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Edward Merrill Root, known as E. Merrill Root (January 4, 1895 - October 26, 1973), was an American educator and poet devoted to anti-communist causes. ==Biography== Root was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of a Congregationalist Church minister. In 1917, he graduated from Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he studied under Robert Frost. Root was a conscientious objector during World War I. He went to France under the guise of the American Friends Service Committee and returned to the United States to study at Andover Theological Seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. In 1920, he began working at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, as a professor of English literature, where his tenure lasted until his retirement in 1960. While working at Earlham, Root began to change from a devout Quaker and pacifist into an active advocate of political conservatism.〔(Guide to the E. Merrill Root Papers 1917-1967 )〕 Root first exploded into political print with "Darkness at Noon in American Colleges",〔''Human Events'', July 30, 1952〕 an article in which he warned parents that their sons and daughters were catching the "polio of collectivism" at colleges and universities. Feeling that this article was not enough to convince people to listen, Root wrote ''Collectivism on the Campus,'' in which he claimed communism was widespread at American universities and colleges. A few years later, he wrote ''Brainwashing in the High Schools: An Examination of Eleven American History Textbooks''. Both of these volumes are meticulous investigations into the undermining of American scholarship by the left. Both consider at length and in detail, subversive attacks against the integrity of American educational institutions and the blatant perversion of such disciplines as history, literature, and philosophy.〔(The Legacy of E. Merrill Root | The John Birch Society - Truth, Leadership, Freedom )〕 These books brought Root fame in conservative circles. He also became a member of the Textbook Evaluation Committee of Operation Textbook, sponsored by America's Future under the direction of Lucille Cardin Crain. In retirement, Root became an editor of ''American Opinion'' (bi-monthly magazine of the John Birch Society), ''The American Friend'', ''The Measure'', and ''Quaker Life''. His book ''America's Steadfast Dream'', published in 1971, is an anthology of twenty-five essays that appeared in ''American Opinion'' over a period of a decade. As well as his vitriolic writings on subversion in education, Merrill Root published several books of poetry that met with a measure of critical acclaim; amongst his admirers was his former teacher, Robert Frost. Root also wrote a non-critical biography of Frank Harris. Root's central philosophy was what he called "Essentialism". His intention was "... to make coherent and affirmative a certain philosophy, and American philosophy, and to do so in terms of art." He stated his philosophy thus:
For the individual, Root stated his philosophy as a person's "outermost expression of his innermost essence ... Man, being finite in existence, but infinite in essence, succeeds by reaching his highest point of failure." E. Merrill Root died in 1973 in Kennebunkport on the Atlantic coast of Maine. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「E. Merrill Root」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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