Category: Leo Frank

Categories Leo Frank

What we can learn from Leo Franks 1915 lynching – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Atlanta was not yet a city of two major newspapers who politely contradicted each other. That came later. During Franks trial, competing newspapers were omnipresent, each pressed to produce those multiple editions daily so that the news of which there was only so much got bled dry and was reduced to opinion, scandalmongering and, sometimes, wholesale lies. They serviced the ravenous appetite of the people of Atlanta and beyond, throughout the state, throughout the country and, eventually, throughout Europe.

When it came to Franks trial, a cacophony of loud voices argued the case in print, with the intention of making a reputation or whipping up sales. Some were eager to take down a New York Jewish factory manager in the service of ending child labor. Some were socialists. Others were garden-variety Jew haters. The result? Antisemitic hysteria, death by lynching and savage treatment of Franks corpse.

During the trial, the Atlanta Journal performed as Franks chief defender, while the Atlanta Constitution straddled the fence or performed as friend to the prosecution. They, too, were not above large-type headlines and illustrations, photographs from the morgue, light-fingered reporters, purloined evidence. Sworn enemies might be too harsh a term, but the two newspapers didnt like each other. That they could come together 35 years later in a historic joint operating agreement maintaining two newsrooms to keep ideological antagonists apart and the Constitutions morning edition the Journals afternoon intact was something of a miracle. Fifty years after that, the walls of Jericho fell and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution merged into a single pressroom and one harmonious voice.

Media in 2024 is as wild as anything Frank knew but on a grander, more expansive scale. To feed it, we have presidential candidates and first sons subject to multiple trials that vamp the publics attention, and foreign wars used to inflame the impressionable. The internet has created innumerable news portals so that one can pick and choose support for ones preconceived notions as easily as dropping a nickel in the palm of a late-edition hawker in 1913. Again, the molding of public opinion is in the grasp of too many reckless and often powerful hands.

As we teeter on the brink of despair that the two ends of our discourse left and right shall ever meet again, we need to believe that the kind of hopefulness, of civility, the kind of commitment to years of trust-building that created The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 75 years ago is not impossible to achieve again.

To regard her history inspires hope that all over the country antagonistic opinion makers recognize the blowtorch methods of the distant and recent pasts are clearly not going to work. So much has burned down already.

That The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has survived nearly a centurys worth of conflict and compromise is proof of its strength. As always, the creation of consensus while entertaining conflicting views is a mighty achievement.

Bravo.

Mary Glickman is author of six historical novels focused on antisemitism and racism in the Deep South. Her latest book, Aint No Grave, focused on the Leo Frank tragedy, was published July 9.

Excerpt from:

What we can learn from Leo Franks 1915 lynching - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Categories Leo Frank

Leo Frank case inspires novel that blends history and magical realism – The Atlanta Journal Constitution

The novel is set during the trial of Leo Frank, the Jewish superintendent of a pencil factory in Atlanta who was convicted many people believe wrongly so of the 1913 murder of 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan. Antisemitic sentiment roiled the city, and a mob of men busted Frank out of jail and lynched him in Marietta.

At the heart of Nyes story, which blends historical accuracy and fantasy, is the Felicitous Five, a group of teenage girls whose friendship is bound by their infatuation with Frank, while they also secretly identify with Mary Phagan, their contemporary. Devastated when Frank is killed, they create a golem in his image that starts to run amok.

What inspired Nye to write The Curators was a minor detail in the case thats come to be called the murder notes.

The murder notes were a set of two handwritten notes that were found beside Mary Phagans body in the pencil factory, Nye said, speaking from her mothers home in Maryland. They were written in a kind of decipherable pidgin as though her dead body had described the assault ... like in her dying moments she wrote down an account of everything. And in them theres this line, Play like the night witch did it.

The detective and the press and history has interpreted that as the night watchman because it was, in fact, the night watchman Newt Lee who found her body, she continued. But its written night witch, two words. And I was like, that is such a surreal detail to be embedded in such a tragic and morbid set of circumstances. And I began thinking about child narrators and how children might interpret such a detail and might spin that out into a fantasy, and thats how I got to the collective narrators that are in charge of my novel.

For historical accuracy and local color Nye relied heavily upon archives of the Atlanta Constitution after she saw the newspaper cited in Steve Oneys definitive account of the case, And the Dead Shall Rise, published in 2004.

The newspaper proved indispensable to her in learning how people lived and how the media shaped what they were thinking and how people talked and what people were interested in and what was popular.

As far as historical newspapers go, Nye said the Atlanta Constitution was fairly balanced in its coverage of the case. But, of course, there was interest in the sort of salacious and morbid details of the case. Thats what sells extras, right? I think it reflects the historical attitude of the men in power, largely.

She admits she doesnt paint a flattering picture of journalists in her novel. I was really interested in how newspapers and journalism shape public perception and can kind of rally and incite anger, bitterness and violence.

Ouch. That was then, perhaps. This is now. Ill go to my grave believing newspapers are a force for good.

Nye has two author events coming up this summer. Shell participate in the Lost in the Letters Festival July 27 (www.lostintheletters.org) and shell give a reading on Aug. 14 at Bookish Atlanta (bookishatl.com).

Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.

Original post:

Leo Frank case inspires novel that blends history and magical realism - The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Categories Leo Frank

Leo Frank, murdered by the Knights of Mary Phagan – Aurora Israel

His trial, conviction, and appeals attracted national attention. His lynching two years later, in response to the remission of his death sentence, became the focus of social, regional, political and racial concerns, particularly regarding anti-Semitism.

Frank (1884-1915) was born in Texas to a Jewish home of German descent. He lived for a time in New York and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. He worked in various companies, until in 1907 he was hired to run the National Pencil Company pencil factory in Atlanta. In 1910 he married Lucille Selig, a young woman from a prominent industrial family, and became actively involved in the city's Jewish community, being elected president of the local B'nai B'rith.

