Benjamin Fine

Benjamin Fine (September 1, 1905 – May 16, 1975) was an American journalist and author. He worked at "The New York Times" from 1938 to 1958. Fine was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts and died while on vacation in Puson, South Korea.

Growing up and college

Fine spent his youth in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It was Rhode Island where he began his college education, he received his Bachelor's Degree in 1928 from Rhode Island State College. In 1933 he received a Master of Science from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. His education continued at Columbia where, in 1935, he earned another Master's Degree and a Ph.D in 1941. Fine also held seven honorary degrees; they were bestowed by Bryant College, Rhode Island State College, Yeshiva University, and the University of Toledo.

Fine's work at the Times

Fine began a twenty year career at the "New York Times" in 1938, where he started as an education reporter. By 1941 he had been named education editor, a position he retained for 17 years. In 1944 his series of articles on the teaching of history in American high schools and colleges won the paper the Pulitzer Prize "for the most distinguished and meritorious public service rendered by an American newspaper during the year."

On September 4, 1957, while covering the attempt at desegregation at Little Rock Central High School, Fine famously sat down beside a lonely and scared Elizabeth Eckford and sympathetically said "don't let them see you cry." Fine was one of two whites at the scene that day who is said to have helped Eckford in some way. The other was Grace Lorch, the wife of a professor who helped her get on board a bus and get away. [Blumberg, Rhoda Lois, Civil Rights: The 1960s Freedom Struggle, G.K. Hall Co., New York: 1991, p. 61.]

During his tenure as editor at the "Times" he was implicated by Winston Burdett's 1955 testimony about Communists in the media before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. Fine was subpoenaed by the subcommittee in Nov. 1955. He testified in January 1956.

Fine's Senate testimony

Fine cooperated with the Senate panel calling his one year membership in the Communist Party from 1935 to 1936 while he was a student at Columbia University's Teachers College. He told the subcommittee that his advice to young people today would be "keep away from anyone who talks the Communist line to you on the campus."

The committee chair, Senator James Eastland complimented Fine for his candor and called him "a fine citizen." Fine's appearance prompted Senator Thomas Hennings of Missouri to critcize the subcommittee. He objected "strenuously" that Fine was on public display after his "full disclosures in executive session."

His appearance also explained his brother's, David Fine, appearance two days earlier. David Fine was a New York movie exhibitor specializing in Russian films. He was the only non-newspaper witness.

Work after the Times

Fine resigned as education editor at the "Times" in 1958 to accept the position of Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Yeshiva University, a position he relinquished in 1960. In 1962 Fine took a job as Headmaster of Sands Point Country Day School, in Long Island, where he stayed until 1971. It was in 1971 that he founded Horizon School for Gifted Children in Key Biscayne, Florida; the job he left Sands Point for. Fine retired from Horizon in 1974.

Books

Aside from his journalism Fine was a well-known and prolific writer of books on education, including several how-to books.

Books by Fine

*"Democratic Education" (1945)
*"Our Children are Cheated - the Crisis in American Education" (1947)
*"Educational Publicity" (1951)
*"Fine's American College Counselor and Guide" (1955)
*"1,000,000 Delinquents" (1955)
*"The School Administrator and the Press" (1956)
*"How to be Accepted by the College of your Choice" (1957)
*"The School Administrator and his Publications" (1957)
*"How to Get the Best Education for Your Child" (1959)
*"The Modern Family Guide to Education" (1962)
*"Teaching Machines" (1962)
*"Stretching Their Minds" (1964)
*"How to Get Money for College" (1964)
*"Barron's Profiles of American Colleges" (1964)
*"Your Child and School" (1965)
*"Underachievers - How They Can be Helped" (1967)
*"The Stranglehold of the I.Q." (1975)

Honors

1944: Pulitzer Prize for public service reporting (award went to New York Times for his reporting)
1948: George Polk Awards

References

* [http://www.uri.edu/library/special_collections/registers/manuscripts/fine/scope.html University of Rhode Island profile]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861830-2,00.html Time Magazine article] , January 16, 1956

External links

* [http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/Website/Resources/Curriculum/Cold%20War/Documents/34.html New York Times article] : by Benjamin Fine January 30, 1949