Red scare: In 1939, WWU president was dismissed after accusations of subversion

Seventy-five years ago this month, Charles Fisher served his last days as president of Washington State Normal School, in Bellingham.

He wasn't ready to retire and he didn't agree to quit, but that didn't matter. The trustees had already agreed with Washington's governor that it was time for Fisher to go.

The decision - just a few years after the same trustees cleared Fisher of accusations that his administration was un-American - prompted a nationwide debate about academic freedom.