The Free Company 41-03-02 The Mole on Lincoln's Cheek

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: The Free Company 41-03-02: The Mole on Lincoln's Cheek
Air Date: September 8, 2025
Summary Prepared For: Listeners who want a detailed breakdown without listening

---

Episode Overview

This episode features a broadcast of “The Mole on Lincoln’s Cheek,” an original radio drama by Mark Connolly, presented by The Free Company, a consortium of prominent writers, actors, and radio professionals. The episode is centered on the theme of freedom of speech in education, exploring issues of academic freedom, censorship, and the challenges of teaching American history truthfully in times of suspicion and social tension.

---

Main Themes

• Freedom of Speech & Academic Freedom: Addressing the teacher’s right to present historical facts, even those that are uncomfortable.
• Civic Responsibility: The duty to engage with American history honestly to ensure a responsible and patriotic citizenry.
• Dangers of Censorship: How fear and misunderstanding can lead to calls for book banning and witch-hunts in schools.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to the Play and Its Purpose

00:24 - 02:36

• Burgess Meredith introduces “The Mole on Lincoln’s Cheek” as a play dealing specifically with the freedom of speech, especially in the context of education and teaching. It’s the second in a series meant to illuminate the meaning of freedom in America.

  "Some of these plays will deal with one or more of the eight basic freedoms assured to all citizens in the Bill of Rights. Today's drama, for example, concerns freedom of speech as applied to teaching." (Burgess Meredith, 01:02)

---

Schoolroom and Community Dynamics

02:36 - 06:37

• New schoolteacher Miss Thatcher tries to make a connection with her class and community. She’s greeted warmly but is quickly drawn into a tense dinner conversation with school board members Mr. Roberts and Mr. Etheridge concerning education content.

• The elders express suspicion about teaching politics, foreign affairs, and particularly about anything perceived as “radical” or “communist”.

  "They're teaching them too much, Mr. Roberts." (Mr. Roberts (School Board), 04:44)
  "That ain't the way the communists feel. They like to get at em young." (Mr. Roberts (School Board), 05:19)

• Miss Thatcher reveals she toured Europe (including Russia), which raises further suspicion.

---

The Tension around Textbooks and History

06:56 - 08:35

• Mr. Hunter, the principal, discusses challenges brought by the school board over his adoption of the Clavering textbooks, which present American history with both its virtues and flaws.

• Mr. Roberts and Mr. Etheridge see this as potentially subversive. There’s an undercurrent of fear that honest history is being equated with anti-American sentiment.

  "Roberts acted as though I brought the Clavering series personally from Moscow." (Mr. Hunter, 08:12)

---

The Spark: Charges of “Un-Americanism”

09:10 - 12:34

• Eddie, Etheridge’s son, mentions learning that John Hancock was a smuggler from a schoolbook, alarming his father.

• Mr. Etheridge examines the textbook and decides this is evidence of anti-Americanism that must be stopped, rallying the American Veterans League to formally protest.

  "When my kid got through talking, I thought he might be just making things up. ... But I saw the things he was talking about printed in the book the kids are learning from. Printed right there in that book." (Mr. Etheridge, 11:43)

---

The School Board Confrontation

13:38 - 20:51

• At the local school board meeting, Mr. Etheridge quotes from the Clavering books, asserting they undermine patriotism by exposing flaws and less-than-heroic truths about American Founders.

• Mr. Hunter and Miss Thatcher defend the books’ honesty, emphasizing that recognizing the complexities of heroes like John Hancock and the chaotic reality of historical events doesn’t diminish patriotism—rather, it empowers thoughtful citizenship.

  “In many instances, the devotion of the leaders in the fight for independence in 1776 was caused less by patriotism than by the opportunity for what today we would call graft.” (Quoting Clavering, read by Mr. Etheridge, 14:18)

  "What good is there in saying John Hancock was a Smuggler? ... All these dirty personal insults to great men's memories." (Mr. Etheridge, 15:19)

---

The Hitler Toy Incident

17:03 - 20:51

• To bolster claims of un-American teaching, Etheridge prompts a boy, Wilbur, to describe an incident in class where a toy of Hitler was discussed. Wilbur’s version is alarming, but under questioning by Miss Thatcher, it becomes clear it was a lesson on the dangers of blind hero worship, not Nazi glorification.

