Fresno State considers changing library named after Nazi sympathizer

Fresno State may be renaming Henry Madden Library after senior leadership members were made aware last week that "Madden held deeply anti-Semitic views and Nazi sympathies." 

President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval penned a letter to students, staff and community members Monday afternoon detailing the situation.  

"The views attributed to Dr. Madden are more than allegations; they are reflections of his beliefs as captured in his own words, and in documents he curated and donated to the Library before his passing," Jiménez-Sandoval said. "While the Library has carried the Madden name since 1981, we only recently learned that his personal papers express clear anti-Semitic hate." 

The writings were a part of a special collection donated by the Madden Estate in the 1980s and remained sealed, due to an imposed stipulation, until August 2007. The papers are currently housed in the Madden Library Special Collections Research Center. 

Fresno State Professor Lori Clune researched Bradley W. Hart's “Hitler's American Friends” with students this semester, a book published in 2018 about Nazi sympathizers in America.

Jiménez-Sandoval said Hart’s "clear review of the documents" is what allowed the school to create a task force. After developing the task force, the group will look over the school’s compliance with naming policies with the Chancellor’s Office.  

"While we are all extremely disappointed to learn this information, it is also an important opportunity for us to redouble our commitments," Jiménez-Sandoval said. "We must take the time to create a process that allows us to ensure that the naming of a building or key campus area aligns with our communal values and reflects our shared spirit of discovery, diversity and distinction."

Madden served as the university librarian starting in 1949. During his tenure he grew the library’s collection from 70,000 books to more than half a million volumes before his retirement in 1979. 

Lauren Jennings covers education and news for the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register. Follow her on Twitter @lolojennings. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.