Court case and lynching

He was convicted on circumstantial evidence of the rape and murder of an employee: thirteen-year-old girl Mary Phagan. The trial was followed by the sensational press. Frank's extrajudicial murder is the first known anti-Semitic lynching in the United States. Georgian politician Tom Watson capitalized on the case to bolster public support for the renewal of the Ku Klux Klan, which had been dismantled by the federal government more than 40 years ago.

The jury unanimously found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life in prison after Georgia Governor John Slaton reviewed the evidence. On the night of August 17, 1915, a group of men calling themselves the Knights of Mary Phagan arrived at the Milledgeville State Penitentiary, kidnapped Frank, and led him in handcuffs to a farm in nearby Marietta, where he was hanged. His last words were: I think more about my wife and my mother than about my own life.

Mary Phagan's Knights included former Georgia Governor Joseph Mackey Brown, Judge Newton Morris, and former Marietta Mayor Eugene Herbert Clay; Also present were the famous lawyer John Tucker Dorsey, the city's sheriff William Frey, lawyers and even doctors.

In 1982, Alonzo Mann, a former employee of the factory, declared that he was convinced that Leo Frank was innocent. He claimed that he saw Jim Conley, an African-American janitor, take Mary Phagan to the basement, but that he threatened to kill her if she spoke about her.

In 1986 Leo Frank was posthumously pardoned because of Alonzo Mann's testimony, although he was never officially acquitted of the murder charge.

The story of his trial, his conviction, his lynching and the subsequent events was told in the miniseriesThe murder of Mary Phagan(1988)

Source: Wikipedia

Read the rest here:

Leo Frank, murdered by the Knights of Mary Phagan - Aurora Israel

Categories Leo Frank

A searing indictment of antisemitism in the South – Simi Valley Acorn

Its been over a 100 years since Mary Phagan, a 13-year-old Atlanta pencil factory worker, was horrifically murdered. Leo Frank, the Jewish man who managed the factory, was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death. Though his sentence was later commuted to life by the Georgia governor, an antisemitic mob kidnapped Frank from jail and lynched him.

Many believe Frank was wrongly convicted. The thunderous consequences of the case can still be felt in todays news as incidents of antisemitism and violence against Jews continue to reverberate throughout the country.

A play, television movie and a musical have all recounted the tragedy and each one has been critically praised. The musical version, titled Parade, debuted in 1998 and it has proven especially enduring, having recently completed a highly regarded revival on Broadway.

Actors Repertory Theatre of Simis current production, which opened Feb. 24, shows why Parade should be regarded as a milestone in American musical theater. ARTS production is gripping, disturbing and often thrilling, keeping its audience on the edge of its seat from the first martial drumbeat to the last.

The parade takes place in 1913 during Georgias annual Confederate Memorial Day celebration honoring its Civil War dead, but also suggests the methodical procession toward Franks ultimate injustice, caused by a systematic cortege of tainted witnesses.

Alfred Uhrys book pits a trio of protagonists against an equal number of antagonists. On one side is Frank, a bespectacled Jewish college graduate from Brooklyn who arrives in Atlanta to work as the superintendent of the National Pencil Company, supervising over 100 underage female workers. The inordinately talented Aaron Ellis, a gifted actor, singer and son of a cantor (his Shma will bring tears to your eyes), plays Frank as an unsympathetic hero, complaining of his fish-out-of-water existence: an immigrant in his own country. Obsessive-compulsive, the mild-mannered Frank ignores his Georgia-born wife while immersing himself in his work. Even while incarcerated, facing the death penalty, he obsesses about paying his bills.

Franks wife, Lucille, is beautifully played by Samantha Craton, who gives a stunning performance as the woman who stands by her man, pleading for his freedom even after he is railroaded for committing the heinous crime for which he is accused. Her song You Dont Know This Man is one of her many achingly beautiful moments in the show. Ellis and Craton are terrific as they show the Franks relationship grow from distant and strained to tragically tender (All the Wasted Time). Both are a revelation.

Lew Stowers plays the conscientious outgoing Georgia governor John Slaton, who refuses to vacate his office before conducting his own investigation of the case. Stowers imbues his convincing performance with a perfectly honeyed Georgia accent, learned by studying the speech patterns of former president Jimmy Carter.

The three antagonists are ambitious prosecuting attorney Hugh Dorsey, played with sly guile by Mark Haan; antisemitic newspaper publisher and religious zealot Tom Watson (the excellent Joey Grady), who uses yellow journalism to inflame the citizens against Frank; and the amazing Keith Borden as Jim Conley, a Black janitor who is coached by Dorsey to implicate Frank in the murder (Thats What He Said). The confrontation between Stowers, as Gov. Slaton, and Borden, as the cunning Conley, is the musicals dramatic highlight. To a pulsating chain gang ostinato, Slaton and Conley square off, with Borden providing the thunder on the rafters-raising blues shout Feel the Rain Fall.

Other outstanding performances are turned in by Noah Gephart-Canada, who delivers a smoldering performance as young Frankie Epps, a friend of Marys; Maxwell Oliver as opportunistic journalist Brit Craig (Real Big News is his tour de force); Noa Levy as the unfortunate Mary; Joshua Ray as fearful night watchman Newt Lee; and Sarah Steiker as Mary Phagans grieving mother.

Gary Poirots upstage orchestra plays Jason Robert Browns Tony-winning score, with its Charles Ives-influenced references to Southern folk and sacred tunes, spirited marches and dissonant counter-melodies. Parade is produced by Jan Glasband (who also designed the drab, earth-toned costumes) and directed by David Ralphe.

The musical continues through March 24 at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. Due to mature themes, its not recommended for anyone younger than 13. For tickets and information, go online to actorsrepofsimi.org.

Here is the original post:

A searing indictment of antisemitism in the South - Simi Valley Acorn

Categories Leo Frank

The universalist tradition has been forgotten, the Enlightenment … – The New Statesman

You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember, said Benjamin Netanyahu on 28 October. Theres no point wasting words over the lifelong secular conmans sudden interest in biblical texts, or even in asking whether its kosher to follow an injunction to wipe out enemy tribes if your main object is to prolong a war in order to stay out of jail.

