November 15, 1948

Dr. Jesse J. Josephs

1311½ East 60 Street

Chicago 37, Illinois

Dear Dr. Josephs:

I thank you for your letter, and the copy of your letter to Mr. Murphy, about the advertisement containing a caricature of a negro janitor that appeared in the September 13, 1948 issue of Chemical and Engineering News.

I think that it is well worth while for us all to be on the lookout for editions in which the publications of the American Chemical Society, in the advertising columns or elsewhere, overstep the boundaries of good taste and proper behavior. In particular, I feel that we should be very careful about offering gratuitous insults to minority groups, and it is very good to have the advertisement mentioned in your letter pointed out to the Society.

On the other hand, I also feel that there would be a danger in our instituting a rigorous policy of censorship, even of the advertisements that appear in the Society publications.

I am sure that your letter to Mr. Murphy will be of value to him, in helping to indicate how he should make his dicisions, recognizing the dangers of unnecessary censorship on the one hand and of the publication of offensive material on the other. I feel that it is very important that the members of the Society, such as you and your associates, help in the formulation of these policies.

Sincerely yours,

[Linus Pauling]

cc: Walter Murphy, Alden Emery

November 15 [1948]

Dear Mom

Say you'd better be careful! Breaking ankles is no simple business. I saw the x-rays of a girl who had jumped out of a 3 story building and landed on her feet and her ankles were a mess. But at last reports she was still alive.

I'm sorry you won't be coming to see us this November, but on the other hand when you do come he will probably have finished our decoration and you will be able to see the end result instead of the process. At any rate we shall certainly be glad to see you when you do come.

I'm happy you like the dishwasher idea but there is a lot to consider, as I said before. Perhaps you'd prefer a Thor which will wash both dishes and clothes. But for automatic washers one needs 170 water for best results, which means, probably, an auxiliary tank. I'm having trouble myself deciding whether it's worthwhile, because if we got a dishwasher we'd need an extra booster heater, and with the heater we'd have to arrange a flue, etc, and so it goes one thing adds to another. Quite a racket.

Do you mean to say that Pop voted for Hoover in '28? I'm Amazed! The New Yorker this week is wonderful in the laughs it has at the expense of all things Republican, press, pollsters, etc. And Time is devoted almost exclusively to excuses for the election results thus New Yorker's comment that with all the reasons expounded now one can hardly have expected the Republicans to come even close.

We had a nice dinner at Edsall's last Friday can't say that I like the Mrs. though Eldest son completely op[p]ressed.

We've been lax so far about going to museums. Anita has had a period of not feeling well and my weekdays are completely filled, so things go slowly. Here we're completely occupied with the houses.

Our telephone is Wellesley 5-3702 M.

Much love,

Linus