chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2009/cjh_2009_1.pdf · and Medical Center, ... Two are in Forest Park; ... 4. Chicago Jewish History Winter 2009. Chicago Jewish

chicago jewish history

Vol. 33, No. 1, Winter 2009

chicago jewish historical society

Look to the rock from which you were hewn

LOCAL MAN CONTINUESSEARCH FOR AMERICANFLAG PRESENTED TOABRAHAM LINCOLN BYA CHICAGO JEW BEFORE1861 INAUGURATION

Kohn Flag with Biblical Message Becomes Widely Known but DisappearsArticle begins on page 4

Chicago’s Jews andAbraham Lincoln:

The Politics of the CivilWar Era

BY EDWARD H. MAZUR

Article begins on page 6

ROSIKA SCHWIMMER,JEWISH SUFFRAGIST AND PACIFIST IN LANDMARK LAWSUIT

BY WALTER ROTH

Article begins on page 10

CJHS Open Meeting: Sunday, March 15 “The Jews of Austin High School”

Artist Sándor(A. Raymond Katz)and The ChicagoanArticle begins on page 8

The Kohn Flag. A picture of the flag showingthe Hebrew lettering on thewhite stripes. With dedication“To Abraham Lincoln, Presi-dent of the United States.”From an old glass negative.KAM Temple Archives.Image from Joseph Levinson’sarticle in the June 1983 issueof the CJHS quarterly, thencalled Society News.

2 Chicago Jewish History Winter 2009

President’s Column

WE RECENTLY WELCOMED DANSHARON TO OUR BOARD OFDIRECTORS. Dan was the senior referencelibrarian at the Asher Library, Spertus Institute ofJewish Studies. He retired at the end of May,2008 after thirty-seven years of service. A studentof history as well as library science, Dan was mymost dependable resource—not only respondingto my requests for research materials for myarticles and books, but also suggesting subjects

for my writings, often from obscure sources. Fortunately, for theSociety and the Jewish community as a whole, Dan is continuing hisresearch activities as a Society volunteer and a contributor to ourquarterly. I am happy to introduce Dan Sharon to our readers:

THE JEWS OF NORTH CENTERby Dan Sharon

North Center is a Chicago neighborhood that radiates outwardsfrom the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Irving Park Road. Itusd to be predominantly German. The German-American Bund (theAmerican branch of the world Nazi movement) was active there inthe 1930s. After Pearl Harbor, the blatant activity ceased.

A friend of mine moved to North Center in 1957. He doesn’tthink any Jews lived in the area before the 1950s. Some of the Jewishadults worked in the garment industry.

Quite a few of the Jewish families lived in the Chicago HousingAuthority’s Julia Lathrop Homes at Damen, Diversey, and Clybourn.

[Julia Lathrop was a social worker and administrator associatedwith Jane Addams at Hull-House in Chicago. The low-rise LathropHomes were built by the WPA in 1938, a year after the creation ofthe Chicago Housing Authority.]

The CHA let the Jewish residents use the recreation room in thebasement of the project for their social club, and a smaller basementroom for a Shabbat minyan. For the High Holidays, there were toomany worshippers for the basement room. The colorful owner of alocal bar in the vicinity of Belmont, Leavitt, and Clybourn, actuallylet the Jews of North Center use the back of his bar for RoshHashana and Yom Kippur services! By 1976, when my friend movedaway, the Jewish community of North Center had disappeared. �

Walter Roth.

Officers 2009Walter Roth President

Burt Robin Vice President

Dr. Carolyn EastwoodRecording Secretary

Dr. Edward H. MazurTreasurer

DirectorsLeah AxelrodCharles B. BernsteinRachel Heimovics Braun*Dr. Irving CutlerHerman DrazninHerbert EisemanElise GinspargDr. Rachelle GoldClare GreenbergDr. Adele Hast*Janet IltisMelynda LopinSeymour H. PerskyMuriel Robin Rogers*Norman D. Schwartz*Dan SharonDr. Milton ShulmanDr. N. Sue Weiler*Indicates Past President

Chicago Jewish Historyis published quarterly by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society at 610 S. Michigan Ave.,#803, Chicago, IL 60605. Phone (312) 663-5634. [email protected] copies $4.00 postpaid. Successor to Society News.

Editor-Designer Bev ChubatEditorial Board Burt Robin,Walter Roth, Norman D. Schwartz,Milton Shulman

Send all submissions to:Editor, Chicago Jewish Historical Society. 610 S. Michigan Avenue,#803, Chicago, IL 60605 or [email protected].

chicago jewish historical society


MEET ME AT THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY. I will be discussing my book, Avengers and Defenders: Glimpses of Chicago’s Jewish Past, on Tuesday, March 17 at 6:00 p.m. aspart of the “Meet the Author” series at the Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street. A booksigning will follow. The programis co-sponsored by our Society, and I invite our members andfriends to attend. Admission is free and open to the public.Phone Newberry (312) 255-3700 or CJHS (312) 663-5634.

3Chicago Jewish History Winter 2009

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUEJoseph Levinson (1904-1993), anattorney and amateur historian, waschairman of the archives committee ofKAM Temple. He wrote three articlesfor our quarterly and was elected to aterm on our board of directors.

Edward H. Mazur, PhD, Professoremeritus, Harold Washington College,is treasurer of the Society.

Bev Chubat is editor-designer of the Society quarterly.

Walter Roth, a practicing attorneywith the firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, is president of the Society.

