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Willis Carto and the IHR

Willis Carto is perhaps best known as the founder and director of Liberty Lobby, an organization based in Washington, DC, that publishes a weekly tabloid paper, The Spotlight. Carto has also been affiliated with the Institute for Historical Review since its founding in 1978. As those who have attended recent IHR conferences know, the IHR staff acknowledges the many hours of volunteer help that he and his wife Elisabeth have contributed over the years. Neither, however, contributed financially to the IHR. Neither was involved in the IHR’s day to day operations, nor was either ever a paid employee. Willis Carto did, however, occasionally act as an “agent” for the Institute and its non-profit corporate parent, the “Legion for the Survival of Freedom, Inc.”

During the past several months, facts have come to light to persuade the IHR senior staff that Carto’s relationship with the IHR had become a liability. After much careful deliberation, and on advice of legal counsel, the Institute resolved to terminate this relationship. Accordingly, the corporate Board of Directors, meeting on September 25, voted unanimously to end its relationship with the Cartos. This decision has the full support of the IHR staff, including Director J. Marcellus and editors Mark Weber, Theodore O’Keefe, and Greg Raven.