Im more interested in how the Amalek passages have guided Jews more often, lately, than the ones I was told to remember as a child: You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Some version of that injunction is repeated 36 times in the Torah. Its hard not to wonder if it corresponds to the number of righteous people for whose sake, says the Talmud, the world keeps turning.

I was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1955, the year Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi. The number of Jews lynched by the Ku Klux Klan never approached the number of African Americans, but the murder of Leo Frank was still in living memory, and most members of the citys small Jewish community lived in fear of attracting attention particularly after the Reform synagogue was bombed in 1958. It was clearly a warning from the Klan, for what distinguished the Temple from the other two synagogues in Atlanta was that its rabbi, Jacob Rothschild, worked with Martin Luther King not only before he won the Nobel Peace Prize, but before it was acceptable for black and white people to dine together.

Heres a chilling story: our neighbour and fellow synagogue member invited the rabbi and his wife to dinner along with Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. Unable to find their way, the Kings arrived late and apologised, explaining they had stopped at another house to ask for directions. But dont worry, said Coretta, We told them we were coming to serve at your dinner party. Had they said they were guests, they could have endangered their hosts.

Rabbi Rothschild and a few members of his community, among them my mother, grounded the risks they took in the universalist Jewish tradition: since we were slaves in Egypt, our place was with those who were slaves in Georgia. That was the Haggadah interpretation that reigned at our seders, so it was a shock to learn as a young adult that there was anything else on offer. Though an extraordinary number of white Jews were involved in the civil rights movement at a time when it could be dangerous, the number of Jews who were remembering Amalek began rising in the late 1960s. The Yom Kippur War in 1973 seemed to seal it: in every generation, someone or other rises up to destroy us.

Select and enter your email address

Your email address

Same memory, different conclusions. We were strangers, then slaves, and even after liberation our troubles were not over. Its a myth of Jewish suffering common to those who are learned and those who are not, to the secular and the observant, those who lean tribalist and those who lean universalist. If most of us agree on the power of the story, we disagree fiercely on the conclusions we draw from it. For universalists, that we suffered means we understand the pain of strangers and are bound to do something about it. For tribalists, the fact that they made us suffer means no stranger can ever be trusted, and we ought to watch our back.

I asked my rabbi, Jim Ponet, if the contradiction was resolvable by the sort of literary scholarship that posits several biblical authors and tries to determine their respective contributions. Perhaps the Amalek passages there are, after all, only three were written by a different author? Not so simple, Ponet answered: this is the civil war thats divided the Jewish people from the start.

It was easy enough for left-wing Jews to uphold the universalist tradition so long as the international left itself was firmly universalist. But what are we to do when what now calls itself the left has gone tribalist, rejecting universalism like other Enlightenment ideas as Eurocentric hype designed to dominate the rest of the world? This view is so distorted that if Enlightenment thinkers were alive they could sue for defamation. It was they who invented the critique of Eurocentrism and condemned slavery and colonialism.

Woke has become a right-wing slur, but the mishmash of ideology called progressive today is built on a confusing contradiction between feeling and thought. Todays progressives are driven by emotions any leftist will share: we want to stand on the side of the oppressed, to do what we can to right historical wrongs. But those emotions are undermined by a series of reactionary intellectual assumptions: most importantly, the belief that tribal identities are the ones that define us takes us back to Amalek.

These past weeks have devastated progressive Jews not prepared to celebrate Hamas carnage as an act of liberation by the Global South. Many speak of betrayal by the left. But the problems began earlier. Rejecting postcolonial theory doesnt make you an imperialist; the anticolonial tradition that overthrew empires in the mid-20th century was not tribalist. When so many progressives are impaled on a spit of binaries, its time to remember our own universalist tradition. Whoever you think was the author, parts of the Torah still have a message for the rest of the world, as well as for the government that excuses its war crimes with references to Amalek.

This article is part of the series What It Means to Be Jewish Now.

Read the original:

The universalist tradition has been forgotten, the Enlightenment ... - The New Statesman

Categories Leo Frank

On this day in 1915, cross burning in Ga. signals Klan’s rebirth – Mississippi Today

Nov. 25, 1915 Credit: Wikipedia

A week before the silent film, Birth of a Nation, premiered at an Atlanta theater, William Simmons, along with 15 other men (including some who lynched Leo Frank) burned a cross on Stone Mountain, Georgia, signaling the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan.

The movies racist portrayals of Black Americans prompted outrage by the NAACP and others, leading to huge protests in towns such as Boston and the films closing in Chicago.

Despite these protests, the movie became Hollywoods first blockbuster, making as much as $100 million at the box office (the equivalent of $2.4 billion today). In the wake of the movie, the KKK became a national organization, swelling beyond 4 million members.

Loading

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur genius grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.

Read more here:

On this day in 1915, cross burning in Ga. signals Klan's rebirth - Mississippi Today

Categories Leo Frank

Revival Theatre in Cedar Rapids announces new initiatives for 2024 … – The Gazette

Loralee Songer (left) as Lucille frank and Joe Wetrich as Leo Frank star in Revival Theatre Companys 2015 presentation of Parade. Revival Theatre is bringing back the musical drama in April, with Songer and Wetrich in their leading roles, to launch the Cameron Sullenberger Overture Series. This annual fundraising production honors the legacy of the late Sullenberger, co-founder and musical director for the professional troupe based in Cedar Rapids. (Von Presley Studios)

CEDAR RAPIDS Gasps rippled through CSPS Hall during a Revival Theatre Company fundraiser Nov. 15, 2023, as a new series logo featuring the profile of late co-founder and music director Cameron Sullenberger came into view.

Brian Glick, the professional troupes co-founder and artistic director announced the creation of the Cameron Sullenberger Overture Series, designed to propel the troupes future by honoring its past.

Sullenberger, 54, died Feb. 11, 2023, after suffering a heart attack at CSPS, before a rehearsal for Revival Theatres production of Million Dollar Quartet. The show was postponed a week, but went on, as Sullenberger would have wanted.