Sema Chaimovitz Menora, retiredfrom social service work with the JCCand the Kagan Home For the Blind(now Friedman Place), is an activistin the Jewish community and aparticipant in Yiddish study groups.

Rachelle Gold, PsyD, is co-chair ofthe Society membership committee.

Austin High School, 231 N. Pine Ave. Yearbook photograph (detail).

1951 Maroon & White.Courtesy of Howard Schwarzbach.

CJHS Open Meeting“The Jews of Austin High School”

Sunday, March 15 — Save the Date!“The Jews of Austin High School” will be the subject of the next openmeeting of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society, on Sunday, March 15 inthe social hall of Temple Sholom, 3480 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago.The program will begin at 2:00 p.m. following a social hour withrefreshments at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

This meeting marks the fourth in a series of “reunions” held by the Societyto commemorate the Jewish contributions to, and Jewish communities of,various Chicago high schools. Four speakers will reminisce about life atAustin High School from the early 1940s to the late 1950s.

Lawrence A. Sherman, Class of June 1947. He attended CongregationB’nai Israel of Austin as a child, was in Halevi AZA, and a sprinter on theAustin High School track team. A financier and philanthropist, he foundedPuritan Finance Corporation in 1958. He has held many leading officeswith the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Mount Sinai Hospitaland Medical Center, and the Jewish United Fund, and has been particularlyactive in Jewish education. He has been a leader nationally in the Reformmovement as well as a leader in North Shore Congregation Israel.

Howard “Bud” Schwarzbach, Class of January 1952. He is the grandsonof Solomon Schwarzbach, founder of the cemetery company of the samename at Waldheim. Bud was Bar Mitzvah at the Austin Jewish CommunityCenter under Rabbi Louis J. Lehrfield, was a member of Halevi AZA, ashotputter on the Austin track team, and on the staff of the yearbook. Heowns five well-respected wine stores in the Chicago area. Two are in ForestPark; three others—on North Elston Avenue in Chicago, in Highland Park,and in Barrington—operate under the name Wine Discount Center.

Judge Gerald C. Bender, Class of June 1956. He attended BryantElementary School in Lawndale and was Bar Mitzvah at CongregationAnshe Sholom. At Austin High, he earned two major letters as a four yearmember of the wrestling team. He was active in Sherman Levine AZA andcontinues his involvement in B’nai B’rith as a board member of the SportsLodge. After receiving his J.D. in 1968, he developed a general law practicewhere his interest in Holocaust studies led to his meeting and becoming thepersonal attorney and close friend of Simon Wiesenthal from 1977 to 1997.Gerald Bender was elected a Cook County Circuit Court Judge in 1996and has been assigned to the Domestic Relations Division ever since.

Judge Wallace B. Dunn, Class of January 1959. He spent his early years inHyde Park, where he attended the Kosminski School until the second grade.He was Bar Mitzvah at the Austin Jewish Community Center under RabbiLehrfield, who also performed his wedding to the former Joan Kaplan. AtAustin High, he was a lineman on the Chicago Public League and Prep Bowlchampionship team of 1958. While in high school he was a member andoffice holder of FDR AZA. He received his J.D. in 1968. He was theCorporation Counsel of the City of Highwood for seventeen years. He hasbeen an Associate Judge of the Illinois Circuit Court Nineteenth JudicialCircuit since 1986. — Charles B. Bernstein, program chairman


American presidents have invariably been recipientsof gifts of varying, sometimes exotic, nature. Every

Thanksgiving, for example, an exceptionally plumpturkey is sent to the White House for a holiday dinner.Indian tribes have presented presidents with elaborate,fully plumed tribal headdresses. Foreign heads of state,on occasion of visits to the White House, invariablycome laden with gifts.

It is doubtful, however, whether any gift to apresident was more touching or more meaningful thanone given to Abraham Lincoln in February, 1861, whilehe was en route to Washington for his inauguration.This was an American flag presented to him byAbraham Kohn, one of the founders of KAM Temple,and, at the time of this presentation, the City Clerk ofChicago in the administration of Mayor JohnWentworth.

Before detailing the search, fruitless to date, for theflag, some observations concerning Mr. Kohn and hisfamily may be of interest. He was born in Bavaria in1819 and came to America in 1842. Like many otherGerman Jews beginning to feel the effects of repressivemeasures directed against them, he came to America,the land referred to in Germany as das gebentschteLand—the blessed land. Abraham Kohn and hisbrothers, Moses and Judas, engaged in perhaps the mostcommon occupation of immigrant Jews of that time,peddling merchandise from house to house.

Abraham Kohn was, perhaps, the quintessential Jewof an appreciably large class of Jews in the middle1800s: successful in business after early struggles,devoted to his synagogue and active in public life.

Kohn had been introduced to Lincoln shortly afterthe 1860 Republican Party presidential nominating

convention.… The overhanging clouds of possiblesecession of Southern states and the possibility of afratricidal war made the time the most critical periodsince the founding of the Republic.

Kohn had conceived a great admiration for Lincoln,and implementing this feeling, presented him with amost touching gift. This was a satin American flag, onthe white bars of which Kohn inscribed, in his ownhand, in Hebrew, with lines from the biblical Book ofJoshua 1:4-9. (See box above and editor’s endnote.)

Thereafter there appeared a number of documentedreferences to the flag. The following letter, the originalof which is in the archival collection of KAM, was sentby a presidential aide:

Chicago, August 28, 1861

Abraham Kohn, Esq.

