Sibley, Mulford Quickert

Mulford Quickert Sibley (1912-1989) was a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota; socialist; Quaker; and author of Conscription of conscience (1952), for which he won the Franklin Roosevelt Prize from the American Political Science Association, Technology and utopian thought (1971), and other books.

Mulford Quickert Sibley was born on June 14, 1912 in Malston, Missouri. He received a B.A. degree in 1933 from Central Teachers College in Edmond, Oklahoma, an M.A. from the University of Oklahoma, Norman in 1934, and a Ph.D. in 1938 from the University of Minnesota. After having taught at the University of Illinois from 1938-48, he came to the University of Minnesota as an Associate Professor of Political Science. He retired in 1982 as he neared 70 years of age.

Sibley taught courses on topics ranging from political ideas, to philosophical political theories, to psychic phenomena. Courses Sibley taught over the years include History of Political Ideas, Political Theory and Utopia, Introduction to Psychical Phenomena, Comparative Government, Socialist Theory, and Religion in the United States. An ardent pacifist, socialist, and Quaker, Sibley's strong values guided his teaching style and social involvement. His signature was a red tie "to remind himself and others of his solidarity with the working class and the socialist movement." The color also represents the 'common blood that flows through the veins of all people regardless of power, wealth, or station in life.'

Sibley's Conscription of Conscience, co-authored with Philip E. Jacob, won the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation prize in 1953 for the "best book contributing to an understanding of the relation of government to human welfare." Conscription of Conscience was a study conducted on American conscientious objectors during World War II. He was the Rockefeller Fellow in Political Philosophy (1959-1960), a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (1960) and was awarded the Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teacher Award in 1961. Sibley was a visiting professor at Stanford (1957-1958), Cornell University (1962-1963), and the State University of New York at Binghamton (1967-1968).

Sibley was a member of many professional organizations including the American Political Science Association, American Studies Association, American Association for Advancement of Science, British Society for Psychical Research, and American Society for Psychical Research.

Mulford Sibley died on April 19, 1989 at the age of 76.

Mulford Quickert Sibley was born in Marston, Missouri on June 14, 1912, the eldest of four children born to Erna and William Sibley. Sibley grew up in Oklahoma, received his bachelor’s degree from Central State College in 1933, and completed his master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma a year later. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1938 and then taught at the University of Illinois until 1948 when he returned as an associate professor to the University of Minnesota.

A Methodist by upbringing, Sibley began to follow Quaker teachings in his undergraduate years and was classed as a conscientious objector during World War II. Due to his outspoken beliefs on Quakerism, pacifism, socialism, parapsychology, and intellectual freedom, Sibley was popularly known as a campus radical. His popularity as a professor in political science and American studies at the University of Minnesota was unparalleled.

Sibley’s radical reputation extended beyond the Minneapolis campus in 1964 when his support of a student organization was criticized both locally by a St. Paul commissioner and nationally by William F. Buckley. This reputation quickly grew to international proportions when immigration officials barred Sibley from entering Canada for a speaking engagement in March of 1965.

Sibley’s writings on political philosophy were widely published in both journal articles and monographs. His first publication, “Apology for Utopia” appeared in 1940 as a two-part article in the Journal of Politics . His book publications include The Political Theories of Modern Pacifism: An Analysis and Critique (Philadelphia: Pacifist Research Bureau, 1944); Conscription of Conscience: The American State and the Conscientious Objector, 1940-1947 (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1952); The Quiet Battle: Writings on the Theory and Practice of Non-violent Resistance (Chicago: Quadrangle, 1963); The Obligation to Disobey: Conscience and the Law (New York: Council on Religion and International Affairs, 1970); Political Ideas and Ideologies: A History of Political Thought (New York: Harper & Row [1970]); and, Nature and Civilization: Some Implications for Politics (Itasca, Ill.: F.E. Peacock, 1977). His work on the book Conscription of Conscience earned Sibley the 1953 Franklin D. Roosevelt Foundation Prize awarded by the American Political Science Association for the “best book on the relation of government to human welfare.” In addition to his own research and writing, Sibley also served on the editorial boards for several journals including the American Political Science Review, the Midwest Journal of Political Science, and Peace and Social Change .

Sibley retired from the University of Minnesota in 1982 though he continued to teach in the law school of Hamline University and to lecture wherever he was asked. Sibley died in Minnesota on April 12, 1989 from a heart attack following complications of asthma, Parkinson’s disease, and a viral infection he contracted in India in 1986.

Biographical information was taken from the collection.