What: Revival Theatre Company, professional troupe based in Cedar Rapids

Details and donations: revivaltheatrecompany.com/

The first offering in the new Overture series will be the return of one of his favorite shows, Parade, presented in a concert version next April at CSPS Hall, Revivals new resident venue. Revival Theatre presented Jason Robert Browns haunting, Tony-winning musical in November 2015 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Cedar Rapids.

Based on a true story, Parade winds the clock back to 1913, when Leo Frank, a Brooklyn-raised Jew living in Georgia, is put on trial for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan, who worked at his pencil factory. Already guilty in the eyes of everyone around him, a sensationalist publisher and a janitors false testimony seal Franks fate.

The trial triggered anti-Semitism and the revival of the KKK in the area, as well as the emergence of the Anti-Defamation League, formed to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.

I think it's an important piece to tell right now, Glick said, and I just really enjoyed working on that, so I'm thrilled to be able to bring this (show) back.

This new series also will serve as Revival Theatres annual fundraiser, replacing the holiday show of years past. The Nov. 15 event blew the roof off of CSPS, with the glorious voice and interpretations of Ezekiel Andrew, who just marked two years with The Lion King on Broadway; pianist Garret Taylor, who has played keyboards with Wicked on Broadway for 16 years; and local powerhouse performer Alicia Monee. An evening of entertainment just doesnt get any better than this.

The new Overture series also gives a nod to Sullenbergers many years of teaching, by benefiting Revivals programming and expanded educational initiatives.

We will showcase classical musicals on this (CSPS) stage, with orchestra and singers presenting those classics that Cameron loved so much, Glick said. All the proceeds from that event will go toward funding our seasons moving forward.

A new education initiative, titled The Second Stage series, will feature master classes with industry professionals.

The whole focus is how you develop your work for the professional theater, Glick said, including audition workshops.

Another aspect will be monthly forums in a casual setting free and open to the public during which the pros discuss their process, such as production design.

You have a drink in the bar and they talk for an hour, Glick explained. It's just another way to engage and educate the community on what we do what it takes to make it all happen. I'm really excited about that.

Past classes have brought home Cedar Rapids native Michael Harrington and his wife, Broadway actor Elena Shaddow, as well as Kevin Worley, another Cedar Rapids native and Broadway actor and touring veteran.

It's capitalizing on those individuals, and letting our community be able to work with them in a really engaging and educational process, Glick said.

Also new in 2024 is switching from a calendar year to following the school year for Revivals seasons.

Were not going to officially kick off a full season, which will be our 10th year, until September of 2024, Glick told The Gazette in an interview prior to the recent fundraising concert.

That first show will be the musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The title announced Nov. 15 was just a teaser. The rest of the 2024-25 season will be revealed in April.

In the meantime, Glick told The Gazette: We're in the midst of strategic planning, looking at a new vision for the company, fundraising, and strategizing for the next 10 years.

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com

Read more from the original source:

Revival Theatre in Cedar Rapids announces new initiatives for 2024 ... - The Gazette

Categories Leo Frank

Charles Evans Hughes And The Jews – The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com

The remarkable Charles Evans Hughes (1862-1948) is best known for his terms as Associate Justice (1910-1916) and later as Chief Justice (1930-1941) of the Supreme Court, for which many commentators characterize him as one of the Courts greatest jurists. However, he also taught Japanese, Latin and calculus to finance his way through law school, became an eminent lawyer and professor of law and a recognized crusading investigator of the utilities and insurance industries, served as the reform Governor of New York State (1907-1910) (he resigned to serve on the Supreme Court), ran as the Republican nominee for president, leaving his seat on the Supreme Court only to lose a tight election against to Woodrow Wilson (with some commentators believing him to be the greatest president that never was), served as U.S. Secretary of State in the Harding administration (1921-1925) and, after Hardings death in office, in the Coolidge administration, and served as a judge of the World Court (1928-1930).

Hughes became a nationally known figure in the muckraking, trust-busting age as head of the New York gas inquiry, when his independence, diligence and capacity for sorting through the financial tangle of rate-making and price gouging won him a broad following. After his investigation of corruption in the insurance industry, his reputation as an independent-minded Republican facilitated his defeat of William Randolph Hearst in the 1906 New York gubernatorial election, as he became the only Republican to win statewide office that year. Although corporate interest underscored both his former clients and his campaign supporters, he showed independence in his two terms as governor, supporting the creation of a Public Service Commission with strong powers to regulate corporate activity.

After declining Tafts offer of the vice-presidential nomination (1908), Taft appointed him to the Supreme Court; as Chief Justice, he led the fight against FDRs attempt to pack the Supreme Court, wrote the seminal opinion ruling that prior restraints against the press are unconstitutional, aligned with Brandeis and Cardozo two Jewish Justices in (surprisingly and disappointedly, to many) ruling that FDRs New Deal proposals were constitutional, and joined a powerful dissent decrying a lynch law trial during a time of antisemitic mob violence against a Jew accused of murdering a young southern woman (see fuller discussion of the Leo Frank case below). As Secretary of State, he pushed for U.S. participation in the League of Nations, advocated international reduction of arms, promoted the World Court, and supported various international efforts to fend off another world war.

Hughes Baptist minister father and deeply devout mother hoped that he would enter the ministry, and Bible and religious training infused his early years to the point that when at play, the young Hughes would take imaginary trips up and down the land of Eretz Yisrael, which he knew well from a beloved illustrated book on Biblical lands. Throughout his life, he manifested a deep belief in religious freedom and equality and, at a time when antisemitism was de rigueur in the United States, he was an outspoken supporter of Jewish rights. In the 1920s, driven by a rise in prejudice against Jews and Catholics and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, he founded the National Conference of Christians and Jews (1927), a human relations organization dedicated to combatting prejudice and bringing people of different races and cultures to address interfaith divisions, among other societal schisms. The NCCJ later created the Charles Evans Hughes Award for courageous leadership in governmental service.