My dear Sir:

The enclosed acknowledgement of thereceipt of your beautiful painting of theAmerican flag by the President got lost amongmy letters or it would have been sent to youbefore. Regretting the delay, I am,

Truly your friend,

J. Scammon Young

Unfortunately, President Lincoln’s acknowledgementwas never found.

LOCAL MAN CONTINUES SEARCH FOR AMERICAN FLAG PRESENTED TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN BY A CHICAGO JEW BEFORE 1861 INAUGURATION

BY JOSEPH LEVINSON

This article was originally published in the June 1983 issue of the Society quarterly

4 From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even untothe river, the river Euphrates, all the land of theHittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the goingdown of the sun, shall be your border.5 There shall not any man be able to stand beforethee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with thee; I will not fail thee nor forsakethee. 6 Be strong and of good courage; for thou shaltcause this people to inhertit the land which I sworeunto their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, to observe todo according to all the law, which Moses My servantcommanded thee; turn not from it to the right handor to the left, that thou mayest have good successwhithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thymouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day andnight, that thou mayest observe to do according toall that is written therein; for then thou shalt havegood success. 9 Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and ofgood courage; be not affrighted, neither be thoudismayed; for the Lord they God is with theewhithersoever thou goest.—Joshua 1: 4-9


George Henry Preble, in his definitive History of theFlag of the United States of America, in both the 1872and 1880 editions, wrote:

“Before leaving Springfield, he received fromAbraham Kohn, City Clerk of Chicago, a finepicture of the flag of the Union, bearing aninscription in Hebrew on its folds, the versesbeing the 4th to the 9th verses of the firstchapter of Joshua, in which Joshua wascommanded to reign over a whole land…”

For a number of years thereafter, there appears to bea gap in any disclosed documentation concerning theflag. However, on June 20, 1895, in a speech at Ottawa,Kansas, Governor (later President) William McKinleyreferred to the flag as follows:

“What more beautiful conception than thatwhich prompted Abraham Kohn, of Chicago, inFebruary, 1861, to send to Mr. Lincoln, on theeve of his starting to Washington to assume theoffice of president, a flag of our country, bearingupon its silken folds these words from the firstchapter of Joshua:…

“Could anything have given Mr. Lincolnmore cheer, or been better calculated to sustainhis courage or to streng-then his faith in thealmighty work before him?

“Thus commanded, thus assured, Mr.Lincoln journeyed to the capital, where he tookthe oath of office and registered in heaven anoath to save the Union. And the Lord, our God,was with him until every obligation of oath andduty was sacredly kept and honored.

“Not any man was able to stand befor him.Liberty was the more firmly enthroned, theUnion was saved, and the flag which he carried,floated in triumph and glory from every flagstaffof the republic.”

In a later letter to Mrs. Dankmar Adler (the wife ofthe well-known architect and the daughter of AbrahamKohn), McKinley wrote, in part:

“The incident deeply impressed me when Ifirst learned of it, and I have taken occasion touse it, as in my speech at Ottawa, to which yourefer.… I am glad to have been able to givepublicity to this striking incident, and I am surethat the family of Mr. Kohn should feel veryproud of his patriotic act.”

The original letter from McKinley is also in the archivalcollection of KAM.

The flag itself, as a priceless historical object, has beenthe subject of intensive searches and researches by

many individuals and agencies. The writer, during hisincumbency as Chairman of the Archives Committee ofKAM Temple, became infected with this fever andadded his efforts to those of prior researchers. But,where archeologists searching for lost civilizations, oranthropologists digging for skeletonic remains of earlyman, achieved some measure of success, the writer,alas—to date, as least—experienced the samefrustrations encountered by legendary Arthurian knightsin their search for the fabled Holy Grail.

Correspondence concerning the flag was conductedwith the American Jewish Historical Society, AmericanJewish Archives, Chicago Historical Society, IllinoisState Historical Library, Department of Armnd ForcesHistory of the Smithsonian Institution, HistoricalServices Division of the Department of the Army, andthe American Antiquarian Society.

Individuals to whom inquiries were addressed weremost cooperative. Dr. David C. Mearns of the Libraryof Congress sent the writer a lengthy letter listing manyreferences to the flag and suggesting recourse to some ofthe agencies listed above. An extensive colloquy, viacorrespondence, was conducted with Miss JosephineCobb of the National Archives in Washington, who hadherself previously undertaken a search.

It was also suggested that an inquiry be printed inthe monthly magazine, Museum News, published by theAmerican Association of Museums. This magazineoccasionally prints requests for assistance in locatingspecific historical items. This was done, and elicited aresponse from someone who offered to send a picture ofthe flag. Since the writer is in possession of the originalglass negative from which all pictures were made, thiswas a gracious though unfruitful gesture.

Abraham Kohn. From the 1983 article.

continued on page 14


Chicago’s Jews and Abraham Lincoln: The Politics of the Civil War EraBY EDWARD H. MAZUR

In the 1850s, Chicago was abastion of the Democratic Party.One chronicler of the time observedthat “if the town pump had beennominated for Mayor in those dayson the Democratic ticket it wouldhave been elected….” However, therise of the anti-slavery movement,followed by the Civil War, Recon-struction, and rapid industrializationin the last quarter of the nineteenthcentury combined to upset theDemocratic hegemony.

