Buffalo’s Labor, Loyalty, & Freedom: Keyishian Revisited

Ryan Harrington — Nov 9, 2026

This policy brief is from the Buffalo Commons Student Perspectives Series. Americans feared a global communist takeover in the aftermath of World War II. New York State forbade mere association with the Communist Party for all state employees, including public school teachers. These statutes, called the Feinberg Laws, provoked outrage among academics. Five faculty members at the University at Buffalo (UB) resisted, even though it jeopardized their jobs. Those five men, …

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