Alfred McClung Lee

Who was Alfred McClung Lee?

Alfred McClung Lee was an American sociologist whose research included studies of American journalism, propaganda, and race relations.

Lee was born in Oakmont, Pennsylvania in 1906. He obtained an undergraduate and masters degree at the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Lee's first book was The Daily Newspaper in America, The Evolution of a Social Instrument in 1937, which examined the development and influence of American newspapers. The Fine Art of Propaganda examined the speeches of Father Coughlin.

Among his academic appointments, Lee served as chair of the Sociology and Anthropology departments at Wayne University from 1942-47, and as chair of the Sociology and Anthropology department at Brooklyn College from 1951-1957. He also served as president of the American Sociological Association. In 1973 he was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II.

Lee died of congestive heart failure at his home in Madison, New Jersey, on May 19, 1992.