Courting the Jewish VoteAlthough the Jewish community wassmall in number, with approxi-mately 1,500 members by 1860, andeven smaller in eligible voters, theJewish voters were ardently courted.This Jewish community was com-posed of immigrants from Bavaria,Bohemia, Posen, German-Poland,and a smattering of Dutch andLatvians, in addition to native-bornAmericans.

The Jewish electorate was firmlylinked by their political suitors tothe significantly larger Germancommunity in the belief that bothgroups shared an identity of interestsin efficient public service, thriftinessand public freedom. Observersarticulated a frequently held buthistorically overstated opinion that“…an affinity for liberalism, love offree press, more individual liberty,and better opportunities for work,trade, and enterprise made it naturalfor them [the Jews] to sympathizewith the abolitionist movement andjoin the Republican Party.”

In fact, Chicago’s Jewish popu-lation reacted in diverse ways to thegrowing controversy over slavery.Before the 1861 firing on FortSumter, individual Jews tookpositions for and against the

institution of slavery and the tacticsof the abolitionists. This is notsurprising since each Jewishcommunity, congregation, business,and religious leader was free of anyhierarchical controls. In all proba-bility, personal background and localallegiances rather than Jewishteaching determined Jewish views.Thus, Jewish-American citizens,southern rabbis, and public officialsfrom the South including UnitedStates Senators Judah P. Benjaminand David Yulee strongly upheld theinstitution of slavery.

The issue of slavery was like a“fire bell in the night,” and divisivefor the Jewish community. Accord-ing to Max J. Kohler, the son ofKaufman Kohler, rabbi of SinaiTemple, 1871-79, the small Jewishcommunity in Chicago was carefulto not endanger its acceptance in thelarger Chicago community.

Reportedly, one half of Chicago’sJewish community belonged to thesoon to disappear Whig Party in the1850s because of the DemocraticParty’s association with slavery. Thisappears to be an exaggerationbecause the Whig involvement withanti-foreign elements would havemitigated against such an allegiance.

Michael GreenebaumAn incident involving MichaelGreenebaum in 1853 indicates thedifficulty of remaining neutral onthe issue of slavery. Federal marshalsseeking to enforce the Fugitive SlaveLaw provisions of the Compromiseof 1850 attempted to arrest afugitive slave. A crowd of anti-slavery advocates, led by Greene-baum, liberated the fugitive fromtheir custody. A mass meeting washeld at which a leading public figureand future mayor, “Long John”

Wentworth. declared approval ofGreenebaum’s actions and called forthe resistance to the “enforcement ofthis barbaric law.”

The historical record indicatesthat many German Jews were activein the formation of Republicanorganizations in support of thecandidacy of John C. Fremont forPresident in 1856, in the canvass forAbraham Lincoln’s unsuccessfulattempt to defeat Stephen A.Douglas for U.S. Senator in 1858,and in Lincoln’s successful campaignfor the Presidency in 1860.

Bernhard Felsenthaland Liebman AdlerTwo important Jewish leaders inCivil War Era Chicago were Dr.Bernhard Felsenthal of Sinai Templeand Dr. Liebman Adler of KehillathAnshe Maariv. They spoke from thepulpit and wrote against the “pecu-liar institution” of slavery, oftenantagonizing their congregants.Felsenthal compared Negro slaveryto the afflictions of Russian Jewry,stating that “Russia does not lie onlybetween Kalisz and Kamchatka, butit is also on the shore of the Potomacand Lake Michigan.”

In March 1859, Felsenthal wroteto an acquaintance in Lawrenceburg,Indiana:

“How sure of itself theDemocratic Party was in1854, even in 1856; itconsidered itself quiteinvincible, a veritableGibraltar! Today things aredifferent, and even thoughthe politicians may succeedin sending a Democraticpresident to the WhiteHouse in 1860, the free soilidea has taken such firmroot…that it can never be


eradicated….Isn’t it true,friend Adler that you aresomewhat less enthusiasticfor this filibustering, Cuba-covetous, slavery spreadingcorrupt Democratic Partythan you were two years ago?If indeed you are still aDemocrat at all….It wouldsurprise me very much if Iheard that you would stillgive your vote to Buchanan….He is fortunate who cankeep well out of the mire ofpolitical affairs, and who hasa realm within his homewhere no hostile partiesexist, but where all areattached to one another in aspirit of love and loyalty.”

Henry GreenebaumIn spite of such pronounce-

ments, there were leading membersof the Jewish community whocontinued to identify with theDemocrats, and especially StephenA. Douglas, as late as 1860. Theseincluded hotelman Joseph Schloss-man, banker Henry Greenebaum,and merchant Edward Salomon.

Henry Greenebaum and hisbrothers Michael and Elias werenatives of Eppelsheim, Germany.Henry arrived in Chicago in 1848and by 1855 had established asuccessful banking business with hisbrothers. In 1855, he was electedDemocratic alderman of the sixthward, an area located west of theChicago River and north ofRandolph Street, “in recognition ofhis political activity and influencewith the voters of that party.”

In 1860, Henry Greenebaumwas a presidential elector on theDemocratic Douglas ticket. Duringthe Civil War, he became an ardentRepublican, and in 1868, GovernorRichard Oglesby appointed him amember of the first State Board ofEqualization.

Julius Rosenthal and Charles KosminskiThe majority of the Chicago Jewishcommunity led by Abraham Kohn(see article on page 4), BernhardFelsenthal, Julius Rosenthal, AdolphLoeb, Leopold Mayer, and CharlesKosminski, supported Lincoln overDouglas.