  "Now, I want you gentlemen to look at that statue you heard so much about. I think you'll admit that statue isn't a very accurate description of it. Wilbur, is this what I showed you and the other children in class Thursday?" (Miss Thatcher, 18:43)

  "Didn't we all laugh when you imitated the little figure and raised your arms?" (Miss Thatcher, 20:09)
  "Yes, ma'. Am." (Wilbur, 20:10)

---

The Heart of the Argument: Why Teach History Truthfully?

21:18 - 24:23

• Mr. Hunter insists the duty of teachers is not to whitewash, but to equip children with tools to face reality and improve society. He invokes Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

  "The chief purpose of teaching history is not to glorify the past, but to ensure the future. And our children have the right to be given history truthfully so that they can use its lessons to solve the problems every human being faces today." (Mr. Hunter, 22:45)

• Mr. Etheridge retorts that instilling patriotism means sheltering children from unflattering truths.

  "There's a lot of things that are true that you don't have to tell children." (Mr. Etheridge, 21:36)

---

The Episode's Namesake: The “Mole on Lincoln’s Cheek”

24:23 - 26:54

• Mr. Roberts delivers the episode’s central metaphor, arguing that Americans value Lincoln’s humanity—including his mole—over idolized perfection. He equates honest history with honest portraiture: the warts and all are what make our heroes, and our country, real and relatable.

  "All our lives we've been used to seeing pictures and photographs and statues of Lincoln with a mole on his cheek. ... If any painter or sculptor dared to show us Lincoln without that mole, there ain't nobody over eight years old in America wouldn't say, put that mole back. ... We know Lincoln pretty well. We ought to know America just as well as we know Lincoln. ... If you want to see what happens to a country that has nothing but little tin gods in it, look at Germany." (Mr. Roberts, 24:50–25:46)

---

Resolution and Reflection

27:27 - 29:55

• The board votes to keep the controversial textbooks. Miss Thatcher and Mr. Hunter reflect that as long as there are people like Mr. Roberts to “keep their eyes open,” academic freedom and reasoned patriotism will persist.

• Burgess Meredith concludes with a stirring reminder linking academic freedom with the survival of democracy, quoting Lincoln and reaffirming the show’s purpose.

  "Our freedom then has this meaning: that here in our land the truth may be taught always. Academic freedom is the first liberty to die when dictators rule, for dictators know the power of education. ... Let us resist any attempt to suppress truth or to distort it." (Burgess Meredith, 28:09)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Teaching History:
  "The only way to make a child a real patriot is to give him history. Not an arrangement of eulogies and flowery obituaries under the guise of history."
  — Mr. Hunter (Principal), 22:45

• On Honest Patriotism:
  "You're doing that by implying that they weren't big enough to survive a comparison of their faults and virtues."
  — Mr. Roberts (School Board Member), 24:47

• Central Metaphor:
  "If any painter or sculptor dared to show us Lincoln without that mole, ... we'd say, put that mole back. Cause that's the way he was. ... We ought to know America just as well as we know Lincoln. … If you want to see what happens to a country that has nothing but little tin gods in it, look at Germany."
  — Mr. Roberts (School Board Member), 24:50–25:46

• Closing Reflection:
  "Academic freedom is the first liberty to die when dictators rule, for dictators know the power of education. … Let us resist any attempt to suppress truth or to distort it."
  — Burgess Meredith, 28:09

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:24 – Episode/Play Introduction
• 04:38 – Debates over educational content at the dinner table
• 06:56 – Miss Thatcher & Principal Hunter discuss school board challenges
• 11:03 – Mr. Etheridge’s alarm over teaching about John Hancock
• 13:38 – School Board meeting and challenge to textbooks
• 17:03 – Hitler toy incident and its clarification
• 21:18 – Mr. Hunter’s defense of the Clavering books and truthful history
• 24:23 – Mr. Roberts’ "Mole on Lincoln’s Cheek" speech
• 27:41 – Board votes; Mr. Hunter and Miss Thatcher reflect
• 28:09 – Burgess Meredith’s closing remarks on freedom and truth

---

Episode Tone & Language

The episode is earnest, direct, and reflective—typical of radio dramas with social messages from the 1940s. The dialogue oscillates between community small talk, tense confrontations, and heartfelt speeches. The tone is both reverent of American ideals and skeptical toward dogma, inviting listeners to wrestle with the complexities of patriotism, history, and education.

