life in Chicago.

milestone of Jewish

tions upon the 100th

conquest. Congratula ..

J 0 0 .DD 0JOD ODDJOOoOOJOO DODJOO DOD

GOLDBLATT'S SALUTES. CHICAGO FOR

I Future Unlimited

J

._~

m

\ Hardy pioneers to millions. log forts to......mammoth skyscrapers . one stnp -of railroad track to

the railroad center of the world . . . indian traders to

the greatest mercantile dlstrl.ct ever known. Yes, all

this and much more . and m a few short years com~

pared to the many centuries It used to take to develop

a city before there was an America and a Chicago.

In ChIcago 1 mlIaculous devdopments take

only 10,20, 30 years. Men Wlth ambition live to see

and enjoy the phenomenal results of their labor. The

tremendous strides of each generatIOn of Chicagoans is

gratifying assurance of "future unlimited:' But above all

our great and growing spirit that manifests itself

in many humanitarian projects has made our Chicago a

grand place to live.

Weare proud to have shared in the wonderfulgrowth-of this great metropolis.

GOLDBLATT'S

SeeSanta FeIndianVillage

HICAGO RAILROAD FAIR

See the special exhibit ofSanta Fe equipmentAt the Chicago Railroad Fair, be sure to see the exhibit of colorful new passenger catsfrom the famous fleet of Santa Fe streamliners .. and giant Diesel and steam locomo-tives of the type now in service on the Santa Fe.

You'll think you are really on an Indianreservation in the Southwest-when youvisit the Santa Fe Indian Village at theChicago Railroad Fair this summer.

You'll see Navajos, Apaches, Hopisand Indians from other rribes-125 ofthese colorful people-living in pueblos,hogans and wickiups.

You'll watch the Buffalo Dance, theEagle Dance, the Hoop Dance, andother ceremonial dances seldom seenaway from the reservations.

Medicine Men make their famoussand paintings and desrroy them everyday at sundown.

Indian craftsmen make rugs, moc-casins, baskets, pottery and jewelry.

A priceless colleerion ofancient pottery,costumes,and baskets-specially loanedto the Santa Fe Village by the Museumof New Mexico-is on display in theArts and Crafts Building.

In faer, in the Village you actually seea faithful portrayal of costumes, cere-monies, habits and living quarters ofSouthwestern tribes. Their way of lifetoday is noriceably unchanged from tharof their ancestors who inhabited theSouthwest centuries before Columbusdiscovered America.

As you enter the Santa Fe IndianVilIage you will be given an illustratedbooklet describing all the things youwill see and enjoy there.

Bring your camera!$1,28000 in cash prizes

85 cash prizes, totaling $1,280.00, will beawarded by the Santa Fe Railway for the bestphotogtaphs of the Santa Fe Indian Village.

Get complete information in the Arts andCrafts Building in the Santa Fe Indian Village,or write Photo Contest Committee, Santa FeRailway,Room 328, RailwayExchange Building, Chicago 4, Illinois.

~ ~SantaFe~ ~

8

100 IYears 'of Chicago's Jewish Life

THE SEN TIN EL PRESENTS

569

101314192224252627282930333539414752616567

68697273747577798182888991959697

101109111113117121

Published By

TABLE OF CONTENTSCentennial Foreword , .100 Years-A Chronology Dr. Morris GutsteinBar and Bench Judge Harry M. Fisher, Harry A. IsebergPolitical Office ' Elmer GertzHIAS A. J. MinkusGeneral Organization Max A. KopsteinFirst IlIi'nois Contacts .Fighting Men Maurice J. NathansonB'nai B'rith ................................... Leonard J. GrossmanAmerican Jewish Congress Rabbi Morton M. BermanEducation Dr. Samuel M. BlumenfieldCollege of Jewish Studies P.auline RosenbergMusic Eugene MalekArtists Louise D. YochimOrthodox Shul Rabbi Menahem B. SacksMichael Reese Hospital Dr. Morris H. KreegerWomen Mrs. Robert L. AronsonZionism Nathan D. KaplanTalmud Torahs Rabbi C. L. MishkinBoard of Jewish Education Harold Z. NovakA Man of Affairs .Jewish Press S. B. KomaikoCommunity Centers Samuel LevineJewish Writers , Benjamin WeintroubWhen Chaim Weizman Dahvened in Chicago S. B. KomaikoLandsmanshaften Dr. A. MargolinConcordia Guards .Hebrew Theological College of Chicago Seymour SiegelThe First Synagogue in Chicago .The Reform Temple ............................. Dr. G. George FoxJewish Charities Sydney I. CohenFraternal Orders Charles KayeThe Yiddish ,Stage Dr. A. MargolinThe First Chicago Minyan .For Higher Learni ng .Conservative Synagogue Rabbi Jacob HochmanReligious Directory , .The Oppressed is Brethren to the Oppressed .A Diverse People and Unity .Mount Sinai Hospital Stephen Manheimer, M.D.Ambijan S. JesmerCovenant Club Morris S. BrombergDaughters of Zion Everett GoldsteinMerkaz Ha Rabonim Rabbi Yehudah D. GoldmanZionism-Retrospect and Prospect Nathan D.. KaplanThe Lesson of a Century-Epilogue Max Bressler

I. TurnerMax TurnerBen TU1'ner

Al Turner

. . .before most of us wereborn...Turner Brothers werepioneering in quality clothes.We've been specializing inquality ever since...and up-holding it despite depres-sions, wars, and recent yearsof scarcity.

We join our many friendsof Chicago's Jewish Com-munity in saluting the NEWJEWISH REPUBLIC OFISRAEL, and its Valiant De-fenders who have fulfilled aDream 2,000 years old.

Now, at the commemorationof 100 years of Jewish Lifein Chicago, we think it time-ly to repledge ourselves tothe ideals of quality andservice that have built thisstore and won so many thou-sands of satisfied customers.

WAYBACK IN 1901

~

~"\W1Wt"Cel"~.COR. ROOSEVELT RD.

AND HALSTED ST.

J. M. FeldmanCo-PublisherBl1Slness Manager

J. B. PizerArt & PrOduction

Manager

A. BerenbaumAdvertising Mgr.

The SENTINELPUBLISHING CO.139 North Clark Street

CHICAGO 2, ILLINOISCEntral 6-1787

J. I. FishbeinCo-PublisherEditor

L. BrooksManaging Editor

S. SiegelResearch Asst.

Clothl.., Custom follors Hoberdosh....7

AUGUST, 1948 Copyright 1948

4,

\

FOREWORD

It is difficult to say what Chicago might belike today had the practices of Adolph Hitlerbeen in force a hundred years ago when theearly Jewish settlers joined their brothers push-ing westward, toward the new metropolis ris-ing out of the prairie on the shores of LakeMichigan. For, regardless of the field one probes-whether it be the arts, the sciences, industry;public service, professions or organized labor-we find th2.t lews have made a singular con-tribution to the growth of our city.

That restless energy which gave the worlda Heifetz, an Einstein and a Brandeis, pro-duced their Chicago counterparts who, likethem, dreamed their dreams, and left theirma.rk upon the cultural might of the growingcity.

So integrated a part of Chicago's wholehistory is the history of its Jewish citizens thatit is difficult to separate the two. Like the tri-butaries of a mighty river rushing toward thesea, so Chicago's Jews poured out their best,along with Poles, and Czechs, and Negroes, andIrishmen, and Italians, and men of every raceand creed-jointly making of a wilderness aplace for free men to abide. Each has retainedsome of the culture of its fathers. Each hastaken something of the new culture unto itself.All have contributed to the total. culture.And one has given to another. Thus it wasthat Chicago grew into the third largest cityin the world.

We, of course! in a Centennial publicationof this kind, could not hope to present thetotal story. Many importWt and worthy in-dividuals, living and dead,' and many impor.tant. events-worthy of record-do not appearhere. There are other volumes, written andto be written, whose purpose it is to do that.Nor was there an effort made to record all theimportant ones, or only the most importantevents, or to reach into every sphere. This was

not done. It is the feeling and movement ofJewish life which is described here.

This is the story of the big and little. Itis the story' of a community of people, ratherthan of individuals and events. It is designedto give to the elders the enjoyment of remi-niscing over yesterday, and to the young thecourage for today. It is a cross-section of Jewishlife at its best. Its theme is unity. But neitherhave many of the weaknessess and the faultsbeen hidden.

The non-Jew, we hope, will find in thesepages a better understanding of his Jewishneighbor. The Jew who has drifted and losttouch with his own we hope, too, will find a bet-ter understanding.

In this effort, we are especially indebtedto the host of prominent contributors who de-voted endless' hours to the difficult task of com-piling and briefing the story of the past.

To the Chicago Historical Society, to the Jew-ish Historical Society of Illinois, to the many con-tributors, we owe a special debt of thanks.

At a time when the Jewish people are con-cerned with their brethren overseas - the anx-ieties which accompany the re-birth of nation-hood in Israel, and of Jews who still are home-less and unsettled in Europe-and while weface the struggle for complete equality here athome, an understanding of what we have al-ready achieved is essential to any program forthe future. Armed with the knowledge of ourpast we can face the future unafraid, confidentthat we will overcome all difficulties as ourpioneer forefathers overcame theirs. Inspiredby the generations of Chicago Jews who builta solid place for their people in the epic of agreat city we, too, must build toward tomorrow.

On their firm foundations, together we willhelp to erect a greater, more prosperous, healthy,socially useful community for ourselves andour children.

THE PUBLISHERS

Rabbi Gutstein's "The Growth of the JewishCommunity of Chicago in the 19th Century"will, be published soon. Is author of: TheTouro Family in Newport; 'The Story of theJews of Newp

-President Grant appointed GeneralEdward S. Solomon, Governor of theWashington Territory.

l877-First Yiddish newspaper "IsraelitischePresse."

-First Hebrew publication "Hechal Ha-Ivri" as a supplement to the Israeli-tische Presse.

-Zion Literary Society founded.

l878-Hebrew Free School organized.-"The Jewish Advance" English-Ger-

man weekly devoted to social interestsand progressive Judaism publishedby Rabbi Henri Gersoni.

-Founding of Congregation "AnsheErnet."