Julius Rosenthal, a native ofLiedolsheim-Baden, Germany,arrived in Chicago in 1854 and by1856 was elected first secretary ofthe John C. Fremont Club, “espous-ing the Republican platform.”

Charles Kosminski, a native ofthe Prussian province of Silesia, alsoarrived in Chicago in 1854. Hebecame an influential retail grocerand later an important banker.Before 1861, Kosminski headed the“Washington Club,” a Republicanorganization, and for many yearsheaded the fourth ward’s (mid SouthSide) German Republican Club. In1887, he was appointed to theChicago Board of Education.

Edward SalomonEdward S. Salomon was born inSchleswig-Holstein in 1826 andemigrated to Chicago aftercompleting his secondary schooleducation in Europe. In 1860, hebecame an alderman, but when theCivil War started, he joined theTwenty-fourth Illinois Infantry as asecond lieutenant and by 1862 waspromoted to the rank of major. Heassisted in the organization of theEighty-second Illinois Infantry, the“Concordia Guards,” and rose to therank of colonel.

In 1865, he was made abrigadier general. When the warended, Salomon returned toChicago and was elected, as aRepublican, to the office of CookCounty Clerk. In 1870, PresidentGrant appointed him Governor ofWashington Territory. After a tenure

of four years, Salomon moved to SanFrancisco where he was elected twiceto the California legislature.

The Concordia GuardsTh issue of slavery was not thereason why the common man, Jewor Gentile, went to war. MostSoutherners wanted to protect thedoctrine of States’ Rights. MostNortherners joined the army topreserve the Union. Almost all ofthem were volunteers. In 1861 and1862, public meetings were held inevery city and town—North andSouth—where speeches were givento fan the flames of patriotism—andmen signed up.

One such meeting was held inChicago on the night of August 13,1862 at the Concordia Club onDearborn Street. The speeches werein German because the audience wasmade up of immigrants fromBavaria, Prussia, and Hesse. Moreimportantly, the meeting wassponsored by Ramah Lodge #33 ofB’nai B’rith, and in attendance wereleading members of the city’s Jewishcommunity. By the end of theevening, ninety-six men hadvolunteered, $10,000.00 had beenpledged to provide a reward (orbounty, as it was called) to theenlistees, and a uniquely Jewishresolution had been passed.

Young Dankmar Adler enrolledin the Concordia Guards. Dankmar,the only son of Rabbi LiebmanAdler, later achieved great success asan engineer and architect.

The Chicago Tribune praised theresponse of Chicago Jewry:

“Our Israelite citizens havegone beyond even their mostsanguine expectations. Theirprincely contribution ofitself is a record which mustever redound to theirpatriotism. The rapidity with


8 Chicago Jewish History Wintr 2009

Sándor (A. Raymond Katz) and The Chicagoan MagazineBY BEV CHUBAT

All images courtesy of Quigley Publishing Company, a division of QP Media Inc.

Sandor (A. Raymond Katz), Uptown. Cover, The Chicagoan,November 23, 1929. The full color image can be seen in the

web edition of CJH at www.chicagojewishhistory.org

L ast November, a rare slice of our city’s past was served up by historian Neil Harris when hisbook, The Chicagoan: A Lost Magazine of the Jazz Age, was published by the University ofChicago Press. The “platter” for his delicious dish is a visually stunning volume of large

dimensions, weighing close to ten pounds. Neil Harris is the Preston and Sterling Morton Professorof History and Art History Emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1969 to2007. He has authored several books, but none as ambitious as this one. He describes its genesis:

“While browsing the stacks of the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library some years ago, I noticed agroup of plainly bound volumes whose spines bore the name Chicagoan. Pulling down and opening one ofthem, I was startled to find it ablaze with glorious color covers, fanciful art, lots of cartoons, and a wholerange of articles and reviews. I had never heard of the magazine before. In a first take I concluded that thiswas another, lesser known version of the New Yorker that I had somehow missed encountering and that Iwould soon learn more. But just how rare these copies were, how enveloped in oblivion, and how ensconcedin Chicago’s special culture I was yet to discover.”

Professor Harris learned that the first issue of The Chicagoan had appeared on newsstands on June 14, 1926,sixteen months after the first issue of the New Yorker was published, and, of course, there was a connection betweenthem. The New Yorker was the first urban magazine. Its jazzy and sophisticated style of writing and art captured itstime and place. The Chicagoan differed in that it included photographs as well as drawings, and a society page, too.Most of its articles and cartoons were imitative of the New Yorker—but the covers were spectacularly different.

W ho published The Chicagoan? Neil Harris tellsus that he was L. M. Rosen, “whose otheraccomplishments remain, so far, hidden from

history.” The first editor was Marie Armstrong Hecht.She was a translator, poet and critic, best known as thefirst wife of Ben Hecht. They had divorced in 1925, andBen had left for New York. The second issue of TheChicagoan, appeared a month after the first, with a neweditor, Harry Segall, who soon departed for Hollywood,to be followed, in short order, by two other editors.

Leaving Chicago for New York or Hollywood wasstandard practice for writers in the 1920s. Chicago hadenjoyed a reputation as a literary mecca early in thetwentieth century, with many gifted newspapermen,novelists, and poets, but the great ones had gone.

So who were the contributors to The Chicagoan?Robert Pollak was the music critic. He went on to themusic and drama desk at the Chicago Times, and thenbecame the drama critic for the Chicago Sun-Times. Thenames of three women contributors might interest aJewish historical society: cover artist Hermina Selz,cartoonist Magda Glatter, and writer Edna Asmus.


