Letters.(Letter to the Editor)

--Neal B. Freeman's "How Firm a Foundation" (June 16), tying Wilbur H. "Ping" Ferry to the radicalization of the Ford Foundation, is misleading at best. In fact, it was the famed educator Robert M. Hutchins who was most responsible for steering Ford Foundation funds in the direction of civil liberties and liberal contemplation by creating the Fund for the Republic and, later, the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. Ferry was a relatively minor figure in this fascinating story and was not nearly the influential and "dedicated leftist" portrayed by Mr. Freeman. Moreover, there is no meaningful connection between what Hutchins did in the 1950s and 1960s and what is going on currently at the Ford Foundation.

Fortunately this matter is well documented. For a detailed study, see my Freedom and the Foundation: The Fund for the Republic in the Era of McCarthyism (Knopf, 1969).

Thomas C. Reeves, Ph.D.

Franksville, Wis.

--Neal B. Freeman replies: I made no mention of the Fund for the Republic and would not quarrel with Dr. Reeves's characterization of it. As for Ping Ferry, his work is well documented in the James Ward biography Ferrytale (Stanford, 2001), and his "progressive" politics have been vouched for by, among others, his longtime associate Victor Navasky, who credits Ferry with installing him as editor of The Nation.

--As you correctly pointed out (The Week, June 16), Family Research Council is concerned about the relationship being fostered between the GOP and gay activists, and by the lack of support Sen. Santorum received from the party when he came under attack.

But you could not be more wrong in saying that GOP chairman Marc Racicot's meeting with a ...