I879-Dr. J{obler resigned his post at SinaiCongregation.

188!J.'-Cornerstone of Michael Reese hospitallaid.

-Dr. Emil G. Hirsch assumed spiritualleadership at Chicago Sinai Congre-gation.

1881-Michael Reese Hospital on Ellis and29th street dedicated.

1882-The Maccabean, a monthly magazineedited by Dr. Henry Gersoni.

-Young Men's Hebrew'Charity Associa-tion.

-Young Ladies' - Aid Society, laterchanged to "Chicago Women's Aid."

1883-"Doreshe Safruth Ho-Ivrith," first He-_ brew literary society in Chicago.-"Hebrew Free School" changed to

Moses Montefiore Hebrew FreeSchool.

l884-Establishment of "Chicago Israelite"as a Chicago edition of the AmericanIsraelite, published in Cincinnati,Ohio.

-First Hungarian Congregation AgudathAchim organized.

1885-Zion Temple built on the corher ofOgden and Washington Boulevards.

-"Yiddishe Presse" began to appear.

1886-"Chovevei Zion" (Lovers of Zion) first- Zionist group organized in Chicago.

-First Jewish labor groups organized.

1887-Jewish Courier, Yiddish newspaperstarted as a weekly and later becamea daily.

-Monumental commentary Talmudictractate Bikurim by Rabbi EliezerAlperstein of - Congregation OhaveSholom Mariampoler.

1888-"Kehilath Anshe Dorom," South SideHebrew Congregation.

-Jewish Agriculturists' Aid Society ofAmerica, organized by Dr. A. R. Levy,rabbi of Congregation B'nai Abraham.

1889-"Chicago Wochenblatt," Yiddish week-ly pllblished by Jewish Courier.

-"Keren Or" (Rays of Light) Hebrewpublication published by "DolSheHo-Ivrith."

_uZedoko Kololoth," relief organization.founded by East European Jews, in-tended primarily to assist the needyon the "West Side."

-United Hebrew Charities chartered.

1890-Congregation Mishno U'Gemoro de-voted to extreme Orthodoxy and studyorganized.

-Jewish Training school, a public andvocational school organized on -theWest Side by German Jews, to givechildren of recently arrived immi-grants from Eastern Europe a moderneducation and vocational guidance.Forerunner of manual training classesin public school system.

-Mass-meeting of a selected group ofJewish people held at the Standardclub to raise $25,000 for the reorgan-ization of the University of Chicagoand to assure its existence.

-Joint Conference of Jewish and Chris-tian clergymen held at the MethodistEpiscopal Church on Clark and Wash-ington streets.

1891-"Reform Advocate," English weeklydedicated to the interests of ReformJudaism founded and edited by Dr.Emil G. Hirsch.

-K.A.M. er~ted its fifth synagogue onIndiana avenue and 33rd street, at acost of $1I0,000. The synagogue isnow used as a Methodist Church.

-Reverend William C. Blackstone ofChicago presented a memorial, signedby the most outstanding -Christianclergymen and dignitaries in America,to President Benjamin Harrison, reoquesting him to appeal to all im-portant sovereigns in the world. tointervene on behalf of the Jewishpeople, to restore Palestine as aJ~wish National Home for _the Jews.

1891-"The Society in Aid of the RU~Refugees" organized.

1892-8inai removed Aron Kodesh from itssynagogue.

-"Sofo Druru," Hebrew literary societyfounded.

-Fraternal Order "Somech Nofelim"consisting primarily of newly arrivedEast-European immigrants founded.

-Dedication of grounds for the "World'sColumbian Exposition" at which 1100members of the Order Somech Nofelimparticipated.

-"Gomelei Chesed Shel Emeth," freeburial society founded on the westside._ \

1893-"Maxwell Street Settlement," modeledafter the Hull House, founded at 185Maxwell street.

-Chicago Home for Jewish Aged opened -on Drexel ave. and 62nd st.

-Parliament of Religious opened at theWorld's Columbian Exposition.

-Jewish Denominational Congress, aspart of the Parliament took place.

-Jewish Women's Congress as part ofDenominational Congress convened.

-National Council of Jewish Womenin America founded in Chicago.

-"Self-Educational Club" organized bya few intellectuals of the East-Europe-an Jewish community.

-"Jewish Citizen," a Yiddish daily appeared for a month.

-"Chicago Jewish Tageblatt," a Yiddishdaily began to appear. - -

-"Die Yiddishe Welt," a Yiddish weekly.-"Ha-Kol" (The Voice) a Hebrew publi..

cation, began- to appear.

-18M-Independent order:West~, Star or-ganized.

--"Chevrah G'miluth Otassodim MishnoU'Gemoroh," first free loan ~ciety to-assist the newly arrived JewIsh im-migrants with loans in order to esta-blish them economically.

-(date not certain) "The Yiddishe Vere-ingite Gewerkschaften," an a~algamation of all Jewish unions, cigar-makers, cap-makers, knee-pants mak-ers, cloakmakers, -and typesetters or-ganized by Benjamin Schlessinger whowas its first secretary.

1895-lsaiah Congregation organized. -

1896-:-"People's Synagogu'e," a congregationon democratic- basis with a nominalvoluntary membership contribution tobe paid - monthly so as to make itaccessible to all, founded by Dr. IsaacMoses, who resigiJ.ed -his post at theK.A.M.

-"Chicago Zionist Organization No. I"with Bernard Horwich as presidentorganized as the first Herzlian Zionistgroup.

-''Women's Free Loan Association" toassist the needy and the Jewish smallbusinessman, founckd on the west side.Organization never had to bring legalaction against a single borrower.

1897-"The Star of Israel," Zionist periodi"cal in English published bi-monthly.

-First Austrian-Galician' Congregation.-Hapisgah-Hebrew monthly, edited by

Wolf Shure began to appear in Chi-cago. '

-"Knights of Zion," founded.

1898-First Zionist - Youth groups "B'nai'Zion" for young men, and "B'nothZion" for young ladies found.

1899-Yeshivath Etz Chayim Talmu,dicalAcademy for advanced Jewisb; ,studiesparticularly in Talmud and Rabbinicliterature.

-Chicago Home for JewtID __ 9I'Phansdedicated at 3601 Vernon ave. - -

-Samuel Alshuler nominated for Gov-ernor of Illinois on the Democraticticket.

1900-The "Arbeiter Zeitung" a Yiddish dailydevoted to labor began to appear.

-"Der Taeglicher Yiddisher Kol" a gen-eral Yiddish daily began to appear.

-"Associated Jewish Charities" to coordi-nate and integrate all Jewish charityactivities in the community. -

-Ground dedicated for' "Beth MoshavZekenim" on Albany avenue nearOgden blvd.

-Arrival of Rabbi Jacob David Wilkow-sky to assume the office of Chief Rabbiof Chicago.

-Estimated Jewish :f>Opulation 75,000.CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

.,

100 YEARSCONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE

(This section prepared by staJJ)1900-COnference Committee of Jewish Wo-

men's Organizations disbanded whenAssOciated Jewish Charities came intoexistence. '

-First Orthodox Talmudic School, Ye.,shivat Etz Chaim, with 100 studentsand four teachers.

1901-Northwest Side Talmud Torah Organ-ization of Orthodox group formed.

-Zion Sabbath sdiool set up by Zionistgroup.

1903-Chicago Hebrew Institute (now Jew-ish People's Institute) chartered bythirteen Zionists.

~Arbeiter Verein (Workmen's Circle)fraternal order reaches Chicago.

1904-Fraternidad Israelita Portugesa, Jewishfraternal prder organized.

1905-Upheavals in Russia increase migrationof East-European Jews to U.S.

-Organization of Poale Zionist group inChicago.

- (to 1917) height of Yiddish vaudevilleshow activity.

1907-New main hospital building completedat Michael Reese at cost of $10,000,000.

-Jewish Home Finding Agency, forplacement of children in foster homes.

-Lincoln Lodge No. 22 of Orde~ TrueSisters.

-Kishinef Massacre in Russia pro-foundly affects Jewish community inChicago.

1910-45,000 garment workers, eighty percentof them Jewish, organized in the"Amalgamated .clothing Workers Un-ion," go on strike for three and one-half months, win union recognition,and mark the beginning of the end ofthe "sweat shops."

-Women's organizations again bandedtogether under leadership of Hannah

, G. Solomon, under name of Confer.ence of Jewish Women's Organizations.

-Sarah Morris hospital for children andNelson Morris Research institute atMichael Reese.

19n-5entinel magazine begins publication.1912-Federated 'Orthodox Jewish Charities

organized.

-Arbeiter Verband ijewish NationalWorkers Alliance) fraternal order esta.blished.

-Chicago HIAS division permanentlyestablished after several unsuccessfulefforts in prior years.

1913-Establishment of Hadassah in Chicago., -Mizrachi Zionist group organized in

Chicago.

1914-Northwest Fellowship Club, fraternalorder erganized.

-Daughters of Zion Infant Home andDay Nursery established.

1915-orthodox Jews organize city-wide cam-paign to raise funds for relief of Jewssubjected to extreme suffering underCzarist Russia. First of a series of suchcampaigns.

-Active movement of Jewish communityfrom near west side to Lawndaledistrict.'

- (to 1930) peak period of OrthodoxJewish education, with two concentra-tion centers: Lawndale (west side)district, and northwest side.

1916-Chicago Jewish community first toconvene (preliminary) Congress forpurposes of uniting Jewish community.

-Sarah Greenebaum Lodge No. 16 ofOrder True Sisters.

1917-World War I involves U.s.-Election of delegates in Chicago to first

national American Jewish Congress.- Jabneh (Hebrew school of United (Or-

thodox) CongregatioQS) opened atRockwell and Hirsch by CongregationEsrath Israel, Ahavath Achim, K'nesseth Israel, and Zemech Zedek, all onthe northwest side.

-Grenshaw Street Talmud Torah esta. blished by Russische Shul and Sawyer

Avenue Shul.--Covenant Club founded.

1918-End of World War I.

-First convention of American JewishCongress, with delegation of 31 attending from Chicago.

-Mount Sinai hospital chartered asOrthodox Jewish hospital.