Welcome, New Members of the SocietyJ.B. & Sally Goldenberg

Jerome S. KatzinSeymour L. MandelDebra S. RadeBetty C. SlutskyNeal VogelGillian Wolf

Michael & Jessica Young

With the issue dated March 26, 1927, Martin J.Quigley became the second and last publisher of TheChicagoan. Regular publication would continue for thenext eight years. Quigley was a journalist and movie fanwho combined his talent and interests by editing andpublishing entertainment trade magazines. A devoutCatholic, he later became one of the organizers of theLegion of Decency. Harris writes that “for much of the1920s, at least in the pages of The Chicagoan, Quigleykept his movie crusade under wraps….”

Seventeen covers of The Chicagoan were painted bySándor (SHON-dor)—the name used by by A.Raymond Katz on some of his secular commercial

art. Katz was a Hungarian-born Jewish muralist,illustrator, and designer of stained glass windows fornumerous synagogues and temples. Many pages of TheChicagoan are decorated with his exquisite line art. Katzsigned his full name or initials on these drawings.

The image below is a fine example of Katz’s work. Itaccompanies the profile of another talented Jew, “EmilArmin—Artist’s Artist,” by J. Z. Jacobson, published inFebruary 1, 1930. The admiring author notes thatArmin is a member of the “Fifty-seventh Streetcolony—recently rehabilitated—in the company ofseveral of his fellow pioneeer Chicago modernists,

happier and more determind than ever and almost as poor.”The drawing above contains some interesting details. Samuel Greenburg,

a respected Chicago Jewish artist and teacher, imitates his colleague’s stylevery well. He has included a hassidic figure pointing accusingly at Katz andhis nude muse and has written the Yiddish word sheygetz (in this case,meaning a naughty, impudent boy). The jovial Sándor is shown burning apiece of paper; it is a letter from the Art Institute of Chicago rejecting hisentries to a juried exhibition—oil, watercolor, tempera, and brush drawing.Katz eventually emulated Chicago’s literary lights and moved to New York.

Another renowned Jewish artist, Aaron Bohrod, created some strikingcovers for The Chicagoan. They arepainted in an abstract style, whereashis work is usually naturalistic.

Meyer Levin wrote at least onearticle for the magazine, on January12, 1929—a spot-on spoof of BenHecht and Charles McArthur’s hitplay, “The Front Page,” thenrunning at the Erlanger Theater.

Neil Harris notes that “there are still gaps in the story of The Chicagoan.The University of Chicago copies, it turned out, constitute one ofonly two substantially complete sets in the United States.…Rarity and

obscurity are spurs to historical research.…There is much left to learn.…”Harris acknowledges the assistance of his wife, Teri J. Edelstein, on many

aspects of this lengthy project and has included her name in the byline. �

A. Raymond Katz, Emil Armin, sketched from life. The Chicagoan, February 1, 1930.

Samuel Greenburg, Portrait of Sandor (A. Raymond Katz), in the style of Katz. The Chicagoan, June 1934.


Rosika Schwimmer, Jewish Suffragist and Pacifist in Landmark LawsuitBY WALTER ROTH

Rosika Schwimmer, born in Budapest, Hungary onSeptember 11, 1877, was descended from several

generations of Jewish merchants and intellectuals. Amaternal uncle, Leopold Katscher, a pacifist lawyer, wassaid to have influenced Rosika in her beliefs.

She became a well known author of children’s booksand a lecturer on women’s suffrage and pacifism. Shebecame a leader of Hungarian feminist organizationsand the Women’s International League for Peace. In1914, after the outbreak of war in Europe, she came tothe United States, which was neutral, to help organizemeetings with President Woodrow Wilson, seeking hisassistance to end the war. In this she failed.

Then, in 1916, she persuaded automobile magnateHenry Ford to sponsor a “Peace Ship”—an expeditionby American women pacifist leaders to Europe asunofficial mediation teams to meet with Europeanrulers. Jane Addams was president and Schwimmer wasvice-president of the delegation. Dissention occurred onthe voyage and Ford left the ship before there were anymeetings with the European officials. Schwimmer ledone conference in Stockholm, but after her efforts wereattacked in the American press, she resigned her office.

When Hungary gained its independence in 1918,Schwimmer returned and was appointed to an ambassa-dorial post by the coalition government. But the Social

Democrats were ousted by theCommunists, and in the violentaftermath she was forced to flee.

In September 1921, she arrivedin the United States. Her sisterFranciska lived in Chicago. and herclose friend, Lola Maverick Lloyd, afellow activist in women’s causes,lived in suburban Winnetka.

Lola was born in Castroville,Texas, near San Antonio. Herpaternal grandfather, SamuelAugustus Maverick, did not brandhis roaming cattle; subsequently,unbranded cattle became known as“mavericks,” and the family namecame to to describe nonconformists.

The October 6, 1921 issue of theChicago Tribune carried an

interview with Schwimmer:

Pacifist Tells of Ruin of Hungary

“Mme. Rosika Schwimmer, inter-national suffragist, leading lady onthe Ford peace ship, erstwhileambassador and minister plenipo-tentiary from the republic ofHungary to the republic ofSwitzerland, and for whosepresence here department ofjustice officials are said to havebeen trying to account, was foundin Chicago last night by a Tribunereporter.

“CONSISTENCY.” Published in Scripps-Howard Newspapers, October 5, 1928.Rosika Schwimmer Papers, New York Public Library.