Many citizens, particularly Democrats, condemned him as profanely flawed because he was so outspoken in his opposition to antisemitism, but Hughes philosemitism proved to be a great boon for him in elective politics. In 1906, he won his first term as New York governor by defeating William Randolph Hearst who, aware that the majority of New Yorks 600,000 Jews were Yiddish readers, had launched a new Yiddish daily newspaper dedicated to railing against Hughes. Nonetheless, Hughes won the Jewish vote (Hearst shut down the paper immediately after losing the election), and he went on to earn 45 percent of the Jewish vote in his failed run for president against Woodrow Wilson in 1916, the highest percentage ever recorded for a Republican presidential candidate.

Hughes was among the first Americans to declare that the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a loathsome fraud that promoted the idea of a secret Jewish scheme for world domination, was a sham. An English translation of the Protocols did not arrive in the United States until 1917, when Boris Brasol, a Russian expat and monarchist, translated the Protocols into English and delivered a copy to the State Department, hoping to persuade the American government to withhold recognition of the new Soviet regime and convinced Henry Ford to publish the Protocols in his fervently antisemitic International Jew series in the Dearborn Independent (1920-1922).

Harris Ayres Houghton, MD, an American Army Intelligence officer in Brooklyn and a passionate antisemite, obtained Brasols translation and, convinced of its authenticity, he ordered a subordinate to investigate all prominent Jews for signs of subversion. Hoping for broader government dissemination of the Protocols, he forwarded a copy to Hughes, then chief justice, but more importantly in this context, then serving as chair of a government committee investigating a scandal in American wartime aircraft manufacture. Houghton alleged that Jewish conspirators had sabotaged the American war effort in World War I and, in particular, that Jewish International Bankers had caused the manufacturing problems, but Hughes derided the very idea. He immediately brought the document to the attention of Louis Marshall, the president of the American Jewish Committee, and lost no time in proclaiming the inauthenticity of the Protocols.

There is no public record of Hughes taking a position on the right of Jews to settle in Eretz Yisrael, except for one notable instance when he wrote a letter to the British government as Secretary of State using the term Jewish commonwealth. Hughes letter was cited during the House Committee on Foreign Affairs discussions beginning in early 1944 regarding a resolution that Resolved, that the United States shall use its good offices and take appropriate measures to the end that the doors of Palestine shall be opened for free entry of Jews into that country, and that there shall be full opportunity for colonization so that the Jewish people may ultimately reconstitute Palestine as a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth.

Hughes, as Secretary of State, was one of the first American leaders to be advised about the Nazi threat to Jews in the nascent Third Reich when American Jewish leaders, although they did not yet believe the alarming reports they were receiving, brought the situation to his attention. In his manifestly disappointing response perhaps understandable from a Cabinet officer serving in an isolationist administration Hughes drew a black line between the rights and interests of American citizens, which he maintained would always be defended forcefully, and non-citizens, on whose behalf the American government had no right to intervene. Nonetheless, he assured Jewish leader Rabbi Stephen Wise that this did not mean that the American government was unmindful of the demands of humanity and that American diplomats would express in an informal and appropriate manner the humanitarian sentiment of our people.

As a Supreme Court justice, Hughes supported Jewish interests in three seminal cases. First, in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935), two kosher poultry businesses in New York were convicted for false sales and price reports and for selling a diseased bird in violation of the National Industry Recovery Act of 1933 (NRA), which was passed as part of the New Deal, that authorized President Roosevelt to regulate industry, establish a national public works program, set codes of conduct and protect collective bargaining rights for unions, all in the name of stimulating economic recovery. The Jewish business owners challenged the constitutionality of the NRA and, in a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Hughes, the Court found that the law was too vague about the definition of fair competition and, in Hughes words, left too much to the discretion of the President in approving or prescribing codes, and thus enacting laws for the government of trade and industry throughout the country which was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

The Hughes Court dramatically advanced the parameters of freedom of the press and freedom of speech, and Hughes was personally instrumental in incorporating both freedoms into the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby ensuring that First Amendment freedoms would be constitutionally protected from state interference. In Near v. Minnesota (1931), for example, the first substantial press case to reach the Supreme Court, Hughes created the First Amendment doctrine opposing prior restraint of speech.

In his revolting publication, the Saturday Press, Jay Near condemned government officials for failing to act to stop corruption of the alleged bootlegging and racketeering of Jewish gangsters. The Minnesota legal authorities blocked the publication of Nears smear sheet, accusing him of violating a Public Nuisance Law (1925), which banned the publication of material that was malicious, scandalous and defamatory. However, in a 5-4 opinion written by Hughes, a watershed opinion in freedom of the press, the Court prohibited censorship and found that prior restraint of a publication to be presumptively unconstitutional (except for exceptional cases).

It is important to note that while the opinion ultimately permitted an antisemitic publisher to disseminate Jew-hatred, it also preserved the right of Jews to proclaim Am Yisrael Chai (the Jewish people live), which many on the left today characterize as hate speech, and has preserved many of the First Amendment rights that American Jews take for granted and shouldnt.

The case of greatest Jewish interest in which Hughes arguably most distinguished himself was the infamous Leo Frank case, where, along with Oliver Wendell Holmes, he was one of only two dissenters in a 7-2 Supreme Court decision that it could not reconsider the trial courts determination that the anti-Frank mob and a press that inflamed the public with base and salacious antisemitism had deprived Frank of his fundamental constitutional right to due process.

Frank (1884-1915) was a Jewish American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder in Atlanta of a 13-year-old worker, Mary Phagan. His trial, conviction and appeals attracted national attention, and his kidnapping from prison and lynching two years later in response to the commutation of his death sentence became the focus of social, regional, political and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. The overwhelming consensus of experts today is that the Frank conviction was a travesty of justice and was attributable, in large part, to antisemitism. Many people do not know that, at the time of his arrest, Frank held prominent positions in the Jewish community, including serving as president of the Atlanta chapter of Bnai Brith, the largest branch in the United States at the time.

