Furry's Trial Postponed for Short Period

The pending contempt of Congress trial of Wendell H. Furry, associate professor of Physics, has been postponed briefly, U.S. Attorney Anthony Julian announced yesterday. Julian also said that a new date will be announced in the near future.

Furry's trial had been tentatively set for May 21, two days after his three-year probation period, set by the Corporation in 1953, will expire.

Furry appeared twice before Congressional committees in February and March of 1953. At both he cited the Fifth Amendment to all questions. The Corporation, after investigation, found Furry guilty of "grave misconduct" for telling a government investigator that he did not believe a former Communist associate had been a Communist.

Julian's announcement indicates that no long postponement is intended. Any date during the summer is possible, however, since Judge Bailey Aldrich '28, who will try the case, will not take the usual summer recess.

Furry was indicted in December, 1954, for refusing to answer ten questions Senator Joseph R. McCarthy asked him at a one-man hearing in Boston the preceding January. The questions concerned former associates in the Communist party.

Former Social Relations research assistant Leon J. Kamin '48 was acquitted of similar charges Jan. 5.