“A plump little woman,comfortably ensconced in acushioned chair before afireplace in which the embers ofa giant log were burning—shetalked of things that have been,things that are, and things thatwill be. She is a guest at thehome of Mrs. Lola Lloyd, 4451st Street, Winnetka.

Haven’t Been Hiding“‘No, it isn’t generally knownthat I’m in America again,’ shesaid, ‘but I have not been hidingmy presence here. How did Icome in? Why, on a passport,certainly, through New YorkCity. In my own name? Ofcourse.’“ ‘Will you tell something ofyour past and of your plans forthe future?’ she was asked.“‘I’ll be glad to—but I’m afraidit will be tiresome to most. Youknow I came here first in 1914to get President Wilson to usehis influences as a neutral toattempt to end the war.“‘I stayed here then until 1916.It was my suggestion that causedthe famous Ford peace trip toCopenhagen on the Oscar II. Iaddressed numerous meetingshere. And on my return to mycountry I was named ambas-sador to Switzerland—the firstwoman to hold a similar post.’

Red Here—White in Hungary“ ‘Then when Bela Kunoverthrew our plans for arepublic—I quit. There’s a funnything about that. When I was inthe United States I was regardedas a radical, an I. W. W., aGerman spy, a pacifist. WhenBela Kun took charge I wasbranded an ultraconservative,and was charged with spreadingpropaganda against the bol-shevist movement. So I left

Hungary. For the last year and ahalf I’ve been all over Europe.Now I’m here –’.“‘What do you think of suffragein Europe now?’“ ‘Stagnant—the movement isalmost gone.’“‘Is there any danger of Austriaand Hungary going bolshevist atthis time?’“ ‘I believe there would be amonarchy before a soviet. Therewouldn’t be any radical propa-ganda afloat if there were someway for the allies to stabilize andrejuvenate our industries so thepeople could produce.’

No More Soviets in Europe“‘What do you believe the bestsort of government for thenations of Europe would be?’“‘A good, plain, healthy, demo-cratic government—not amonarchy and most decidedlynot a soviet—the one meanstyranny, the other meansdictatorship, which is worse. I’mnot a politician propagandist—I’m a suffragist and a pacifist.My main object is to keeppeace.’“‘Do you notice any differencein America between your visithere now and your last trip?’

U.S. Is Saner“ ‘Indeed I do. The wholecountry is saner. It is tackling theproblem of reconstructioncheerfully. You’ll get somewhere.’“ ‘How long do you expect toremain here?’“‘I don’t know, I’m writing a fewart criticisms now. My healthisn’t of the best—my nerves havebeen bad for some months. Idon’t know when I’ll be able togo home again. I’d like to stay agood, long while—my friendsare so kind.’

“Mme. Schwimmer said she hadto wait three months to get herpassport to come here. Sheexpressed the hope that shewouldn’t have to wait that longin case she wanted to go back.’

Schwimmer decided to remainin the United States and resume herlife as a lecturer and journalist. Herhealth problems became moreserious as she suffered from diabetes.

After living in America for fiveyears, she applied for citizenship

before a circuit court in CookCounty, Illinois. At the time, shewas 49 years old. She filled out along questionnaire, in which one ofthe questions asked: “If necessary,are you willing to take up arms indefense of this country?”

Schwimmer answered: “No.”She wrote a letter explaining that

her position as a pacifist was notinconsistent with her loyalty to theUnited States. But her petition wasdenied by the hearing examiner, andher case wound up before FederalDistrict Court Judge Carpenter.

He asked her a simple questionas to what she was willing to do incase of war. She answered: “I willobey every law of the United States,but I will not fight physically.”

Asked what she would do if anenemy tried to kill her, sheanswered, “I would not kill a maneven if he tried to kill me.”

According to an account in theNew York Times, Judge Carpenterrose from the bench and pointed tothe American flag and bellowed:“You cannot be a half-way citizenunder that flag. You must do whatour Constitution requires of allAmerican citizens—promise to servethat flag and defend it with your life,if necessary. Your petition is denied.”

Schwimmer now appealed hercase to the United States Circuit



Rosika Schwimmercontinued from page 11

Court of Appeals. She wasrepresented by attorney Olive Rabe,who later achieved considerablefame in her own right.

On June 29, 1928, the SeventhCircuit reversed the District Court’sdecision and ordered that Schwim-mer’s petition for citizenship begranted (Schwimmer v. UnitedStates, 27 F.2d 742 (1928).

The Appeals Court cited manyreasons for its ruling, the mostcogent being that under the law atthe time, Schwimmer could not becompelled to bear arms. “Becauseshe was a woman, 49 years of age;yet she is denied citizenship becauseshe will not fight with her fists, orcarry a gun.”

The court gave other reasons forits decision, such as free speech,which was hailed by the pacifist

community, but the naturalizationdepartment in Chicago decided todelay granting the citizenshipcertificate because of Schwimmer’salleged exploitation of her case for“purposes of pacifist propaganda,”and with the assistance of the UnitedStates Attorney General delayedissuing the certificate until the casewas ruled on by the United StatesSupreme Court.

The case came to be heard beforethe United States Supreme Court

on April 12, 1929, with Schwimmerrepresented by Chicago lawyer OliveRabe, only the second woman everto argue a case before the UnitedStates Supreme Court.