The Frank case ended up before the Supreme Court after the Georgia Supreme Court on a 4-2 vote rejected Franks petition for a new trial, dismissing claims of procedural errors and irregularities. Frank then petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus a challenge to a defendants detention or imprisonment that requires the government to produce the body of the defendant and to explain the reasons for detention on the grounds that, among other things, mob domination had effectively denied him procedural due process and had rendered the proceedings null and void. Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey absurdly claimed that none of the very public and raucous anti-Frank demonstrations ever came to the attention of the jury and, in a 7-2 opinion, the court majority agreed, ruling that Franks allegations of disorder were largely groundless and did not affect the verdict, and that in any case, his bald reassertion of the same allegations of mob interference had already been considered, and rejected, by the Georgia Court of Appeals.

In a powerful dissent, Hughes joined Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in arguing that the judgment against Frank should be reversed. They noted that when Franks trial began on July 28, 1913, with the Atlanta courthouse packed and with spectators and surrounded by a crowd outside on August 23, the judge conferred in the presence of the jury with the chief of police of Atlanta (and with the colonel of the Fifth Georgia Regiment stationed in the city) about the threat to public safety in the event of an acquittal. On the same day, with the jury ready to deliver its verdict, the press presented a united request that the court discontinue proceedings that day because of the risk of riot, and the court agreed to adjourn until Monday morning.

In their dissent, Holmes and Hughes went on to describe how when the prosecutor entered the court that Monday morning, he was greeted with applause, stamping of feet and clapping of hands. The trial judge privately advised Franks lawyer that there would be probable danger of violence were Frank to be acquitted, and he advised Frank and his lawyer that it would be safer for both not to be present in court when the verdict was read. When the guilty verdict was read, and before more than one of the members of the jury could be polled, there was a huge roar of applause that prevented further polling until the pandemonium could be quelled, and the noise outside was such that it was difficult for the judge to hear the answers of the jurors, although he was only ten feet from them. With these specifications of fact, Franks lawyers argued that the trial was dominated by a hostile mob and was therefore nothing but an empty form.

Hughes and Holmes rejected the governments argument and the Courts majority decision that even where a state court may have been dominated by a mob, its rulings are unreviewable and that Frank had been deprived of due process:

[W]hatever disagreement there may be as to the scope of the phrase due process of law, there can be no doubt that it embraces the fundamental conception of a fair trial, with opportunity to be heard. Mob law does not become due process of law by securing the assent of a terrorized jury. We are not speaking of mere disorder, or mere irregularities in procedure, but of a case where the processes of justice are actually subverted The fact that the state court still has its general jurisdiction and is otherwise a competent court does not make it impossible to find that a jury has been subjected to intimidation in a particular case.

Any judge who has sat with juries knows that, in spite of forms, they are extremely likely to be impregnated by the environing atmosphere. And when we find the judgment of the expert on the spot of the judge whose business it was to preserve not only form, but substance to have been that if one juryman yielded to the reasonable doubt that he himself later expressed in court as the result of most anxious deliberation, neither prisoner nor counsel would be safe from the rage of the crowd, we think the presumption overwhelming that the jury responded to the passions of the mob it is our duty to declare lynch law as little valid when practiced by a regularly drawn jury as when administered by one elected by a mob intent on death.

After Frank lost his final appeal at the Supreme Court over the objections of Hughes and Holmes, Georgia Governor Georgia John Slaton reviewed the case and commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment in 1915. However, two months later, an enraged mob of armed men kidnapped Frank from his prison cell, drove him over 100 miles to Marietta (Mary Phagans hometown), and lynched him. The Frank case remains one of the great stains on the American judicial system.

Hughes had a lifelong love of music, and he and his wife were often seen attending operas and concerts. In this December 29, 1923, correspondence on his Secretary of State letterhead, Hughes writes:

I send my cordial greetings to the Jewish Cantors Association of America and I trust that they will have abundant success in their endeavor to raise funds for the superannuated [aged] members of this honored profession, which has so largely contributed to perpetuate the most worthy traditions of Jewish music and the ethical precepts of their faith

In 1891, an effort was undertaken to organize an association of traditional cantors in North America, leading to the launch of the Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America & Canada (JMCA), or the Chazzanim Farband, the oldest cantorial organization in the United States, in 1897. It describes itself as a professional international association of traditional Reverend Cantors serving the Jewish community for over a century whose goal is to help revive the art of the Cantor and bring beauty back to the Jewish worship service. During its celebrated history, it boasted some of the greatest chazzanim of the past century, including legendary cantors Yossele Rosenblatt and Moshe and David Koussevitsky.

The organization grew through the arrival on American shores of cantors who survived the pogroms of Eastern Europe of the 1890s, World War I refugees, and Holocaust remnants of the great European cantors who had lead services at the hundreds of synagogues destroyed by the Nazis. Their lives and the lives of their families depended upon the fellowship and support of the JMCA which, in many instances, was the only institution that could help them find cantorial employment. The organization, which grew along with an ever-expanding America, supplied traditional chazzanim to Jewish communities all over the United States and throughout Canada.

On December 29, 1947, the JCMA celebrated its 50th Anniversary Concert at the Metropolitan Opera House and, on December 5, 1960, it held its 60th Anniversary Concert and celebration at Madison Square Garden before 20,000 attendees. The organization was invited to a special private audience with Pope John Paul II at Vatican City on January 18, 2005, when thirteen cantors and other Jewish dignitaries traveled to Rome to thank the Pope for his contribution to religious reconciliation with the Jewish People and the State of Israel. The Rabbis in attendance recited a special prayer; the cantors sang a special Shehecheyahu to commemorate the event at the Vatican in Clementine Hall and they presented a concert at the Great Synagogue of Rome on January 17 for the Roman Jewish community.

Read more from the original source:

Charles Evans Hughes And The Jews - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Categories Leo Frank

Jonathan Chait Whitewashes Left-Wing Antisemitism To Protect … – The Federalist

Antisemitism exists on the left and the right, New York columnist Jonathan Chait informs his readers in a piece headlined Republicans Have an Antisemitism Problem. The Democratic Party Doesnt. But, he goes on, There is one American party that is currently healthy enough to call out and exclude antisemitism within its ranks.

