From 1919 to 1939, Mitchell taught at the Johns Hopkins University.[1] His students included the undergraduate Alger Hiss (who later recalled Mitchell as one of his favorite teachers[8][9][10][11][12] but denied that Mitchell's Socialism had swayed him[13]). Throughout his tenure at Hopkins, two recurring issues landed Mitchell in trouble with the university and opened him up to criticism: first, his radical political and economic views as a socialist, and, second, his outspoken stance supporting equal rights along racial lines.[1] As one source recounts:
In 1932 a lynching occurred in Salisbury, Maryland. Mitchell was bothered that it received very little attention in the newspapers or by the police. Mitchell decided to do some detective work. The story went that a suspected murderer, Euel Lee, had been abducted and was hanged in front of the courthouse. Broadus talked with many members of the Eastern Shore community to obtain some basic ideas on the opinions of the people in that region. To his surprise nearly everyone involved in the event had been named, but no one had been arrested for the murder. This was very typical of the lynchings that plagued the South from Reconstruction to as late as the 1950s. Many of those who were involved were well-known people in the area. Fear of being socially ostracized, or worse, prevented most people from taking any action at all. [...] The most frustrating aspect for Mitchell was the fact that the local officials had done nothing about it. Mitchell appealed to the state, which replied that it was entirely within the jurisdiction of the local police. Taking his research public, Mitchell said, 'I abhor lynching and officials who allow it should be impeached... The Southerners whom I know and esteem do not believe that the Negro must remain dependant upon the white man and they believe in the orderly administration of law as opposed to mob violence.' Later when asked to write about his experiences at Hopkins, Mitchell mentioned his frustrations with the lynching and wrote, 'Not only did Eastern Shore peace officers do nothing to identify and arrest members of the lynch mob, but the Governor and Attorney General were quiescent.' Unlike nearly all white Southerners of his day, Broadus Mitchell was willing to publicly criticize an entire white community for violating the essential rights of a single African American man.[14]
During his time as professor at Johns Hopkins University, those views led to his resignation (1938) over the university's refusal to admit an African American student into the graduate school. The student, Edward Lewis, later headed the New York Urban League.[1]
In 1934, Mitchell ran for governor of the State of Maryland for the Socialist Party of America, receiving 6,773 votes representing 1.32% of the popular vote.[1]
Personal life and death
Mitchell married twice. His second wife was Louise Pearson, who also co-authored American Economic History (1947), A Biography of the Constitution of the United States (1964), and The Price of Independence (1976) with him; she died in 1986. He had three children.[1]
Mitchell served as president of the Baltimore chapter of the National Urban League and chair of the New Jersey Civil Liberties Committee.[1]
Broadus Mitchell died age 95 on April 28, 1988, at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Tarrytown, New York.[1]
Works
Starting in 1957, Mitchell wrote five works on Alexander Hamilton, including a two-volume biography.[1]
William Gregg: Factory Master of the Old South. Octagon Books. 1928.
Depression Decade: From New Era Through New Deal, 1929-1941. Sharpe. 1947. Volume 9 of Economic History of the United States: Holt Rinehart and Winston series
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Mitchell, Broadus; Mitchell, Louise (14 August 1977). "Oral History Interview with Broadus Mitchell"(MP3) (Interview). Interviewed by Mary Frederickson. Wendell, Massachusetts: Documenting the American South - Oral Histories of the American South. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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Mitchell, Broadus; Mitchell, Louise (14 August 1977). "Oral History Interview with Broadus Mitchell"(HTML text) (Interview). Interviewed by Mary Frederickson. Wendell, Massachusetts: Documenting the American South - Oral Histories of the American South. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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Macdonald, Lois (24 June 1975). "Oral History Interview with Lois Macdonald"(PDF) (Interview). Interviewed by Marion W. Roydhouse. Yonkers, New York: Documenting the American South - Oral Histories of the American South. pp. 25–26. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
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Hiss, Alger (2002). A Liberal Manifesto. The Alger Hiss Story. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
^Rodriguez, Danton (2003). All Quiet on the Southern Front: The Bravery of Edward S. Lewis – A Look at the Policies and Politics Regarding Admission of African Americans to Johns Hopkins in the 1930s. Quoted in Gaynor 2007.
^American Economic History. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1947. p. 928.