1919-National Women's League of UnitedSynagogue (Conservative) established.

-Glickman's Palace Theatre opens onwest side to present Yiddish stageperformances. Peak period of Yiddishlegitimate stage, running to 1930.

192O-Beginning period of active, organizedanti-Semitism activity in U.s. accom-panied by threats of violence.

-Hebrew TheologciaiCollege of Chicagochartered.

-Chicago Branch of United (Conserva-tive) Synagogue organized.

-The Forward begins publication ofChicago edition. '

1921-Around the Palette artists group, formed. First organization of Jewish

artists in Chicago. Continued to1939.

1922-Hebrew Theological college buildingcompleted at cost of $200,000.

1923-Second convention of AmeriCan JewishCongress and attempt to re-vitalize it.

-Orthodox Jewish Charities and Associated Jewish Charities merge intothe Jewish Charities of Chicago.

-B'nai B'rith establishes women's auxil-iaries.

-Jewish Education Committee, prede-~r to Board of Jewish Education.

-Jewish Women's Art Club.

1925-Dlinois State Federation of ReformSisterhoods organized.

-COllege of Jewish Studies formed byJewish Education Committee.

-Central Hebrew high school formedby Jewish Education Committee.

1926-Jewish Education Committee becomesBoard of Jewish Education.

-Jewish People's Institute building completed at 3500 West Douglas blvd.

-Chicago Ambijan Committee formed.1927-(and 1928) Four Yiddish theatres op-

erating simultaneously.

1928-Mandel clinic completed at MichaelReese, and takes over functions of oldWest Side dispensary.

1929-0rthodox "Kehillah" organized to control kosher practices and to give guid-ance and assistance to Orthodox needs.

19!1O-Crisis in Yiddish theatre and beginningof decline.

-Jewish People's Fraternal Order ofI,W.O. (International Workers Order)organized in Chicago.

I93lJ-Hitler.

-Chicago community takes active stepsto organize a Chicago division ofAmerican Jewish Congress.

-COngress calls together ConsultativeCouncil of several prominent Jewishorganizations in Chicago but differences of views prevents unity, andexpires.

19lI6-Chicago delegates elected to first WorlelJewish Congress.

:'-Women's Division of American JewishCongress formed in Chicago.

-Associated Talmud Torahs, centralbody and directing agency for Ortho-dox education.

19118-General Jewish Council as successor ofConsultative Council organized. Expires in few years for same reasonsas predecessor.

-Workmen's Circle opens Douglas Parktheatre.

1940-Teachers Institute for Girls establishedat Hebrew Theological college.

-American Jewish Arts Club organ-ized.

194I-World War II involves U.S.-Max Straus Community Center opened

in Albany Park.1943-American Jewish Conference organized

in Chicago as successor to GeneralJewish Counci.I. In decline.

-Morris Perlman Camp Avodah esta-blished by Board of Jewish Education.

1944-Daily Jewish Courier suspends publica.tion.

IMS-End of World War II.-Camp Sharon established by College

of Jewish Studies for intensive trainingof Hebrew teachers.

-Death of President Roosevelt-thepassing of a friend to all minoritiesand the oppressed.

1946-Board of Jewish Education a

Judge Fisher has a brilliant record as a jur-ist, and has earned universal commendationfor his role in bringing about changes in theadministration of justice. Has served on theBench since 1912. Is chairman 'If the JudicialAdvisory Council of Cook County. Has shownIifelong devotion to the Jewish community,has made numerous contributions to its growthand development, often at great personal sacrifice. Esteemed as a civic leader. and aleader of the JeWish community since the begin-ning of the century. .

BAR AND BENCH

By JUDGE HARRY M. FISHER

and

HARRY A. ISEBERG

It was not without hesitation that I con-sented to make this brief comment on thecontributions of the Jewish lawyers to thecommunal life of our city. The hesitationwas due to the impossibility of treating 80broad a subject in the space here allowed.

I was induced to accept the invitationto write this article primarily by Harry A.Iseberg's promise, which he kept faithfully,that he would assist with the research 'andpreparation.

The American Jewish community is com-posed of a variety of groups coming fromdifferent civilizations in most of which.they had been denied, legally or otherwise,any participation in the political and sociallife of the country. The Jewish lawyer,from the very nature of his training andprofession, was amongst the first of the.pioneers to become integrated into the newenvironment and, therefore, assumed com-manding leadershp from the beginning. Anyattempt to deal with his contributions re-quires a review of the entire history ofChicago's Jewry.

The names of no less than a thousandJewish lawyers whose biographies wouldbe of interest to us can easily be gathered.The Jewish lawyer is among those whohave achieved much for the legal profession;he is found in the forefront of those politicalactivities which have interpreted to theJews their relationship to the general com-munity and the need to participate in itswelfarc; he is found in thc lcgislative hallsinitiating legislation of great social signi-'ficance; he is found pleading thc cause ofthe poor and organizing philanthropicagencics for thcir benefit; he is found amongthe builders of cultural institutions andamong the authors of books and essays, andof course among the leaders responsible forevery form of organized effort on behalfof Jewry here and abroad. Organizations,whose purpose it is to guard against in-fringement of individual or group rights areespecially indebted to the lawyers.

Since the tum of this century, a numberof great figures have led and guided thecourse of the Jewish group. I have selecteda limited number for discussion here.

Early Leaders

Whether we think of Chicago's Jewry interms of history only, or of the part thatlawyers played in' its development, ~ereautomatically comes to mind the names ofsuch men as Julian W. Mack, Samuel L.Alshuler, Adolph Moses, Julius Rosenthl,Adolf Kraus, Hugo Pani, Max Pam, Henry

. Homer, Abel Davis, Leon Zolotkofl', Sig-mund Livingston, Max Shulman and PeterSissman.These have all gone to theireternal reward..The life story of each of

these would describe a vital portion ofthat history. One amongst them, however,stands out in this respect-Julian W. Mack

He was a great lawyer, teacher and judge,but he found time to give of himself witha universal love to everything Jewish. Theimpact of his influence can be felt in everyphase of development of our community.Immediately upon being admitted to theBar, he became active in Jewish life. Assecretary of the Associated Jewish Charities,he made ever-lasting contributions to thedevelopment of American-Jewish organizedphilanthropy. He was successively Judgeof the Circuit Court, of the Apellate Courtand of the United States Circuit Court.Space does not permit a recital of his manyactivities in the Jewish and non-Jewishfield. Son of a traditional Reform family, hebecame the Zionist leader, not only iIiChicago. but nationally. As president of theZionist Organization of America and in closeassociation with the great justice of theSupreme court, Louis D. Brandeis, hebrought to the Zionist philosophy strengthand prestige which to this day carries hisindelible marks. No one has better demon-strated the fact that loyalty to the idealsof the United States of America and theideals of J udaisrn and Zionism are mutuallystrengthening.

Sympathy for Europe's OppressedThe next name that comes to mind is

that of Adolf Kraus. Though not nativeborn, the city of Chicago was not slow torecognize his merits. Successively, he servedas president of the Board of Education,Corporation Counsel, and president of theCivil Service Commission. But at no timedid he neglect his duty to his fellow Jews.For a long time he was president of histemple and was active in virtually everyJewish communal undertaking. Above all,he found the vehicle for the expression ofhis Jewishness in the B'nai B'rith whoseinternational president he became in 1905and continued to serve in that capacityfor the rest of his active years.

He spent himself and his strength in suc-cessfully procuring the aid of our govern-ment in the Jewish struggle against the bar-barities of the Czars! regime. Through theefforts of Adolf Kraus and his associates, thetreaty with Russia was abrogated and thesympathy of this country for our people liv-ing in the benighted countries of Europehas continued ever since.

It is pleasant to remember that AdolfKraus was not the only member of this dis-tinguished law firm who reached greatheights. His partner, Samuel Alshuler wasone of the most beloved citizens of Illinois.As early as 1906 he was elected a memberof the Illinois House of Representatives; in

Harry Iseberg is assistant corporation counselof Chicago,. and Member of Board of Managers

and Committee on Le-gal Education of Dec-alogue Society. Recip-i e n t of DecalogueAward of Chicago CivilLiberties Committee forexceptional legal ser-vice in cast of CIty ofChicago vs. Terminiel-10. Member of Commit-tee on Law and Order.and Mayor's Commis-sion on Human Rela-tions. Has held num-erous offices in J ewisbcommunal life.

1900 he was the Democratic nominee forGovernor of the State of Illinois and ran farahead .of his ticket; in 1915 he was appointedby President Wilson, Judge of the CircuitCourt of Appeals.

During his long term as Judge of theFederal Circuit Court, his sympath,y withlabor enabled him to make unique contri-butions. He distinguished himself as arbi-tmtor in the raging controversy between theChicago Packers and their employees, whichwon him national acclaim. With all his great-ness, he was a man cjf extreme modesty.His devotion to the Jewish community knewno bounds. Being a great orator, his servicesin that field were constantly in demand. Hewas an avowed Zionist and lent his prestigeto that cause when others scoffed and sneer-ed. Of him his partner, Adolf Kraus, said,"Whether or not the perfect man ever ex-isted I know one who, as to character comesas near being a perfect man as can be foundanywhere; that man is Samuel Alshuler."

Kraus has other partners who rose toeminence. Of the firm of Kraus, Mayer andStein, each of the members reached soaringheights. Levi M~er was, by general ac-ceptance, the leader of the bar for morethan a quarter of a century. In addition tohis profound learning, he was a man ofvision and great ability. His name wasconnected with some of the most importantlitigation in the country. His advice wassought and acted upon by political leaders,the great industrialists and ultimately by thegovernment in the distressing days of WorldWar I.

The finn of Mayer, Meyer and Austrian,and later, Mayer,. Meyer, Austrian andPlatt 'was, and remains to this day, one of,if not the leading law firm in the city. Whilevery busy with matters of supreme impor-tance up to the day of his demise, LevyMayer, nevertheless, found time for hispeople to whose various philanthropic en-deavors he gave freely 'of his means and of

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

'I

I ;POLITICAl OFFICE

By ELMER GERTZ

Elmer Gertz has had a varied career as lawyer,writer and civic leader. Graduated Univ. ofChicago Law school in 1930. Forthcomingbook is "Cynic's Progress-The Life andTimes of Choarles A. Dana." (Other workslisted in article on writers.) For two termspresident Chicago Chapter of Lawyers Gnild,and is one of its national vice presidents.Member Board of Managers of Dedalogue 50.ciety. Active in housing and president ofPublic Housing' Association, among other im.portant positions.