---

Summary Prepared by Harold’s Old Time Radio Podcast Summarizer
For more episodes and full scripts, visit the show notes.

Transcript

[Announcer]

The Columbia broadcasting system presents the free company.

[Burgess Meredith]

For what avail the plough or sail or land or life freedom fail. This is Burgess Meredith speaking from Hollywood for the free company. Today, Melvyn Douglas, Claire Trevor, Edward Ellis, Margaret Hamilton and Charles Bickford appear in a new original radio play, the mole on Lincoln's cheek, by Mark Connolly, author of the Pulitzer prize play green pasture. The mole on Lincoln's cheek is the second in a series produced by the free company, a group of prominent writers, actors and radio workers who have organized to give expression to their faith in American democracy. Some of these plays will deal with one or more of the eight basic freedoms assured to all citizens in the bill of Rights. Today's drama, for example, concerns freedom of speech as applied to teaching. Other plays will cover more general ground. All of them are intended to explain and to illustrate the meaning of our freedom. All of them will be written by America's most distinguished dramatists, including Maxwell Anderson, Sherwood Anderson, Stephen Vincent Benet, James Boyd, George M. Cohen, Norman Corwin, Paul Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Archibald McNamara, Cleish, Orson Welles, Elmer Rice, Robert e. Sherwood, and John John Steinbeck, nine of them Pulitzer prize winners. And now, Mark Connolly's original radio play, the mole on Lincoln's chee.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Red, white and blue when worn by the red, white and blue light and earth may tyranny tremble Wind borne by the red, white and blue.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Good. That was very good. But, children, stay in your seats. The bell hasn't rung yet. I know it isn't easy to get used to school again and a new teacher, But I think tomorrow we'll all feel more at home together. I know I'm going to like being here, and I know I'm going to like you. And you can make it easy for me to like you by being good pupils now. Oh, that's not what I call being a good pupil. Do you think your seat is about to collapse?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

No, ma'. Am.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, then sit back in it. Will you tell me your name again?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Eddie Etheridge.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, yes. Have I been boring you, Eddie?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

You what?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Have you heard one word of what I've been saying?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, then, sit properly, please. You're not going to exit under your desk, you know. Remember, march out in order. Class dismissed. Would you like some more pie, Mrs. Roberts?

[Mr. Roberts]

No, thanks, Clara. Miss Thatcher might.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, no more, thank you. It was delicious, though. You want some, Mr. Roberts?

[Mr. Roberts]

Mr. Roberts don't want any more. I'm glad you like lemon pie, Miss Thatcher. If you're going to board with us, you'll Enjoy it every Tuesday. I don't think we missed a toosie in 18 years, have we, Clem?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

No.

[Mr. Roberts]

Well, how'd you like your Millersville class, Ms. Thatcher?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, very much. They're unusually bright children.

[Mr. Roberts]

I guess they have to be with all the things they teach them these days.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

They're teaching them too much, Mr. Roberts.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Don'T you agree there are many things children must know today? They didn't need to 30 years ago.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, nowadays, if they don't know more about Europe, for instance, they're not going to be able to understand and appreciate their own country as they should.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

There's no need to have politics thrown at them.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, but we've been teaching civics since they've been public schools and, well, civics embrace political history.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Are you teaching them politics in your class?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

No, I'm afraid the fifth grade is a little young for civics.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

That ain't the way the communists feel. They like to get at em young.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

There isn't any communism in your schools, is there?

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

We've seen signs of it, but it ain't going to get very far.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

No.

[Mr. Roberts]

Mr. Roberts and I usually go to the movies on Tuesday night and if you'd like to come along.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, that's very kind of you, but as a matter of fact, I've already made an engagement to go.

[Mr. Roberts]

Oh, that's nice. You going with one of the other teachers?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

No, Mr. Hunter is going to call for me about eight.

[Mr. Roberts]

Oh, that's nice too. You must make funny impression on the Christmas last year. He never took any of the teachers to the movies.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, I've known Mr. Hunter for some time.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

That's so. Where did you meet him?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

The summer before the war started, we were both in a teacher's group that was touring Europe.

[Mr. Roberts]

And you met him on the tour. Were you there when the war began?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes, we managed to get out of Germany just in time.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

On that trip you made, did you go to Russia, too?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes, Russia, France, Germany and England.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

I thought so.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

What do you mean, Mr. Roberts?

