Horkheimer publicly courted Columbia and foundations while privately planning permanent departure.
Evidence
Neumann, whose future at the Institute depended on one of the projects succeeding, was in favour of applying to other research foundations, and immediately took in hand an application to the New York Foundation. For his part, Horkheimer feared the accusation that he had not really done all he could to exhaust every possibility. He feared, too, the prospect of ending the Institute’s association with Columbia in an undistinguished way, and was in favour of pursuing further applications now more than ever, not admitting outwardly that their intention was to leave permanently. The intention to continue the policy of normalcy was strengthened by the fact that MacIver, the head of the Sociology Department, was holding out the prospect of associates of the Institute sharing in the departmental lectures, which raised hopes of at least one professorship for the Horkheimer circle. It all depended, Horkheimer wrote to Pollock, on being sure never to raise the slightest suspicion that there was a feeling of resentment. The officials of the foundations should never need to hesitate about contacting the Institute in the future. Colleagues such as Lasswell and MacIver should be given the impression that `these people are making a serious effort to take part in American life and make a genuine contribution. The right opportunity for this will probably come up soon.’ — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1149
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the broader history of the Frankfurt School’s exile strategy and how émigré institutions performed assimilation while preserving their own agenda. — connects to: Horkheimer accepted Rockefeller funding he privately condemned to return to Frankfurt. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1704; Institute members endured chronic precarity and indecision during the Columbia negotiations — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1233
Broader Connections
- Horkheimer accepted Rockefeller funding he privately condemned to return to Frankfurt.
#expands(0.90) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1704