Transcript of Discussion with Commissioner of Education Earl James McGrath, The Fight Against Ignorance

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THE FIGHT AGAINST IGNORANCE* MR. HOULE: Here in New York, the home of the United Nations, there begins today the third national conference of the United States Commission for UNESCO. Walking up Fifth Avenue, one can see many signs of this vast collaborative effort. The museums and stores have colorful displays of world culture . Twenty-five hundred leaders of American thought are gathered to discuss the citizen's part in the struggle for peace, freedom, and advancement. We bring you today the participants of one of the panels at this UNESCO conference who are to discuss "The Fight against Ignorance " Elvin, we usually think of the United Nations as an agency of collective security to prevent aggression and wars Why should it be concerned with education? MR. ELVIN: I should say that that question goes down to the root idea of the United Nations, and I think that that idea could be put like this: We will not get permanent peace unless the peoples of the world enjoy permanent prosperity. * By Earl James McGrath, U.S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., on University of Chicago Round Table, NBC Radio Discussion, January 27, 1952.