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

I was just wondering where Mr. Hunter got some of those radical ideas of his.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

What radical ideas, Mr. Roberts?

[Mr. Roberts]

No, Clem, Ms. Thatcher's a friend of Mr. Hunter's.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Okay, okay. Better get our hats if we're going to go to the movies.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Good evening, Miss Badger.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Good evening, Mr. Hunter. Were your ears burning a little while ago?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Oh, why?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, I don't think Mr. Roberts approves of you completely.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

No, I'm afraid he doesn't. If he ever learns you came here on my recommendation. I don't Think your fine record in Bridgeton's going to help you?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Well, he isn't very cordial.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Now, you know, you don't have to live here, even if he is a member of the school board.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, no, sir. I intend to do a little work on him. You know, I'd really like to find out what's behind those fixed ideas of his.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

I'm afraid you won't get very far. You ought to see him in a school board meeting.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Has he made trouble for you?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

When I became principal last year, Roberts almost stopped me.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

When you bundle renters and auto with Progressive, you can save while protecting your most valuable possessions, like your priceless vinyl collection. Sure, you sleep on a futon because the money most people would have spent on a bed you spent on more records. But forget the fact that you can stream just about any song ever created for a few dollars a month.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

No, no. You need to listen to music in.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

The most difficult way possible. So go ahead and get Progressive so you can save while protecting the things.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

That matter to you.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates and other insurers not available in all stage of situations.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

I'm using the Clavering textbooks.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

But didn't you tell them that they were required reading in half a dozen states?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Yes, but Roberts acted as though I brought the Clavering series personally from Moscow. I pointed out that Dr. Clayburn was one of the most honored educators in America. I couldn't convince Roberts that he wasn't dedicated to poisoning the minds of school children.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

But you got the books approved all right.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Yes. I hope I won't have him against me on anything this year. The three new board members are all friends of his. Well, you ready?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

You want to know what subversive activity I planned? What I intend to hold your hand at the movies even if they ride me out of town on a rail.

[Mr. Roberts]

Albert, 3 times 12, 36. Eleanor 4 times 7.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

E, L, G, H, I K. A sailor cried land. Land. And at daybreak, Columbus saw that it was indeed. I'm monitor of erasers next week, Pop. A teacher wrote on the blackboard, Eddie Etheridge, monitor of erasers.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Uh huh. That's fine.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Why don't you sign the report card now, Pop? Then we'll be ready because I want.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

To go over it. We've got all day tomorrow and Sunday.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Is there a league meeting tonight?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Why do you think I'm putting on this uniform?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Well, there could be a parade.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

You never saw me parade at night.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

What are they gonna meet about tonight?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Oh, we're gonna talk about new officers for next year. If you don't ask too many questions, they may make me commander.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Isn't being vice commander just as good?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Oh, that's just being second in command, John.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Caller's getting awful tight, Pop.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Did you know, in the Revolutionary War, a lot of the soldiers didn't have any uniforms at all?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

That's right. They were very poor.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Some of them were rich, though not many, I bet. The smugglers were.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Who?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

The smugglers. Like John Hancock.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What? John Hancock?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

John Hancock that signed the Declaration of Independence. He was a smuggler.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Who said so?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

It's true. It's in the book.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What book?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

The history book of school.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

John Hancock was one of the founders of our country. You remember what happens to you when you tell dream lies.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

But this isn't a dream lie. It's in the book. And Ms. Thatcher had me read it to the class today. I've got it downstairs. I'll show it to you.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

You bet you will. Wait a minute. I'm going down with you. Get my cap out of the box. What does that book say about George Washington?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

I forget all, but he had false teeth.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Mm. I suppose he was a crook, too.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Oh, no, sir. He was all right.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

How would you know? I like him feeding you kids that stuff.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

But it's true, isn't it, Pop?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Listen, son, they're giving you a lot of anti Americanism. Now, let's get down and look at that book. What's the name of that teacher of yours? I'm here to tell you that you fellas don't know what's going on at that school. When my kid got through talking, I thought he might be just making things up the way kids do. But I saw the things he was talking about printed in the book the kids are learning from. Printed right there in that book.

[Announcer]

Something ought to be done about that.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Quick, son. What do you think we ought to do, Harry? I'll tell you what we ought to do. I want the American Veterans League to make a protest and send it to me as a member of the school board. I'll turn it over to the superintendent of schools Monday morning. Then we'll get action.

