Frederick Vanderbilt Field (13 April 1905 – 1 February 2000) was an a American leftist political activist and a great-great-grandson of railroad tycoon Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, disinherited by his wealthy relatives for his radical political views. Field became a specialist on Asia and was a prime staff member and supporter of the Institute of Pacific Relations. He also supported so many openly Communist organizations that he was accused ...
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Frederick Vanderbilt Field (13 April 1905 – 1 February 2000) was an a American leftist political activist and a great-great-grandson of railroad tycoon Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, disinherited by his wealthy relatives for his radical political views. Field became a specialist on Asia and was a prime staff member and supporter of the Institute of Pacific Relations. He also supported so many openly Communist organizations that he was accused of being a member of the Communist Party, and was a top target of the American government during the peak of 1950s McCarthyism. Field denied ever having been a party member, but admitted in his memoirs that "I suppose I was what the Party called a 'member at large.'"
Frederick Vanderbilt Field was born on April 15, 1905, a scion of the wealthy Vanderbilt family and a descendant of several other prestigious American families.. A 1923 graduate of the private Hotchkiss School, Field went on to attend Harvard University, where he participated in...
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