Professor’s Ex Seeks Apology From Harvard

The ex-wife of a former Harvard professor wants the university to publicly apologize, saying the school forced her then-husband to leave almost 50 years ago on suspicions he was a communist.

Ann Fagan Ginger, 75, told the Boston Herald that she has sent the school a registered letter explaining the case, along with a copy of an FBI document about her ex-husband, who died in 1975.

She said she is still waiting for a response.

Her ex-husband, Raymond S. Ginger, was an assistant professor of research in business history in 1954 when university officials offered to turn over files to the FBI about his political affiliations, she said.

Harvard gave him a choice of either revealing whether he had ever been a communist, or resigning. He resigned.

Ginger said Saturday in a telephone interview from her home in Berkeley that she believes the incident with Harvard played a part in their divorce three years later.

A university spokesman said the school is trying to get to the bottom of the case.

Raymond Ginger went on to teach at other schools, including Brandeis and Wayne State universities.

Ann Ginger, a lawyer, writer, editor and political activist, is a professor at San Francisco State University.