[Announcer]

Will somebody put that as a motion? I move that the Veterans League Millersville.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Unit demand that the school board investigate un American activity.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

I'm afraid I can't have dinner with you tonight.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Oh? Why?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

I've got to go to a school board meeting. The witch hunters are riding again.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

In what direction?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Toward a bonfire of the Clavering textbooks.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

But I thought you convinced them last year.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

That now we've got three new members on the board, each as reactionary as Mrs. O' Leary's cow. Put an unexpected truth in front of them and they'll always kick over the lamp. Tonight, Mr. Etheridge promises to introduce some surprises.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

I want to go to that meeting.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

I don't think that would be wise.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

I'm going just the same. I've got a feeling I'm one of the surprises.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Now, I know that last year the fact that some other school boards had approved the Clavering books, persuaded the Millersville board to adopt them. Gentlemen, I maintain this board has had something put over on it and that we can't repair the damage a minute too soon. Before I'm through, I think you'll decide to get rid of these books and the people who are using them for anti American purposes.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Mr. Chairman.

[Announcer]

Dr. Taylor.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

As Superintendent of Schools, I'm included in Mr. Etheridge's generalities. And I believe I am not including you. Dr. Taylor, I know you 100% American. Mr. Hunter here is the man I'm concerned about. Now, I don't know whether the whole board has ever read these flavoring books. I doubt the new members have.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

I read them.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

I know you did, Mr. Roberts. And I wish I'd been on the board when you tried to stop them last year. But for the benefit of those that haven't read these books, I have a few quotations I want them to listen to. And I think they'll be just as appalled as I was by the dirty, disgusting, un American statement this man Clavering makes. Listen to this 1 on page 22, book 4. In many instances, the devotion of the leaders in the fight for independence in 1776 was caused less by patriotism than by the opportunity for what today we would call graft. That's a fine way to help children take pride in their forefathers, isn't it? And look what he has to say about the Boston massacre. One of the outrages that brought on the revolution. I quote, the mob was at least as much to blame for the Boston massacre as the troops.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Mr. Chairman. Mr. Hunter, I'm afraid Mr. Etheridge will find that the book is quite correct on that point.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

You mean calling American patriots a mob?

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

On that occasion, they really were a mob.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

That isn't the main point. It's the whole general attitude the books take I object to. It's the undermining of our children's confidence in the men who help make America what it is. What good is there in saying John Hancock was a Smuggler. All these dirty personal insults to great men's memories. St. John Adams was a political boss. Andrew Jackson was rough and uncultured. Couldn't. Progressive knows we all crave validation.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Girl, you are not 37.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

I would have guessed 27.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

You guys are too sweet.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Sure. Dewy skin.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Terrific.

[Progressive Insurance Announcer]

Is something wrong, Ned?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Why would you ask? Just because Today marks my 10th anniversary without a car accident or even a speeding ticket, but somehow tonight's all about your skin care. Wow. With snapshot from Progressive, you can get a personalized rate based on how you drive. And that's all the validation you need. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliate snapshot.

[Announcer]

Not available in California.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

From all agents. Search possible for unsafe driving. Even spelled correctly. He says that about another American president. Dirty personal insults to our American heroes. Now that's swell stuff to feed the mind of kids, isn't it? Gentlemen, if what I read to you isn't enough to justify throwing out these books and the man who brought them to Millersville, I'm going to show you the damage that's been done already. What happens when Mr. Hunter brings his own picked teachers into our schools and turns them loose on our boys and girls? Ask Mrs. Dayton and her son to come in. Come right in, Wilbur. You come in, too. Mrs. Dayton, this is Wilbur Dayton. Sit down, Wilbur. How old are you, son?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

10.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Now, I want you to tell these gentlemen just what you told me this afternoon.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Well, we were all sitting there and Ms. Thatcher said. Do you know who this is?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Wait a minute, boet. Bubba, are you talking about the geography class on Thursday?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What made it different from any other geography class?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Because Ms. Thatcher opened her desk and took out the statue.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What kind of a statue?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Hitler's statue.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

You mean Adolf Hitler of Germany?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Did she tell you what it was?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Did she tell you what the school children in Germany did when they saw the statue of Hitler?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, sir.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What did they do?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

They saluted it.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

And what did you do?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Well, she told us what a great man he was, and then we said, heil Hitler.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

All right, you can go now, Wilbur.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

No, no, he mustn't go. This isn't a fair hearing at all. I should like to question Wilbur.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Mr. Chairman, this young woman has no official standing at this hearing, and I don't want this child intimidated.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Mr. Chairman, I'm this child's teacher, and if I'm being included in these charges, I have a right to defend myself, too.