Sure, you might see leftists participating in the most virulent antisemitic protests in American history. You might read elected Democrats spreading blood libels and accusing Jews of dual loyalty. You might watch the leading liberal cable news network repeating Hamas propaganda, but all of that merely proves that Republicans have a serious problem on their hands.

Now, it should be noted that Chait doesnt call out and exclude antisemitism within his ranks. Hes been whitewashing it for years.

When in 2021, I pointed out that Rashida Tlaib was peddling antisemitic tropes about people behind the curtain undermining a free Palestine by exploiting regular Americans for their profit, Chait called it a classic example of right-wingers using the ultra-sensitive standards, with the least generous interpretation. Right? Who doesnt talk about wealthy puppeteers hypnotizing American patriots for profit?

Chait believes criticizing George Soros, the most generous funder of leftist causes in the world, sounds like something out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. At the same time, he believes criticizing a woman who pushes ancient tropes about Jewish power is a classic overreaction. Actually, now he contends that Tlaib whose tweet falsely accusing Israel of bombing a Christian hospital filled with children is still up has never actually uttered anything a reasonable person would deem antisemitic.

Even the ADL, incidentally, which is run by a long-time Democrat partisan, has denounced Tlaib. Is Jonathan Greenblatt not a reasonable person in Chaits estimation?

Chait contends that Ron DeSantis has an antisemitism problem. Elon Musk, you see, who backed the Florida governor in 2022, also agreed with an antisemites tweet a year later. Chait compares this association to one Barack Obama had with his long-time mentor and close confidant, the racist preacher Jeremiah Wright. (To be fair, Wright wasnt the only Jew hater Obama palled around with but we dont talk about that.)

One thing is certain: DeSantis, unlike Tlaib, does not use or excuse eliminationist rhetoric. From the river to the sea, explains Chait, who hears white supremacist dog whistles in his sleep, is an inflammatory and irresponsible slogan that implicitly creates solidarity with terrorism precisely because it is ambiguous and open to multiple definitions, but it is not per se antisemitic.

From the river to the sea is the least ambiguous phrase imaginable. It quite literally and geographically lays out the genocidal aims of its chanters from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including all of the Jewish state, not just occupied territory. Using Chaits partisan-addled logic, one could argue that white supremacists who chant, You Will Not Replace Us might not be talking about racial domination you know, not per se but merely about coexistence. Whos to know, right?

Chait says that leftist antisemitism, what little of it exists, is overwhelmingly directed in opposition to the Democratic Party. This supposedly proves that the Democrats are the anti-antisemitism party.

No, this happens because the American left has a huge Jew-hater problem. Does any sentient human being believe that these protests wouldnt be overwhelmingly directed at President DeSantis or Donald Trump both of whom would likely be just as, if not more, inclined to back Israel? The only reason Bidens modest support for Israel is undermining him in polls is because anti-Israel, oftentimes pro-Hamas, fans are overwhelmingly on the left, not right. Thats not hyperbole. According to a recent Harvard poll, 36 percent of liberals agree that Hamas attacks on civilians were justified.

Needless to say, the antisemites on college campuses whoset upJew-free zones and sign petitionssolelyblaming Israel for its own dead women and babies arent members of the Federalist Society. And the people tearing down posters of kidnapped children are never going to vote for the GOP. How many Republicans were among the400+congressional staffers or the500+State Department bureaucrats who demanded Hamas get away with the murder of 1,200 civilians at least 30 of them American citizens? Probably not many.

Antisemites are welcomed in the Democratic Party. No one forced Nancy Pelosi to preen on the cover of Rolling Stones Women Shaping the Future with Ilhan Omar (and other Hamas apologists) after her antisemitic remarks were known.

To get around the Omar problem, Chait writes:

Well, the party made clear those comments were unacceptable. Omar apologized, and Democrats supported a congressional resolution denouncing them. That is how a healthy party operates.

No, they didnt. The resolution passed by Democrats mentions Alfred Dreyfus and Leo Frank, but nowhere in the text is Omars name or any reference to her remarks mentioned. Democrats, as usual, refused to condemn antisemitism without watering it down with a platitudinous laundry list of every censurable hatred imaginable. As is the case whenever Jews are being attacked, the problem of Islamophobia dominates the resolution. The censure would be equivalent to Republicans condemning a right-wing antisemite by denouncing Stalins Doctors Plot and the 1992 Los Angeles riots while lamenting the prevalence of black antisemitism in inner cities. It was a complete joke.

There are indeed antisemites on both sides and we should call them out. But while most of the worst right-wing antisemites cosplay as Nazis in front of Disney, full-blown left-wing Hamas apologists are now embedded in universities, major newspapers, cable news, liberal politics, think tanks, protest movements like BLM and the Womens March, and in congress.

What they engage in is not causal or subtle antisemitism that needs deciphering. Anti-Zionism, girded by ancient tropes about Jewish power and influence, is the predominant justification for violence, murder, and hatred against Jews.

These people are not the dominant voice in the Democratic Party, but they are a growing one. It costs nothing for a left-leaning pundit to speak the truth. Unless, of course, they value partisanship above decency.

Here is the original post:

Jonathan Chait Whitewashes Left-Wing Antisemitism To Protect ... - The Federalist

Categories Leo Frank

10 Best Broadway Shows 2023 – The Mary Sue

Broadway shows come and go, but their impact can stay with us forever. Even if a show closed early, that doesnt mean its not still one of the best of the year. And while we still have a few shows to go before 2024, lets talk about the best shows weve seen so far!

The Great White Way is made up of plays, musicals, and an array of performances that keep audiences engaged in the theatrical arts. 2023 was a brilliant year for theater, and after seeing several shows myself, I have my favorites of the season. So while the year is not over yet (and there are still some shows to go), lets talk about the ten best shows of 2023. Did your favorite make the cut?

