Philip Keeney
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Philip Olin Keeney (1891–1962), and his wife, Mary Jane Keeney, were librarians who became part of the Silvermaster spy ring in the 1940s.[1]
Keeney met Mary Jane when both were working as librarians at the University of Michigan in 1929. In 1931, he became head librarian and professor of library economy at Montana State University (now known as the University of Montana) at Missoula, where he made several improvements.[2] By the mid-1930s, both Keeney and his wife were involved with left-wing political movements. In 1937, Keeney, although tenured, was summarily terminated after questioning book censorship by a local politician and supporting a proposal to revive a local chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. Supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Association of University Professors, among others, Keeney brought a wrongful dismissal suit and, in 1939, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in his favor and mandated reinstatement. But, made ill by the stress, he soon resigned.[1]