Once in my impressionable boyhood Iwandered into a 'political meeting which wasbccing, addressed by a well-known Jewishpolitician of the Republican persuasion. Iheard him say: "I want you should vote for~y friend Bob Crowe." Thereupon I walkedp~t, of the meeting with the fixed view that

Congressman Adolph Sabath

political ignorance sounds no better whenit has a Jewish accent. Since then I havelearned that the sound is no worse, either.For politics, which thrives upon the acci-dental differences between peoples, is basic-ally the same, no matter who engages in it.

Few Important OfficesTo say that the Jews of Chicago have

held public office is simply to recognize thatwe constitute one of the larger national orethnic groups which' are considered by pol-iticans when distributing plums. As a matterof' fact, the Jews have not constituted aprivileged group in this city. Despite ournumbers, we have held very few of themore important offices, and our incumbentshave not been .great in number, except in'the minor echelons.

No Jew has been elected as Mayor ofChicago, bVt many men' of other strainslhave been mayor .ofthis city. So far as Ihave been' able to ascertain,. no Jew hasbeen State's Attorneyof Cook County, Unit-ed" States Distric~ Attorney' for this area,Attorn,eyGeneral, Senator from Illinois, Sec-'retary of State; but many people of otherantecedents ha've held these offices. and

;irtller'!1 ilever'occlI~ied':by a Jew. Only'three'J6ws!have 'been' ct!lllgte"ssmen from this area.

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I say these things, not in bitterness, butto encourage clear vision and to discouragethe blind or reckless vanity which sees theJew in all things.

In this vast maze of overlapping govern-ments that is the Chicago area, there is anover-abundance of elective and appointiveoffices, innumerable aldermen, county com-missioners, assemblymen, sanitary districttrustees, members of Boards of Educationand boards beyond number, clerks of courtsand clerks of this and that, coroners, sher-iffs, everything that spells position, how-ever unimportant. It would be strange ifsome Jews had not filled public offices fromtime to time during the last century. Itserves no useful purpose to enter into theminutia and to record, the now-forgottennames of the Jews who joined the Germans,Bohemians, Poles, Italians, Scandinavians,and the other ethnic and national groups inholding minor offices. Now and then onrof these minor officials was a loved figurewho was remembered beyond his day andhour. There have been only a .handful oftop figures.

The Jews have obtained more offices pro-portionately than the Negroes who are, aselsewhere, an underprivileged group, politic-ally. Most of the present day leaders, par-ticularly in the Democratic party, have beenIrish; but there have been times, especiallyin the past, when Germans, Czechs, and theBritish have been predominent. There wasa time, strange as it may seem, when theIrish of Chicago were an underprivilegedgroup. Joseph Medill, of the Chicago Tri-bune, and others were notorious for theiranti-Irish sentiment.

Political influence depends often on num-bers and even more on concentration ofpopulation. In the earliest days the Jewswere not concentrated in any particularsection of the city and were few in num-ber. When they rose to influence, it wasnot as Jews, but as Germans or Bohemians,'or as members of some other national groupof north or central European stock.

First Office-HoldersHenry Greenebaum was elected Alder-

man of the old 6th Ward way back in 1856,the first Jew to sit in that not alwaysaugust body. Greenebaum was honored, notas a Jew, but because he was a member ofan influential early family. For the samereason, Abraham Kohn became City Clerkin 1860, and Henry A. Kaufman becameNorth Town Supervisor in 1868, and Gen-eral 'Edward S. Salomon, one of the heroesof the' Civil War,' was named as Governorof tbe "Washington Territory byPresident Grant. To assume his new office,the General gave up tp,e county clerkshipwhich he had held for two years, and was

succeeded by another Jew, Joseph Pollack.In connection with General Salomon therearose the earliest manifestations of anti-Semitism in Chicago politics of which Ihave found a record. I intend dealing withthe matter in my forthcoming book onCharles A. Dana.

As large groups of East-European Jewsmigrated to America, and many of themfound their way to Chicago, there began thefirst concentrations of Jewish population. Asthe latest arrivals, and the poorest econom-ically, the Jews found themselves in a neigh-borhood that was not conducive to fineliving. The old Maxwell street territoryre-mained for many years the natural placeto which East-European immigrants gravi-tated. The greater their numbers, the greaterbecame their political influence, first in aminor way and then, occasionally, in almost amajor way.

The "West Side"Later on they shifted to other areas -

west, north and northwest. Most importantwas the Douglas Park-Lawndale sector. Weearly find political chieftains of some im-

Governor Henry Horner

portance coming from that neighborhood.They Wf're sometimes in the Republicanparty, as the cases of Alderman LeonardGrossman and State Senator Solomon P.Roderick, but more often they were Dem-ocrats. The Rosenberg brothers, Michaeland Moe, wielded more power than any oftheir predecessors in this area. They builtup the 24th Ward Machine which in timecast 'a' greater prepoFtiim :6f Democratic

votes than any ward north of the Masonand Dixon Line.

Michael Rosenberg held public office. Hewas a trustee of the Sanitary District at thetime of his death. His successor as wardcommitteeman was his brother,. Moe, whohimself held no public office but made publicofficials-particularly during the time ofMayor Anton Cermak. It was at that time,and largely through the influence of MoeRo.;enberg, that a Jew, for the first time,became Governor of Illinois.

Alderman ArveyThroughout the Rosenberg regime the

brains 'of the organization was an unpre-possessing individual named Jacob M. Ar-vey. Arvey originally became Alderman ofthe 24th Ward because the Rosenberg'spreferred him, for personal reasons, to an-other Jewish aspirant to that office, buthe very soon made himself indispensable tothe less gifted politicians. By force of per-sonality, perseverance, resourcefulness andorganizational skill, Arvey became Demo-cratic floor leader in the City Council whenWilliam E. Dever was Mayor of Chicago.From then on the people of this communitywere increasingly aware of him. Arvey wasmaster of every' political strategem, but hewas more than simply another politician.

It will be remembered .that there came atime when the Democratic organizationturned on Governor Henry Horner; andArvey, as a loyal member of the organiza-tion, supported Governor Horner's oppon"ent despite his personal liking and respectfor' Horner. On one occasion, during the'bitter campaign, he and the Governor lefta non-political meeting together. The Gov-ernor put his arm around Arvey and walkedout with him. Arvey felt a little self-con-scious 'and said: "You know, Governor, Iam not with you." To which Homer re-plied. "I know that you aren't, Jack, butyou are one of the few who have nevertold me that they would be with me."

Man of Integl'ityIt was that kind pf personal integrity

which gave Arvey a reputation and influ-ence in circles often opposed to mine-runpoliticians. Arvey was a New Dealer, notalone because Roosevelt ("the great precinctcaptain") was the standard bearer of hisparty, but because he was a liberal in hisbasic philosophy. I remember receiving alett~ from myoid friend, James WeberLinn, the University of Chicago professor-politician, expressing his amazement thatArvey, the machine politician, was a manof brains and liberalism. I remember, too,that when Paul H. Douglas was a memberof the City Council, and fighting continu-ously with the Democratic organization, hetold me how shocked he was to find thatArvey was far better than his connections.

A very cynical associate of Arvey's oncesaid to me that Arvey was one of the twomembers of the City Council who was abovethe moronic in intellect. That was, un-doubtedly, unfair to several men in the CityCouncil, but it does serve to indicate theunique position held by Arvey. I am con-vinced that whatever criticism can legiti-mately be made of him stems, in' part, fromhis exaggerated sense of loyalty to individ-uals and to the organization. On one ac-casion he said to me that he had oftenfound himself in difficult positions because

he refused to repudiate people who wereonce kind to him, even if they had sincebecome rather disreputable.

Increasing InfluenceIt was natural for Arvey to rise in in-

fluence. Upon the death of Mayor Cermak,he would probably have been named Mayor'of Chicago except that some believed it tobe inexpedient to have a Jew as Mayor ofChicago, while another Jew was Governorof the State.

With the death of Moe Rosenberg, any

Colonel Jacob M. Arvey

doubt that Arvey was the real force behindthe 24th Ward Democratic organization van-ished. Whenever the Democrats were inpower, which was a continuous matter loc-ally (except for the William Hale Thomp-son regime), Arvey was the floor leader inthe City Council. Then he became chair-man of the all-important finance committee.

At this time he developed a very greatdesire to retire from politics. At the funeralof another Jewish office holder, the muchliked Mitchell C. Robin, he talked with meat some length about his eagerness to leavepublic life and to "take it easy." Then thewar broke out in Europe and members ofthe National Guard were inducted intothe regular army. Public officials had theprivilege of resigning from the Guard, butArvey was not that, kind of a person. He hadparticipated in die National Guard foryears in peace time and was now a captain.He felt that it was his duty to remain. Heentered the regular army of the UnitedStates and saw active service in the Pacifictheater. By all reports, he did a brilliantjob, particularly in the Philippines.

At this time time the Democratic organ-ization was showing signs of falling apartat its seams; and the old politicos, remem-bering Arvey's astuteness, raised their voicesfor his return. The newspapers carried' theprophecy that he would definitely succeedMayor Kelly as chairman of the CookCounty Democratic Central Committee.

Revives DemocratsArvey revived the Democratic organiza-

tion. A new vigor was visible everywhere.He was largely responsible for the choiceof Martin H. Kennelly to Succeed Kelly' as

Mayor of Chicago. He began to play agreater role in the national scene. Ill:' 'waslooked upon everywhere as one of the" flienwho had to be considered "fhenever politicalquestions arose. His influence, generallyspeakiilg~ has been a good one, with com'-parativdy few lapses from grace. Arvey isintensely American in view point; at tliesame time he has strong Jewish "feelings andhas often been. of great service to' his people.It is not generally known, for example, thathe was largely responsible for the favorablevote on the Palestine-partition issue by thePhilippine delegate to the United Nations.