[Announcer]

That's substantially true, Ms. Lethbridge. I think Ms. Thatcher has the right to question Wilbur. Go ahead, Miss Thatcher.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Thank you. I was told this might happen, and I brought something along with me to show you right here in my purse. Now, I want you gentlemen to look at that statue you heard so much about. I think you'll admit that statue isn't a very accurate description of it. Wilbur, is this what I showed you and the other children in class Thursday?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Would. Would you call it a statue?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Well, it's Hitler.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes, of course it is. Do you remember what I said it was?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

You said it was a toy you got in Germany.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Didn't I say I saw children buying them from a man on the street?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, ma'. Am. They cost 10 pufferness.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Didn't I say I wanted to show you the difference between the toys children play with here and the ones they have in Germany?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, ma'.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Am, but she made you salute it, too, didn't she, Wilbur?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Did I tell you to salute it?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Some of us did.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes, and I'd like to show you gentlemen why they did. When you pull this string, you see the little arm goes up in the air in a kind of salute. Now, completely for their information, I told them that German children were led to believe Hitler was much more than just a human being. He was perfect, and above all criticism. But they had to salute even this little figure of him. I know because I saw it done before I said any more. Half a dozen of them were raising their arms and saluting it, too. Isn't that exactly what happened, Wilbur?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

I guess so.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

You mustn't guess, Wilbur. Is that what happened to yes, ma'?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Am?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

And didn't we all laugh when you imitated the little figure and raised your arms?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Yes, ma'. Am.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

When you and Eddie Etheridge said, heil Hitler, what did I do?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

You laughed.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

And what else told us to stop? Well, just one more thing, Wilbur. Have you ever heard me at any time say that Germany was better than America? Or that anybody in Germany was better than anybody in America?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

No, ma'. Am.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

You remember what I said Hitler was doing to the children in Germany, but.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

They had to obey him like mules.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Did I say mules?

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Like donkeys.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

All right. Thank you, Wilbur. That's all I want to ask you.

[Announcer]

All right, you can go home now, Wilbur. Unless Mr. Etheridge wants to ask you some more questions.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

This still doesn't change the fact that the Clavering series is a menace to this town, and I move that we vote on the question of removing them.

[Announcer]

Very well, Mr. Etheridge. Is there any more discussion, Mr. Hunter? Is there Anything you'd like to say?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

There isn't very much he can say. It's black and white.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I think I would like to say a few words. The Clavering books were bought by this board on my recommendation. And I must go on record as saying that I have just as high an opinion of them today as I had when I urged you to purchase them last year. They deal honestly with historical truth.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

That's not the point. There's a lot of things that are true that you don't have to tell children.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Mr. Etheridge, what do you believe is the purpose of teaching American history?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

Why? To instill patriotism.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Well, believe it or not, Mr. Etheridge, the great army of decent schoolteachers in America want our children to be patriotic, too. But I think we have different definitions of a patriot. We teachers believe that a patriot is someone who exerts himself to promote the well being of his country. That's Dr. Clavering's definition, and it's in the dictionary, too. You say Dr. Clavering's a muck wrecker. I say he's an American patriot who has written in his books not only the great achievements of our country and the men who made it what it is, but the human aspects of our history that let us see and understand as clearly as possible the living world in which the contributors to our greatness existed. They didn't live on monuments. They were human beings. Some weak, some strong, some facing crises with level heads, some merely passionate, some scrupulously honest, some not. George Santayana, one of the greatest teachers America ever had, said, those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. No one can deny that we're living in a changing world. Its social and economic orders are vanishing in front of our eyes. The chief purpose of teaching history is not to glorify the past, but to ensure the future. And our children have the right to be given history truthfully so that they can use its lessons to solve the problems every human being faces today. The only way to make a child a real patriot is to give him history. Not an arrangement of eulogies and flowery obituaries under the guise of history.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Like to have the floor?

