Parry received a BA in psychology from Columbia College in 1928, a Master of Arts from Harvard University in 1930, and he completed his PhD in philosophy from Harvard University in 1932 with his dissertation on implication being supervised by Alfred North Whitehead.
[1] While a student, Parry had been a member of the Communist Party USA during the Red Scare.
[2] In May 1953 he was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee where he was interrogated by Frank S. Tavenner Jr. and US Congressman Harold H.
[3] Parry had been named as a member of the Communist Party active in Boston in the 1930s by professor Robert Gorham Davis.
In advance of his hearing, Parry had sent correspondence to the Committee stating "I will not play the odious role of informer.