Arvey's opposite number. today in theRepublican party is Judge Julius Miner,who, while not. all powerful, does helpto determine strategy in the higher levels.He is as close to being an intimate of thealoof Colonel Robert R. McCormick as onecan become, and the Illinois Republican par-ty bulges from the pockets of the bossman ofthe Tribune. Judge Miner's political .skillwas at its best in the days when he managedto be close to both battling Colonels of theChicago newspaper world, Frank Knox andRobert McCormick. .

During the roaring twenties, anotherEast-European Jew, Morris Eller, was highin the councils of the Republican party,because he could deliver the votes, andnever mind' how. There have been otherJews holding high posts in both major part-ies. Most of them are vanished with theheadaches of yesteryear. A particularly in-teresting powerhouse.: of.::."them days'.'was William Loeffler, whose influence wasBohemian rather than Jewish in origin. Hewas the political godfather of Adolph J .Sabath.

Judge Samuel AlshulerAlmost a half century ago, in 1900,. a

Jew was nominated for the jjrst time asthe candidate for Governor of a major po.-litieal party - by the Democratio .party.The Jew in question was Samuel Alshuler.a native of Chicago, who had resided sinceinfancy in Aurora. Judge Alshuler Was 'solittle connected then with the' Jewish com-munity that many people did not know thathe was Jewish. To remove all doubts OIl thatscore, he issued a public statement. He.wasa very popular figure and, althoughdefeatedfor the Governorship, he ran far ahead' ofthe rest of the 'Demoqatic ticket. His 'ca-reer, after ms defeat, .was even more dis-tinguished than earlier. He had been amember of the State Commission on Claimsfrom 1893 to 1896. Thereafter he waselected to the Illinois House of Represen-tatives and served two terms, during one ofwhich he was the Democratic floor leader.

Having meanwhile moved to Chicago, hejoined the distinguished law firm of Kraus,Alshuler and Holden. In 1915 PresidentWoodrow Wilson named him as Judge ofthe U.S. Circuit Court for the 7th JudicialCircuit. While on the bench he was namedas' Labor Arbiter, and 'his work in settlinga great packing strike: won national ac-claim. With the yearilJu'dge Alshuler be-came increasingly interested in Je~h affairsand no one had any difiiculty in knowinghis identity with the Jewish people.

Governor" Henry HomerIt remained for. a~other. Chicago Judge

of Democratk persuasion' to become. thefirst Jewish Governor of Illinois. From the

CON'I?~~Y:j':D:.qN. NEXT PAGE

11

POLITICAL OFFICECONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE'beginning of 'his career Henry Horner wasclosely associated with things Jewish. Hehad been a director ,of the Home for AgedJews, Jewish Aid Society, and MichaelReese hospitaL He was president of theYoung Men's Associated Jewish Charities.Camp Horner is a mj:morial to his interestin the Jewish youth, and in the youth ofall faiths and nationalities. In 1914 hewas elected Judge of the Probate Court ofCook County, which is, perhaps, the busiestsuch tribunal in the country. Judge Hornerestablished a national reputation in theadministration of his Court. Irrespe,ctiveof whether the Republicans or Democratswon, he was always returned to office.

People began to talk of him as the idealcal'ldidate for Governor of the.' State. TheDemocrats seemed to have an affinity forjudges; they had last won the Governorship twenty years before under, Judge Ed-ward F. Dunne. In 1932 Judge Horner be-came thdr candidate-the choice not onlyof the respectable elements of the partybut of the machine as well. It was relativelyeasy for the Democrats to w~n in that yearof the first Roosevelt landslide, but JudgeHorner could very well have won on hisown. He immeditely exhibited independenceand integrity, and the machine" which hadonce supported him, parted company withhim. Some li)f those who should have knownbetter began plotting his replacement:

l'dan of Honor

It was in the face of such OpposItIOnthat Governor Horner showed his greatestqualities. It is not usual for a candidateto win in the primaries when he is opposedby the organization; but Governor Hornerproved an exception to this rule. He wonsupport even in counties which were re-garded as not particularly friendly to theJews, and defeated the machine candidatewho had theretofore been regarded as aninvincible vote-getter. Governor Hornerwon re-election 'as well, and proceeded tocarry on his administration more vigorouslythan ever.

Seldom had the State been better govern-ed; seldom had' there been less corruption.Governor Horner \Save the State not onlyan honest administration but he showed soc-ial vision and humanitarian impulses. Thenone of the great ~rl1-gedies of Illinois politicsoccurred. The Governor had worn himselfout in tke midst of his fight and, after suf-fering a severe heart attack, he was incapaci-tated. He carried on as well as he could,despite his difficulties, but died before histerm expired. Everyone sensed a great per-sonal loss when he passed away.

It is' symbolical of the character andcareer of Illinois' great Governor that hehad one of the largest private collections ofLincQlriiana, which was later presented tothe' State. Horner collected everything thatwas available a/lout the martyr President,and what is more, he knew the contents ofall that he acquired. He loved to talk withthe Lincoln lI-uthorities. One might findCarl Sandburg, or Paul Angle, or LloydLewis or any of the other great historiansat his home or in his office. They were hisfriends. His m~mory will be treasured bythe people of this State.

12

Congressman Sabath

It was my priv11ege to be one of the threemen to notify Congressman Adolph J.Sabath that he was to be the recipient of'the Franklin D. Roosevelt Award of theNational Lawyers Guild. The Congressmanreminisced about his long public career.He had been born in Bohemia in 1866 andhad come to the United States and .toChicago in 1888. From the beginning hemade a mark in his adopted city, becoming

Judge Samuel Alshuler

first a leader of the influential Bohemiangroup, and then of all foreign languagegroups and, finally, a representative, inthe best sense, of all AInericans.

When I talked with him, the Altgeldcentennial celebration was receiving publicattention, and the Congressman proudlyrelated that he is probably the only surviv-ing Altge1d appointee. His commission asJustice of the Peace bears Altgeld's signatureand is dated in 1893. In 1895, only fouryears after his admission to the Bar of Illinois.he was appointed a City Judge, and in 1906he was elected to the Congress of theUnited States for the first time. He hasserved continuously in the House of Repre-sentatives ever since then, and is, by longodds, the veteran of that not always inspiringbody.

At various stages in Congressman Sabath'scareer he could well have been described asan organizat,ion or machine politician. Asa matter of fact, he was for six years chair-man of the Cook County Democratic Com-mittee and ,has been a member of the Cen-tral and Executive Committees of the partyfor over forty years. He has been a delegateto all National Democratic Conventionssince 19Q4. But the older CongressmanSabath has gotten, the less of a-machinepolitican he has been. His Congressionalrecord as a liberal is unsurpassed.

Can Stand AloneThere have been moments in recent years

when he has been almost alone in the de-fense of social welfare, basic freedoms anddemocratic rights. During the administra-tion of F .D.R., it was to have been expectedthat the leading Democratic Congressmanwould support the New Deal legislation;but even before the death of Roosevelt manyDemocratic politicans forgot about his soc-ial vision. Not so Sabath. He has not hesitated to speak out even when his words

might be misunderstood or might harmhim politically. He has remained loyal tothe Democratic party, but has not beenafraid to speak in behalf of. those who arenot numbered in the ranks of the party.

He became known nationally during theadministration of President WHson, becauseof his work as a member of the House Com-mittee on Immigration and Naturalization.It was the natural field of activity for thisBohemian-born Jew. He also served as amember of the Committee on Foreign Af-fairs, being almost. alone in serving on twomajor committees of the House. Then,longafter most congressmen .have retired, eitherby will of the voters or by reason of oldage, he became chairman of the all-im-portant Rules Committee of the House.

Fights ReactionariesIt is a well-known fact that the Rules

Committee can pass a death sentence uponany legislation' which 'it does not like; Ithas been the instrument of reactionary Con-gressmen for thwarting the popular will,by refusing to grant a so-called "Rule" tobills displeasing to them. CongressmanSabath had to contend against reactionariesin his own party when he was chairman ofthe Rules Committee, but he did so valiantly'and was responsible for whatever successprogressive forces obtained in the waningdays of the New Deal.

Congressman Sabath occupied a positionsomewhat like Colonel Arvey's in our day.He was astute and resourceful, but he neverenjoyed the p!:rsonal power and prestigewielded by Colonel Arvey. Even while thetitular head of the party, he was often sec-ond or lower, in command. His power arosebecause Chicago, like so many other north-ern cities, is a polyglot community. Forbetter or for worse, politicians must reckonwith the various national groups and doleout to them, willingly or grudgingly, thepatronage and pelf that are at their disposal.

Congressman Sabath was an ideal inter-mediary between the organization and theforeign-born. At the same time he couldnever be accused of a deficiency in Ameri-canism. It is a significant fact that Con-gressman Sabath was re-elected time aftertime in a Congressional District in whichJews were a minority group.

Corporation CounselsProbably because of the propensity of

the Jewish youth for entering the lega,lprofession, Jews have very often held high.judicial office. A renowned Jewish memberof the bench, Judge Harry M. Fisher, treatsof the well-known Jewish lawyers andjudges elsewhere in this publication. It iswell to point out, however, that there isone legal office in which Jews have a partic-ularly distinguished record and that is ascorporation counsels of the city of Chicago.A Jew held that position longer than anyonein the history of the city. The second longestservice in that office, I believe, was like-wise held by a Jew. Another Jew establisheda splendid record. for a much br,iefer periodof time.

First in point of time in holding the of-fice of corporation counsel was one of thegreat men of the Jewish community,the famous Adolf Kraus. Like' Congressman

CONTINU~D ON PAG~ 64

.~

Q .. .~ ;. .'~~;

"

A J Minkus .president of HIAS for thepa'st ~IX years, 'has been associated with mASsince its inception in Chicago, 35 years ago.He was the 'first secretary, a.nd kept._thatoffice till he was elected president 1n 1941.He is national vice president of HIAS. ~eis known for his philanthropic work and 1Sactively' identified with every worthy .causeas a contributor.