[Announcer]

Go ahead, Mr. Roberts.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Last year I said the board ought not to buy the Clavering books because I'd been told how radical they were. Well, this year we've got a very bright border at our house that Ms. Thatcher you just had up. And I'm here to say that in the last couple of months she's opened my Eyes. And so has Mr. Hunter. I ain't ashamed to say that when I said we oughtn't to buy the books because they were communistic, I made a darn fool of myself and I ain't gonna do it again. I'm behind Mr. Hunter 100%.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What? You told me this afternoon you'd back me up.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

No, I didn't. I just said I'd be here and I'd have my eyes open. Harry, I don't want to get into a fight with you. I just want to ask you this. Has Mr. Hunter convinced you you're wrong?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

He hasn't convinced me this Clavering isn't a muckraker.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Then you're even dumber than I was. Can't you see that you're the muckraker?

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

What are you talking about? Just because I'm American enough.

[Mr. Roberts (School Board Member)]

Now, wait a minute. You'll have a chance to answer me when I get through these Clavering books. Don't insult and cheapen our great men. You're doing that by implying that they weren't big enough to survive. A comparison of their faults and virtues. Let me show you what I mean. All our lives we've been used to seeing pictures and photographs and statues of Lincoln with a mole on his cheek. Right here. And if any painter or sculptor dared to show us Lincoln without that mole, there ain't nobody over eight years old in America wouldn't say, put that mole back. We know it don't make him look like a movie hero. But he didn't happen to be a movie hero. So you put that mole back. Cause that's the way he was. It makes him realer to us. We want him tall and lanky with big knuckles and forgetting sometimes to have his pants pressed. We know Lincoln pretty well. We ought to know America just as well as we know Lincoln. Have it parts of its history. It ain't pretty to look at. Let's face the facts, then make improvements as we get a chance to. If you want to see what happens to a country that has nothing but little tin gods in it, look at Germany. School children there are being taught on your system. All their leaders are perfect. And all their histories are being rewritten to prove it. Well, you want our kids to be told about America that way? We know that everything considered, it's one of the best countries ever organized. We want to keep it that way. And that means not being afraid to learn what made it tick in the beginning and what keeps it going today. Now it's getting late and there's a question before the board. But if you ain't convinced yet, I'm prepared to sit here all night to get it through that.

[Mr. Etheridge (School Board Member)]

That thick skull of yoursville.

[Announcer]

Board of Education.

[Eddie Etheridge (Child)]

Rainbow Night of red flag.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Sorry to take you away from your class.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Oh, that's all right.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Did you see Mr. Roberts last night?

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

No, but I talked with him this morning. He told me how they voted.

[Mr. Hunter (Principal)]

Well, we're safe for another year.

[Miss Thatcher (Teacher)]

Yes, darling, we'll always be safe as long as there are Americans like Mr. Roberts to keep his eyes open.

[Burgess Meredith]

Our freedom then has this meaning that here in our land the truth may be taught always. Academic freedom is the first liberty to die when dictators rule for dictators. Know the power of education. Let us, like Mr. Roberts in the play, keep our eyes open for truth. Let us resist any attempt to suppress truth or to distort it. Let us consider again the most powerful words ever spoken against the enemies of man. The lightning charged words of Lincoln at Gettysburg. And let us renew in this threatening hour his high resolve that the government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth. In this, the second of our series of broadcasts, the stars and the author of today's drama join the Free Company under chairmanship of James Boyd, contributing their services without payment. Lee Stevens composed and conducted an original musical score. The Free Company producer is Charles Vander to the Screen Actors Guild and to the American Federation of Radio Artists and to the Columbia Network, all who have combined to make this series possible. To all these people with a word of a special thanks to Irving Reese who directed. This is Burgess Meredith offering the sincere thanks of the Free Company.

[Announcer]

All those who enjoyed Mark Connolly's play today will be glad to know that a complete copy of the broadcast has been printed for distribution to listeners for 10 cents the cost of printing and mailing. You may receive your copy. Write to the Free Company in care of the Columbia Broadcasting System, New York City. Copies of subsequent Free Company plays will be made available each week as the series goes on. All criticisms of historical facts contained in the Mole on Lincoln's Cheek are based on authentic conditions. There is no Clavering series, but you will find the names of the actual textbooks containing the controversial facts used in the play in Howard K. Beale's survey of teaching which he prepared for the Commission on Social Studies of the American Historical Association. Next week at this time, the Free Company presents An American Crusader by Robert E. Sherwood, author of Abe Lincoln in Illinois and There Shall Be no Night, starring Franchotone and a distinguished company. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System.