The Stephen Sondheim show that nearly ruined his career, Merrily We Roll Along comes to life on stage in such a shockingly poignant and breathtaking way. Starring Daniel Radcliffe as Charley Kringas, Jonathan Groff as Franklin Shepard, and Lindsay Mendez as Mary Flynn, the show is about three friends and the ways in which their relationship changes over the course of twenty years. But more than that, its a show about what it feels like to lose that friend group that was once so important to you.

As is the case with many Sondheim shows, Merrily We Roll Along weighs heavily on you and it is hard to see why people didnt like it the first time around. The revival, which is playing at the Hudson, takes us through the loss of love between these three friends as we go backward through time to understand what happened to them. Its a moving production through and through.

Love Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad? Want to see them back on Broadway together? Youre in luck! The show follows Bud and Doug, two musical theater composers attempting to pitch a show aboutJohannes Gutenberg to potential producers. The musical started back at the Upright Citizens Brigade in 2005 and has achieved a cult following since then. And its always wonderful to see Rannells and Gad back on stage together after originating the roles of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon.

Bringing up a special guest in some shows, the musical really is just a celebration of these two performers and brings their work to life in such a fun and exciting way. It is a limited run, though, with the show closing in January.

Leslie Odom Jr. on Broadway, what more could you want? Focusing on Purlie (Odom Jr.) as he returns to his hometown, this comedy tells the story of a Black preachers machinations to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church. This one-act play is funny and filled with great performances, but still packs a lot of heart for audiences to enjoy.

It is always nice to see Odom Jr. on Broadway, giving yet another brilliant performance. The show as a whole has a history to unpack that really delves into the way we tell stories. This is one you wont want to miss.

You can still see Josh Groban play the titular role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street until next year, before Aaron Tveit (Schmigadoon!) takes over with Sutton Foster (Younger). The revival of Sondheims beloved musical does highlight one thing about us as theater-going people: We love a horny murder guy. Sticking relatively true to what we know and love about the musical as a whole, the revival (which was directed by Thomas Kail) makes it clear that Sweeneys relationship with Mrs. Lovett (a hilarious Annaleigh Ashford) is one that is as sexual as we always thought.

When I say this is a horny production, I mean it. Often, Mrs. Lovett is played as having an unrequited love for Todd. Thats not the case here. He clearly does see her as someone who he wants on his side and it makes for a fascinating production.

Ever wish you could see a show about the creation of Jaws and what happened between Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, and Robert Shaw? Then The Shark Is Broken might be the perfect show for you. Mainly thanks to how good the cast is at bringing Dreyfuss, Scheider, and Shaw to life.

Ian Shaw, who also co-wrote the play, plays his acting legend father who didnt fully understand the impact that Jaws would make on the world. Colin Donnell plays Scheider who, in his own way, is the mediator of the group. The play dives into Dreyfuss (Alex Brightman) antagonistic relationship with Shaw, which was one of many problems that plagued the films nightmare shoot. This show is short, brilliant, and perfect for any Jaws fan.

A musical that was difficult to watch, Parade has finished its Tony Award-winning run on Broadway. Jason Robert Browns show highlights the real-life story of Leo Frank (Ben Platt), a Jewish man wrongly accused of murdering a young girl in Atlanta. Parade documents Franks determination to return to his wife (Micaela Diamond) despite the rising antisemitism he faces as his trial commences.

While Parade is difficult to watch, the music and the lyrics are beautiful and the show is staged thoughtfully by director Michael Arden. With an all too timely message, Parade was one of the best productions this year.

Do I think this show deserved more love? Absolutely. A Kander and Ebb musical (with an assist from Lin-Manuel Miranda) that was short-lived on Broadway, New York, New York tells the story of Jimmy Doyle (Colton Ryan) as he hustles to be a musician alongside his love Francine (Anna Uzele). It was chaotic, brilliant, fast-paced, and captured the spirit of New York. In my opinion, this show didnt get the love it deserves.

While it was nominated at the Tonys, the show didnt win anything significant enough to get people into seats. Unfortunately, New York, New York closed this summer, but my love for the show remains.

Jessica Chastain spends the entire pre-show spinning around on a massive turntable onstage in this most recent revival of A Dolls House. The Henrik Ibsen play has been performed countless times across the globe, but this sparse one-act production strips away all props, sets, and artifice to rack focus onto Nora (Chastain) and the fear she feels over losing everything.

While the cast included brilliant performances by Arian Moayed (Succession) and Okieriete Onaodowan (Hamilton), the show itself was carried by Chastains Nora. Simple, brilliant, and to the point, it highlighted why A Dolls House remains a part of the theatrical canon.

Another show that deserves more recognition, Here Lies Love is unfortunately closing by the end of the month. But theres still plenty of time for you to see my favorite piece of theatre in a long while. The David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim musical takes us back in time to the Philippines when the Marcos family was in control. Told through an irresistible disco beat, the musical features a dance floor section where fans can experience the magic of the show as Imelda Marcos (Arielle Jacobs) would have whenever she fled to America to ignore her husband.

The music is incredible, and the show is one of the first all-Filipino casts on Broadway. Truth be told, the news that this show is closing is devastating to me. Its a show I heartily recommend and have seen multiple times. Try and see it while you can.

This show featured Oscar Isaac playing instruments, so naturally, I loved it. Lorraine Hansberrys play starred Rachel Brosnahan and Oscar Isaac as a married couple trying so hard to do the right thing that they lose who they are in the process. Its not a perfect play, and some aspects of it dont quite work for a modern audience. Still, the show itself was magnificent to watch.

Transferring from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (B.A.M.) to Broadway this year, The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window is a must-watch for fans of Isaac and Brosnahan, who share terrific chemistry together.

_______________________________

There are still shows to open this year and some that I havent seen. As of right now, this is my list of the best shows of 2023, and I cant wait to see how it changes by the end of the year!

(featured image: aluxum/Getty Images)

Have a tip we should know? [emailprotected]

Excerpt from:

10 Best Broadway Shows 2023 - The Mary Sue