HIAS

By A. ]. MiNKUS

"I am my brother's keeper!" Upon thisprecept was founded HIAS, t~e Heb~ewSheltering and Immigrant Aid SoCIetyknown the world over as the helping handof the 'Wandering Jew'. HIAS is interwovenand intertwined with the fate and destinyof thousands and thousands of Jewish resi-dents in our town who came here in questof religious freedom and greater opportun-ities in industry and commerce, and for ed-ucational opportunity.

The history of a century of Jewish pro-gress in Chicago would indeed be incompl~tewithout the contribution of HIAS and Itsrole in assisting migrant Jews throughoutthe world. In the latter part of the nine-teenth century, when the waves of perse-cution and pogroms swept through 'many ofthe .European countries, America was look-ed on as a haven of refuge. Jews in thosedays sought to escape from Czarist Russiawhere pogroms, poverty and limitations weretheir lot. They sought to escape from Po-land from the "Panes," the aristocracy ofPol~d which was responsible for manypogroms and the spread of anti-Semitism.

The first to come, without relatives' orfriends to turn to, had a sad start and en-counten:d many hardships. To alleviate theirplight a group of public spirited Jews, whoknew their problems from prior experience,65 years ago decided to organize HIAS forthe sole purpose of extending the hand ofwelcome to the stranger, and if need be,to offer him a place of shelter until hecould find his starting point. And so, eachtime a ship. landed in the New York' har-bor, representatives of HIAS were on handto greet its Jewish immigrants with theirfirst American "Sholom Aleichem," offer-ing its facilities and hospitality. Many whocame to New York later found their wayto Chicago, and some prospered. One ofthese was Adolph Copeland, the organizerof the Chicago Division of HIAS.

Although attempts were made to establisha branch of the Hebrew Sheltering HouSe inChicago in 1888, about five years after theNew York organization was founded, it didnot have solid financial backing and fellby the wayside. In 1902 another at-tempt was made under the guidance ofC. Rubenstein as president, assisted by thefollowing: A. I. Kapper, I. Weinstein, A.N. Sterling, S. Levinson, I. Etz Hokin, Jo-seph Rothschild, .Isaac Killstein, E. Glick,A. Glick, Samuel Berger and Abraham Shul-man. The first thousand dollars was con-tributed by Marks Nathan and Bernard Hor-wich. For ten years it had a limited func-tion, but finally' succumbed as did the firstorganization, for lack of funds.

HIAS was finally successfully organizedin 1912 by Adolph Copeland, with a newspirit and enthusiasm that swept through

the city, and the Jewish pe~ple flocked .tothe assistance of HIAS. WIth the Czanstpogroms of 1911 fresh in their minds theJewish community of Chicago gave freelyto aid their brethren overseas.

Adolph Copeland, born in Bia1~stoc~,Russia in 1870, migrating to Amenca m1888 new the desperate need, and workedcons:antly to build HIAS, until his death in1939. The late Alfred Decker succeeded

Adolph Copeland

Copeland as president, and served until194-1.

With the advent of Hitler, when theneed to escape became desperate, HIASworked double-overtime to keep up withthe rescue work.

The war and post-war era produced seri-ous Jewish migration problems, in addi-tion to the new major problem-the con-stant search for survivors and the relativesof survivors, in the effort to re-unite fam-ilies. The D.P.s (those in displaced personscamps) are another new major, desperateproblem arising out of the war and and per-haps the hardest one in HIAS history.

Today HIAS is a global organization withoffices in 54- countries. It is a living monu-ment to its founders and a tribute to thosewho stood with the organization since itsinception: S. B. Komaiko, Morris Tower,Joseph Blonder, Jacob Feinman, H. H. New-berger, Louis B. Toueff, A. Z.. Halperin,Joseph Freidman, Louis Susman, Jacob Tor-goff, Peter Leichenko, A. J. Glickson, .M.J. Teitelbaum, Joseph Feinberg, among ahost of others.

It is. hard to estimate the total assistanceHIAS has' rendered since its inception. It

would require volumes to tell the story, andthe figures would assume astronomical di-mensions. In recent years, with the D.P.sfirst on the HIAS agenda, the agency hasrequired enormous financial resources, alongwith a diplomatic corps to make govern-ment contacts.

Services begin with locating relatives orfriends of the person in need. Followingthat, visas and other traveling papers areobtained, residence status estabbshed, rep-resentation is made before government au-thorities, transportation arrangements aremade, repatriation is effected whereverpossible, shelter and temporary relief isprovided, legal assistance, pier' services,corporate affidavits, and the many othernecessary arrangements are made for theimmigrants.

In 194-7 approximately 25,000 personswere aided in migration from Europe; shipsand planes were chartered when necessary.5 000 of these were aided in entering Israel~ith all necessary papers, without the haz-ard of being detained or sent to Cypress.Others were established in the Latin Amer-ican countries, Australia, and many otherparts of the world where they were given'a haven and a chance to start anew.

In Chicago, many of those who are ac-tive today in HIAS were themselves aidedby the organization in their efforts to getto America. One of these is Max Bressler,one of the very active vice presidents ofHIAS, and well known in the Jewish com-munity. His words sum up the whole story:"For months I languished in the offices ofthe American Consulate in Warsaw, Poland.and I don't know how much longer I wouldhave had to wait were it not for the assis-tance of the representative of HIAS. Bress-ler came here in 1921, and has since madehis place in his adopted country.

Other officers active in HIAS today are:Harry J. Dunn, Abraham J. Glickson, Her-man Newberger, vice presidents; Samuel A.Hoffman, secretary; Louis O. Sobel, treas-urer' Maurice J. Nathanson, financial sec-reta:y; Bert J. Tucker, executive direct.of;Sarah Jacobson, supervisor. Outstandmgamong tlle women who organized the aux.iliaries are: Mrs. Adolph Copeland, Mrs.M. Tiete1baum, Mrs. William Silberman,Mrs. Jacob Torgoff, Mrs. Selig Nathanberg.Mrs. Theodore Effron, Mrs. Max Millman,Mrs. I. Katz, Mrs. N. A. Goldberg. Head-ing the auxiliaries are Mrs. Nathan Gold-blatt, Mrs. O. Oberlander, Anna Rosenberg.Mrs. Edna BiJleck, Mrs. M. Narod, Mrs. A.Russ and Mrs. Minnie Bowman.

And behind all these names and statisticslies the story of the thousands of men andwomen and the people they helped because

, . "I b th 'they accept the concept, am my ro er skeeper."

THE END

GENERAL ORGANIZATION

By MAX A. KOPSTEIN

Max Kopstein is active in Zionist and Or-thodox Jewish. organizations and AmericanJewish Congress. Graduated Harvard Lawschool in 1928. A director of Hebrew Theological college, Associated Talmud Torahs, Chicago Jewish Academy. Member of executiveof American Jewish Congress, and formerpresident, for 3 years, of Chicago Division.For several years elected to interim Committee of American Jewish Conference. Former director of Zionist Organization ofChicago.

In October. 1848. when Henry Greene-baum, then a lad of fifteen, followed thelead of his three older brothers and cameto Chicago to settle among the handful ofJews then living here, the two main topicsof conversation in the community were theCalifornia gold rush and the local epidemicof Asiatic cholera. Because of these circum-stances the temptation to move elsewhere wasvery great. But neither the alluring prospectsof fabulous riches in the far West, on theone hand, nor the mounting toll of victimsof the dread disease, on the other hand,served to deter our early Jewish pioneersfrom keeping thir roots sunk in the newcommunity on Lake Michigan.

Perhaps, however, it was the epidemicthat accounted-in part at least-for theeagerness with which the Jewish settlerssought to assure themselves an adequatenumber of cemeteries. As each new organi-zation took form it immediately acquireda cemetery. By 1857 there were four organ-izations---and four cemeteries. First cameKehilath Anshe Ma'ariv (K.A.M.) Syna-gogue founded by Bavarian Jews, who alsoorganized a Hebrew Benevolent Society.They were followed by Jews from the Pol-ish part of Germany who organized aseparate synagogue, Kehilath B'nai Sholom,and a separate Gmillas Chasodim Society, forthe Bavarian Jews didn't care to associatetoo freely with the Polish Jews. And so thecommunity began to divide itself almost{rom the beginning.

First Voice for UnityHenry Greenebaum didn't like the idea

of this divisiveness. Although he belonged tothe Bavarian group he evidenced his feelingsby also joining the B'nai Sholom Congre-gation and served as its first secretarv untilhe was threatened with expulsion frofu K.A.M. because the latter's rules provided form~mbership in its congregation to the ex-clusion of any other shut. "And, anotherthing," young Henry argued, "why so muchconcern about cemeteries? Why not providefor the living?" To achieve this purposehe took a leading part in founding, in 1857,the first B'nai B'rith Lodge - Ramah."Here," he said some time later, "some ofthe best minds of German and Polish Jewsjoined hands to remove the miserable pro-vincial barriers existing in Chicago." Heretoo, steps were taken within a year there-after to consolidate Jewish charitable andrelief efforts among Polish and GermanJews, through the formation of the UnitedHebrew Relief Association.

Even in those days, unity was desirablenot only in the field of charity and phil-anthropy-where it has always been easierof achievement-but in the "political" area

14

where problems asserted themselves no lesspoignantly than in our own day. For ex-ample, there was the matter of the discrimination by Switzerland against its Jewishpopulation, which extended to Jewish citizens of other lands who happened to bewithin its boundaries.

Rabbi Stephen Wise

In 1857 two American Jews, expelledfrom Switzerland, appealed for Americanintervention, and the fight on their behalfand against an iniquitous treaty clause be-tween the United States and Switzerlandwhich sanctioned such discrimination, waswaged by Jews and non-Jews alike. "Callmeetings!. .. Let yqoor voice be heard!"urged the Jewish press of the day, notablythe Cincinnati Israelite.

The local community organized a dele-gation to see Illinois Senator Stephen A.Douglas and sent M. M. Gerstley as itsrepresentative to a national gathering ofJews which met at Baltimore to considerthe matter. It was Abraham Lincoln who,a short while thereafter, took the first ef-fective step toward the solution of the prob-lem when, after being elected President, heappointed a Jewish Consul to Zurich as oneof his official acts. The Swiss problem wasfinally liquidated in 1874 when Switzerlandadopted a new Federal constitution provid-ing for full religious equality.

