On Thursday, March 31, from 12:15-1:30 p.m., Douglas M. Charles, assistant professor of history at Penn State Greater Allegheny, will make speak on the FBI and human rights.
Charles is the author of J. Edgar Hoover and the Anti-interventionists, which describes how FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover catered to President Franklin D. Roosevelt?s political interests in order to preserve his position and to expand FBI authority. In his effort to service administration political goals, Hoover employed illegal wiretaps and informers, collected derogatory information, conducted investigations, forwarded political intelligence to administration officials, and coordinated some activity with British intelligence. This all occurred within a crisis atmosphere created with the onset of the Second World War, and it was this political dynamic that permitted Hoover to successfully cultivate his relationship with President Roosevelt and expand FBI authority.
The presentation will be held in 117 Frable Building. The event is open to the campus and the public. Charles?s appearance is a part of the Globalization and Sustainability Speaker Series sponsored by Penn State Greater Allegheny?s Teaching International, Greener Allegheny, and Honors Programs.