Nelson Lichtenstein, Foner believed that "unions were part of a broader movement for democratization -- a means of struggling for political and social goals such as equality and power, as well as better wages, hours, and working conditions.
His nephew Eric Foner, known for his own work on the Reconstruction era, said that Douglass had been largely forgotten as an important abolitionist and African-American leader when his uncle started publishing his writings.
Foner's work was politically controversial in a period of American fears about immigrant anarchists, labor unrest, and the power of the Soviet Union and Communist Party.
[8] Scholars such as labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein acknowledge that Foner's shortcomings were recognized in the 1970s and 1980s, but supporters believe that he still made substantial contributions to the field.
[3] In May 2003, complaints about Foner were discussed among labor historians on H-Labor and in postings at the History News Network, with accusations of plagiarism and sloppy scholarship.
Scott McLemee reviewed the controversy in an article in Chronicle of Higher Education and noted that old political debates were being re-opened.
"[9] But Dubofsky also noted that many young labor historians in the 1970s felt that Foner had suffered enough in being blacklisted and were reluctant to take any official action against him.
[10] Eric Foner added another perspective to his uncle's work: He edited the writings of Frederick Douglass at a time when, believe it or not, nobody remembered him.
[3]In recognition of the value of the historian's body of work, the president of the New York Labor History Association said it had no plans to revoke the lifetime-achievement award it gave to Foner in 1994.