Changing CompositionOn frequent occasions, during the Civil

War years, and in the years that followed,the thenleaders in Jewish communal af-fairs took cognizance of divisions and dif-

ferences of viewpoint and pleaded for har-mony all(~ unity. At the dedication of thefirst Jewish hospital in 1867, Godfrey Sny-dacker, speaking in German, dwelt on "themanifold differences in our views and man-ners and our political and religious opinionsand theories," but pleaded for unity "onthis sacred soil of true charity in the realmof genuine humanity:' Henry Greenebaumfollowed him in English and referred withpride to the spirit of united cooperationwhich had brought together "representativesof Orthodox and Reform congregations,keeping step to the soul-stirring strains ofbenevolence and charity."

In the three decades which followed thegreat fire of 1871, the Jewish communityof Chicago enjoyed a healthy growth, inkeeping with the rapid development of thecommunity as a whole. By 1900 the Jewishpopulation of Chicago numbered about75,000 and had 50 congregations and over100 societies, lodges, loan associations andsocial clubs. There were also four Zionistsocieties and in the early years of the presentcentury many more Zionist units wereformed. .

By this time Russian -and Polish Jewsoutnumbered German Jews iIi the commun-ity by more than two to one and the path~of communal acti~ity and interests becameso intricate and involved that one couldno longer speak of a united Jewish com-munity, except in relief efforts on behalfof the victims of the Kishinef massacr.e orthe other pogroms which took place in theyears 1903 to 1906 in Czarist Russia.

American Jewish Congress

At the end of 1905, Adolf Kraus, theninternational president of B'nai B'rith, ina bid for. unity not only on a local but on anational basis, issued a call to all Jewishorganizations for a conference on variousquestions, principally to discuss Jewish im-migration to America, and the possibility ofdiverting it away from the larger cities andinto the smaller communities, and also intoCuba. Little of value came out of the con-ference but it is considered by many as aforerunner of the American.Jewish Congresswhkh was to come into being a decade laterand in which Kraus was also to take a prom-inent part.

The moving spirit, locally, behind theAmerican Jewish Congress movement in1915 was JacobG. Grossberg who, with hiswife, spent nearly two years of his time inthe formation of a Jewish Congress Associa-tion and women's and young people'sgroups.

The difficulties of resolving differencesand effecting a coalition of divergentgroups within the Chicago Jewish commun-

ity were well nigh insurmountable. Therewere Zionist and anti-Zionist groups tocontend with, and the Zionists were di-vided into various wings and shades of opin-ion. There were religious Jews of variousdenominations, and also the irreliiious.There were heads of fraternal orders whojealously guarded their dignities and theirpriorities. There were "the right people"who had to be consulted-to some extent atleast. There were threats of revolt and seces-sion. But finally, on January 28, 1916,Chicago became the first city in the countryto convene a preliminary Congress whichincluded the most diverse elements in Jew-ish life.

For a year thereafter the debate ragedbetween the Congress and the non-Congressforces, on the platform and in the Yiddishand English press, and indeed wherever Jewsassembled. But the Congress idea won out,and in June, 1917, the Jewish communityof Chicago had an opportunity to partici-pate in the election of delegates to the na-tional convention of the American JewishCongress in' which the American JewishCommittee likewise participated, and whichultimately selected a delegation to representAmerican Jewry in the fight for Jewishrights at the Peace Conference which fol-lowed the first World War.

Some of the groups which came into the,Congress movement did so avowedly for thelimited purposes achieved at Versailles, andwhen the "emergency" was over they de-cided once again to go their own separateways. In Chicago, no organization of sub-stance remained after the initial beginningand it took heroic efforts on the part ofJudge Hugo Pam, who assumed local lead-ership, to rally support for the 1923 sessionof the Congress in New York City. Again,however, every section of the Jewish com-munity participated enthusiastically inacity-wide election, and a delegation of 20,headed by the late Judge, spoke for Chicagoat the sessions in the East. After these ses-sions, however, no permanent organizationtook root in Chicago.

To Fight FascismSinister forces were. shaping themselves

both in this country and abroad during the1920's. In the United States the Ku KluxKlan was terrifying certain sections of ourpopulation. Henry Ford was embarking on ananti-Semitic crusade and was' finding readylisteners everywhere. Abroad, the seeds ofnazism were being sown. From time totime, as critical situations presented them-selves, Jewish organizations joined forces .todiscuss and plan defense and counter-attack.But the larger the' community grew, themore disunited became the Jewish forces,and any action that was taken by groupsacting together was purely 'on an ad hocbasis as particular situations presented them-selves.

More than any other Jewjn America, Dr.Stephen S. Wise foresaw the dangers toGerman and world Jewry from the riSe topower of Hitler and his henchmen. HisCongress emissaries to Germany had warn-ed the Jews there ,of the impending catas-trophe, but they refused to pay heed to hissadly prophetic words and in effect toldhim that their welfare need cause him noconcern. Dr. Wise was determined .that, A-,merica should become aroused, to the men-

'ace of Hitlerism and that American Jewsshould take the lead in the battle whichthreatened the existence not only of allJews but of all free men.

Accordingly, he took steps to revive theAmerican Jewish Congress as a militantorgan of American Jewry which wouldfight for the rights of Jews wherever theymight be threatened. Recognizing the key'position of Chicago as the second largestJewish community in America, he sent hisrepresentatives here in 1933 to pursuade aprominent Chicago attorney and the son ofa distinguished judge, Sigmund W. David,to take the lead in organizing a Chicagodivision of the American Jewish Congress,with hope of thereby uniting the localcommunity for the defense of Jewish rightsand for a counter-attack against the nazisthrough the boycott and other means.

Re-birth of Chicago CongressThe local Congress movement proceeded

.'Sigmund W. David

slowly, but this time on a firm foundation.In their eagerness to make a fresh start,the local leaders, ignored Congress spokes-men of the prior decades to the point whereone of them (who incidentally later becamea vice-president of the new organization)remarked that "the new Congress is moreexclusive than the American Jewish Com-nllttee." An attempt was made to bringwithin the local ranks, individuals andgroups who had no personal axes togrind, politically or otherwise, but who rep-resented divergent points of view on Jewishproblems, so that the Congress could trulybe said to be constituted l.ocally of a cross-section of the entire Jewish community. Toa large degree, these aims were realized andthrough the 1930's, the Congress movementlocally grew in numbers, influence and pres-tige.

Having as its slogan the achievement or'unity and democracy in Jewish life, the Con-

. gress movement has always encouraged par-ticipation in its' work by the Jewish masses,through the use of the ballot. Two impor-tant elections in which Chicago Jewry hadan ,opportunity to participate were heldby the Congress in the years preceding ,thewar. lIt' 1936, delegates were elected to

the first session of the World Jewish Con-gress which was held in Switzerland. In1938, some 55,000 registration tickets werepurchased locally by adult Jews, entitlingthe holders to vote at polling places whichwere set up allover the city, in an. electionof delegates to an important national ses-sion of the American Jewish Congress.

Again, Orthodox, Conservative andReform Jews, and Jews of every shade ofZionist and non-Zionist opinion, participat-ed in the selection of their representativesto a gathering which deliberated, upon, andtook action with respect to the very im-portant problems which concerned Amer-ican and World Jewry in the light of Hit-ler's attempt to destroy the Jewish peopleand world civilization.

Consultative CouncilThe local Congress leaders were, how-

ever, fully cognizant from the time of thereorganization of the Congress here in 1933,that there were elements in the communitywhich would not come within the Congressas an integral part thereof, and that toachieve unity locally on vital matters whichconcerned all Jews, it ,would be desirableto have an organization which would em-brace all important local groups and whichwould meet from time to time to discussmatters of common concern. Accordingly,the Congress called into being in 1935 aConsultative Council, which included localrepresentatives of the American Jewish Com-mittee, the Anti-Defamation League ofB'nai B'rith, the Jewish Labor Committee,the Jewish Charities of Chicago, the Orth-odox Jewish Kehillah, the Chicago Rab-binical Association, and one or two othergroups. The Council met for a time withregularity under a rotating chairmanship,and matters taken up were largely in theso-called Jewish self-defense field, such asm~ns of combating the menace of FatherCoughlin and the fascists and nazis in thecommunity. The issue of religious educa-tion in the public schools was also consider-ed at a number of sessions and additionalelements were brought in for considerationof this very important subject. '

The Consultative Council proved, how-ever, to be only another ad hoc group of

no permanent. standing in the Jewish com-munity. It ran 'out of business' very quicklybecause the Congress seemed to be the onlygroup which felt it necessary to bring im-portant matters before it. One of the found-ers and leaders of the Anti-Defamation Lea-gue frankly stated that he saw no necessityfor such a group in view of the fact that theA.D.L. was in a position to take care ofall current problems. The American. JewishCommittee at that time had no organiza-tion at all in Chicago but only a' few indi-vidual members who had distinguishedthemselves in charitable and p!_:lanthropicactivities, but who, up to that time, hadvery little interest in positive phases of Jew-ish life, such as' Zionism or Jewish educa-tion.

For 'and Against.In those years preceding the war, the

Anti-Defamation League and the represen-tatives of the American Jewish Committeein particular, seemed to have little faithin mass action and in the efficacy of massprot~st meetings. Since, therefore, the prin-

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Overs~as Visitors-1946.First official representatives ofthe Jews of Poland to visitAmerica after the war, at CivicOpera House meeting. Left toright: M. Mirsky, Hersh Wasser,Dr. Joseph Zack, Chaya Gross-man, Dr. Emil Sommerstein, andSteven Rogzinski - the PolishCounsel. - - -

Interfaith Unity-1948.Students of Von Steuben highschool line up to purchase firstof the "Four Chaplains" 3 centstamp, honoring the heroic Chap-lains of four faiths who sacri-ficed their lives for the menaboard the Troopship Dorchester,during the war.

Veterans Pageant-1946.Jewish War Veterans committeepreparing for anniversary ob-servance in commemoration ofthe Unknown Soldier. Historicpageant related the contributionsof Jews in all wars in supportof the nation.

