Archives West Finding Aid

Theodore Raymond Astley was born in 1920 in Atlanta, Georgia, and spent most of his childhood years in Pontiac, Michigan. Upon obtaining a bachelor of arts in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1943, Astley joined the U.S. Army as a classification specialist and personnel clerk. He advanced to the rank of technical sergeant. During World War II, he was initially stationed in Fort Richardson, Alaska. In 1945 he was sent to Seattle, Washington, to assist in administering an Army program that provided correspondence courses for overseas personnel. Two weeks after receiving his honorable discharge in 1946, Astley obtained a job at the University of Washington as a career counselor for veterans.

In June 1948 Astley was served a warrant to appear before the Washington Legislature’s Joint Fact Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, which was dubbed the "Canwell Committee" after its chairperson, Albert F. Canwell. Astley appeared before the Canwell Committee and refused to answer any of its questions regarding whether or not he was a communist or had communist affiliations. At one point in the hearings, his refusals to answer the committee's queries became so adamant that he was forcibly ejected for shouting on the stand. Some who were present characterized the reason for his dismissal as the fact that he was not answering the committee's questions but simply making speeches. He was not cited for contempt.

In August 1948 Astley, who had become a part-time employee at the university in order to pursue his graduate studies in psychology and economics, was fired from his counseling position. The cause of his dismissal is controversial. The university claimed that there was no correlation between his refusal to cooperate with the committee a month earlier and his dismissal from his job. Astley maintained that his Canwell Committee experience was a direct cause of his firing, along with the fact that he participated in student organizations that were critical of the committee. In addition to protesting the committee’s hearings, these organizations also criticized the University of Washington’s dismissal of Astley and three other professors who were also suspected of having communist affiliations.

In June 1954 Astley, who was now working as a sawmill "dogger," was called in front of another committee, the House Un-American Activities Committee. These hearings were held in Seattle and were called the Velde Hearings after committee chairperson Harold H. Velde. Once again, Astley refused to answer any queries regarding communist affiliations, but his behavior was more restrained. Instead of shouting at the committee, he simply cited the Fifth Amendment as the reason for his refusal to answer their questions.

In 1962 Astley was awarded a teaching certificate and became a teacher. He worked in education until his retirement, usually teaching social studies and English at the secondary level in the Seattle area. Having been a union member and supporter ever since he worked for General Motors in Pontiac, Astley was active in various education unions, such as the Washington Education Association and the Seattle Teachers' Association.

Ted Astley died in 1994.