1&

Heroes of the Past-1946.Jewish War Veterans conductingmemorial services at the Solo-mon-Washington-Morris Mon-ument.

Fight on Anti-Semitism-1948.'Sentinel Trial' Dinner, organizedand supported by every sectionof leadership and rank and filein Jewish community as part ofanswer to anti-Semitic attacks.At speakers' table, left to right:Max Bressler, Rabbi Morton M.Berman, O. John Rogge-guestof honor, and Morris Alexander.

Aiding Jewish Children-1946.Ambijan officers attending forumluncheon. Left to right: LouisLevine, Leo Nellis, Louis Zara-guest speaker, Sol Leaf, B. ,Z.Goldberg-guest speaker, JosephLipshutz, Judge Harry Fisher,and S. Jesmer.

Clothing the Survivors-1946.American Federation for PolishJews Clothing Campaign. Of-ficers of Federation superviseshipment of first truckload ofclothing to P'olish Jewry over'seas. Left to right: Mandel Ter-man, Herman Bush, Abe Kornand Meyer Bluestone.

Salute to Israel-1948.Gigantic mass rally to greet theestablishment of thEi new Stateof Israel. Organized under jointleadership of leading organiza-tions in Jewish community inChicago. Attended by between50,000 and 60,000 who crowdedinside and outside of stadium.

17

Unveiling of Painting of Henry Monsky

machinery for new elections and adopt aconstitution which would concern itself witha wide range of American Jewish problemsas well as with the problems of our brethrenoverseas. Nationally, the Conference sus-tained the hopes of American Jews and dida very creditable job for European Jewryand on behalf of Palestine. Locally. the dele-gates were called together from time totime by Judge Fisher and took united ac-tion on matters within the scope of the Con-ference.

Unfortunately, however, the tenure of theAmerican Jewish Conference is endi~g andseveral major organizations, including B'naiB'rith have short-sightedly rejected the planfor forming a permanent American JewishAssembly with power to function in theAmerican as well as the foreign fields.

Along' with the Conference there cameinto' being, and there is still functioningtoday, the National Community RelationsAdvillOry Council (N.C.R.A.C.) in which anumber of national organizations and localcommunities are represented. But the pur-poses of the latter are limited and the organ-ization does not rest upon the same broad,democratic, mass base envisaged in theplans for a permanent American JewishConference.

Hope Is E~emalAs of the present time Chicago is one 'of

the very few cities which does not have' aJewish Community Council consisting ofits major organizations and groups. Indeed,nearly every Jewish community, with theeJOCeption of a few boroughs in New York,seems to have found it possible to work outa basis of local co-operation, and in somestates there is such co-operation on a state-wide basis.

Differences of opinion are resolved by thedemocratic processes of debate, and the spirit

'of give and take is substituted for the dog-matic ,attitudes of the past. There is noreasOn why Chicago should not be ableto follow suit. B'nai B'rith locally has beenled for a number of years by men who areliberal in outlook and who have a fine con-cept of their Jewish duties and responsi-bilities. The Congress, under the dynamicleadership of Rabbi Morton M. Berman, isas devoted as ever to the idea of a unitedJewish community. All Jewish organizationsneed the security of a united Jewish com-munity. Any organization which withholdsfrom this principle for narrow group self-in-terest does a disservice to the Jewish popula-tion generally, and thus does not serve itsown membership.

In the first one hundred years of itsexistence, the Chicago Jewish communityhas not been able to' effectively unite itscreative forces. But a new day is dawning inJewish life throughout the. world. Under theinspiration of the creation of the new Stateof Israel, which carries with it the ferventprayers and the fondest hopes and .dreamsof all Jews everywhere, this community willjoin' other, American Jewish communitiesin moving forward toward greater unity,and in the earliest years 'of the s'econd cen-tury of Jewish life in Chicago, will writenewer and brighter pages of Jewish historyand achievement,

THE 'END

mass base than previous organizations suchas the General Jewish Council, and whichembraced within its ranks nearly all of thesubstantial national Jewish organizations inAmerica.

In Chicago, election machinery was setup under the chairmanship of Leo H. Lo-witz, prominent communal leader. Chosenrepresentatives of over 550 Jewish member-ship organizations in Chicago went to theMorrison hotel on a warm June day andcast their ballots for 30 delegates to repre-sent Chicago at the national meeting. TheCongress group elected the largest numberof delega'tes locally-its entire slate of six-but virtually every other element.and groupin the community was represented by one ormore delegates under a system which madepossible the election of minority candidatesby the concentration of votes upon one or asmall number of candidates.

Appropriately, the leader among the can-didates in the balloting, and the unofficialand later the official head of the Chicagodelegation, was Harry M. Fisher, 'distin-guished Chicago jurist and civic and Jewishcommunal leader; whose contributions toJewish life in Chicago and nationally, datedback to the time when he was still a youngman in his teens, and filled many notablepages of Chicago Jewish history.

,"Behold how good and how pleasant itis for brethren to dwell togetheI: in unity,"said the late Henry Monsky, quoting thewc;>rds of the Psalmist, in opening the his-toric American Jewish Conference sessionsat the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New YorkCity. How thrilled were his listeners, the500 assembled delegates, as well as Jewsthroughout America, who entertained highhopes that here at last had come the an-swer to the dream of American Jews forunity. predicated upon the will of the Jew-ish people democratically expres,sed.

Did Not Long SwviveFor four and one-half yeats ,thereafter

the hopes of American Jewry continu'ed torise, particularly when it became a possi-bility that the Conference might establish

ORGANIZATIONSCONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGEcipal items on the agenda were proposalsof the Congress, and since these proposalscalled for such mass action-and werevetoed---each organization went its own wayon its own' program, and unity continuedto be the elusive objective of those elementsin the community who still believed itpossible of achievement.

Sometimes, however, it became possiblffor groups with divergent view-points toagree upon united action for limited ob-jectives. Thus the Congress, the Committee,the B'nai B'rith and the Labor Committeehere effectively joined in work to combat dis-crimination in employment through the localBureau of Jewish Employment Problems,which has now been in existence for over adecade, most of the time under the leader-ship of Claude A.Benjamin who is presentlya commissioner and treasurer of the ChicagoHousing Authority. '

Nationally, the pattern has been muchthe same as the Chicago story-cooperationfor a limited time and for limited objectives,but great difficulty in J'esolving organiza-tional differences and uniting on a perman-nent program of action. High hopes wereheld for the General Jewish Council whenit was organized in 1938 by the Congress,the American Jewish Committee, B'nai B'rithand the Labor Committee. But within a fewyears thereafter these hopes were dissipatedand the Council was dissolved, and Jewishleaders began to grope for a new formulafor unity in American Jewish life.

American Jewish CoerenceThe answer seemed to be the American

Jewish Conference. The Conference wasbrought into being in 19(3 through theinitiative of Henry Monsky, president ofB'nai B'rith, for the purpose I;)f dealing withpost-war Jewish, problems and Palestine.Later, the rescue of the remnants of Euro-pean Jewry from the nazi clutches was addedto the agenda. Chicago Jews joined theirbrethren throughout America in en-thusiastic support for this new organizationwhich seemed to be built on a mote solid

FIR ST. I LL I NO IS CON TACT SFrom "History of the Jews of Chicago," edited by H. L. M'eites,and published (1924) by the Jewish Historical Society of Chicago.

Early Days in Illinois

ILLINOIS IN 1765Benjamin Franklin was the first to advo-

cate colonization into the territory of illi-nois. In 1756 he presented arguments forcolonization to the Duke of Cumberland.The first expedition under Franklin's planwas by Colonel George Croghan who or-ganized an expedition into Illinois in 1765,wholly financed by Jewish capital, fromSimon Levy & Co.

As described in Meites' "History of theJews of Chicago":

On June 6 they were attacked near themouth of the Wabash river by eighty war-riors of the Kickapoo and Mascouten tribes,who killed two of the whites and woundedseveral others including Colonel Croghan.The Indians then plundered the goods, and,making prisoners of the whole party, march-ed them off to Vincennes (a French settle-

.ment containing between eighty and ninetyfamilies), and thence up the Wabash twohundred and ten miles to Ouitanon. Here,after deliberating upon the propriety ofburning Colonel Croghan at the stake, theIndians set the whites free. At OuitanonColonel Croghan met Chief Pontiac togetherwith other chiefs of the four nations ofThe Illinois, and concluded an agreementwhich opened up the West to the easterntrade.

Upon Croghan's return to Pennsylvaniaby way d Detroit, he proposed to GovernorFranklin of New Jersey to organize a colonyin The Illinois upon the lines laid down byBenjamin Franklin in 1754-56. The nrstIlIinois Company, which was the result ofthese proposals, failed; but the secondIlIinois Company, composed mainly of Jew-ish merchants, was successful. The leadingmembers were Moses and Jacob Franks ofLondon, England; Joseph Simon and L. A.Levy of Lancaster, Penn.; David and MosesFranks and the brothers Barnard and Mich-ael Gratz of Philadelphia, Penn.

In behalf of the new company CaptainMurray, a Scotsman, came to The Illinoisin 1773, and at Kaskaskia on July 5 securedfrom a council of chiefs of the Kaskaskia,Peoria, and Cahokia tribes of Indians, twogrants of land. The southern grant extendedfrom the Mississippi below Kaskaskia to themouth of the Ohio, and thence north withthe Mississippi; the northern grant extendedfrom a point opposite the mouth of the Mis-souri river up the Mississippi to the mouthof the Illinois, and up the Illinois "to Chi-cagou or Garlick Creek," thence, with anorthern extension, and a return to theplace of beginning. The amount paid forthese grants was $37,328.17, or nearly fourtimes the sum ($10,000) paid by Penn forPennsylvania.

Although the Jewish interest in TheIllinois was purely commercial and specu-lative, the indirect effect of it in shapingthe destinies of the new country was in-calculably great. Indeed, the extent of theinfluence upon the French population ofthe English-speaking traders and settlers whocame westward in the years following thecession of the country to England (from

France) is hard to overestimate. By openingand maintaining communication between theWest the East they prepared the westernpopulation to accept American ideas, and,when they should