Chief Justice William HowardTaft, Oliver Wendell Holmes, andLouis Brandeis were the mostprominent members of the Court atthat time. In a six to three decision,the Supreme Court reversed theAppellate Court and upheld the

District Court decision. U.S. v.Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929).

Justice Holmes, joined by JusticeBrandeis, called Schwimmer “awoman of superior character andintelligence, obviously more thanordinarily desirable as a citizen.”Holmes was 88 years old when hewrote his dissent in the Schwimmercase, a notable contribution to thefree speech law then emerging inAmerican constitutional law.

While her case was beingdeliberated, Schwimmer was underconstant attack in the virulent right-wing press. She filed a libel suitagainst historian Fred R. Marvinwho had labeled her “a German spyand Bolshevik” in his column in theNew York Commercial. She won thecase and was awarded $17,000 indamages (Schwimmer v. Commer-cial Newspaper Co. 228 N.Y.S. 220(1928).

In the 1930s, Schwimmer wasinvolved with movements for worldcitizenship; she worked for thecreation of a world center forwomen’s rights and labored to set upa world constitutional conventionduring and after World War II.

The Schwimmer citizenshipdecision was fought by the ACLUand other civil rights organizations.

The decision was finally reversedby the United States Supreme Courtin Girouard v. United States 328U.S. 61 (1946), with Justice WilliamO. Douglas quoting the Holmesdissent and stating that “the victoryfor freedom of thought recorded inour Bill of Rights recognizes that inthe domain of conscience is a moralpower higher than the State.”

Rosika Schwimmer died ofpneumonia on August 3, 1948, notlong after she was nominated for theNobel Peace Prize. (No prize wasawarded that year.) Her remainswere cremated, and her ashes werescattered in Lake Michigan near thehome of her maverick friend. �

which the company wasenlisted has not its equal inthe history of recruiting. Inbarely 36 hours of time theyhave enlisted a company of

men reaching beyond the maximum of gallant, strong-armed,stout-hearted men, who will make themselves felt in thewar…. Can any town, city, or state in the North show anequally good two days’ work? The Concordia Guards have ourbest wishes for their future and our hopes that victory mayalways crown their aims.”

Chicago Jewry lamented the assassination of the President. LiebmanAdler and Bernhard Felsenthal delivered moving eulogies. Jewish

business establishments closed their doors, declared a day ofmourning, and draped their windows with portraits of the martyredPresident and memorial banners. Jews were represented in Lincoln’sChicago funeral procession by the Hebrew Benevolent Association andthe Chevra Kadisha Bikur Cholim.

Abraham Lincoln lay in state for two days at Chicago’s CourtHouse under a canopy inscribed with David’s lament from II Samuel1:19, “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places.” �The introductory remarks about the Concordia Club meeting were taken from a talk byMarshall D. Krolick at a CJHS open meeting in 2004. Mr. Krolick, a former member ofthe Society board, is a distinguished member of the Civil War Round Table.

Chicago’s Jews and Abraham Lincolncontinued from page 7


My family, the Cheskises, pharmacists on the Near North Side, and the Averbushes, living on

the South Side, brought my maternal grandparents,Rabbi Sholom and Geesa Bozman, to America in themid-1920s from the Ukraine. Through the JewishCourier, my grandfather found a job as a rabbi inDavenport, Iowa, where he served for over twenty-fiveyears, before retiring to Chicago.

In 1938, Rabbi Bozman’s daughter, Lillian, marrieda Chicago rabbi, Louis J. Chaimovitz, whose shul,Anshe Shavel Yanova, was located at 16th Street andHoman Avenue. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Chaimo-vitz Hebrew Book Store on Roosevelt Road sold books,mezuzas, taleisim, and other Jewish paraphernalia. Thestore was founded by Louis’s father, Rabbi ElchononChaimovitz, who passed away in 1932. Above the bookstore, in their living quarters, RebetsnMiriam, Elcho-non’s wife, made shidukhim (arranged marriages), workfor which she was known throughout the West Side.

Rabbi Louis Chaimovitz, in addition to his book store and his shul, was among the founders of the

first Orthodox Jewish day school in Chicago, theHebrew Parochial School at 1239 South IndependenceBoulevard, and served as its first executive director.

He would approach all the people he knew who hadschool age children and fervently work to persuadethem to send their kids to this new start-up school. Hisown twin daughters, Chana (Kovalsky) and Sema(Menora) attended this school and continued on towhat was then the Chicago Jewish Academy, the firstOrthodox Jewish high school in Chicago.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Rabbi Chaimovitz, knownfor his oratorical skills, was called on to speak at manyorganizational affairs. Over the years, he conductedhundreds of Chicago weddings, large and small. Manyof the small weddings were held in his own home, firston Independence Boulevard, and later, in Austin.Funeral directors regularly called on him to speak whenthe family had no rabbi of their own. Also, in the ’40sand ’50s, shkhita (kosher ritual meat slaughtering) atmajor local meatpacking companies, such as Armourand Swift, was developed by Rabbi Chaimovitz,bringing work to local shokhtim (ritual slaughterers),many of whom were survivors of the Holocaust.

In the early 1950s, Anshe Shavel Yanova moved to the Austin neighborhood, to Central Avenue at

Washington Boulevard. In Austin, Rabbi Bozmanassisted his son-in law in the shul while his wife, Geesa,volunteered at the BMZ (Beth Moshav Z’keinim), theJewish home for the aged on the West Side.

Orthodox medical students attending the ChicagoMedical School found Austin a convenient place to live.When necessary, on Shabbat or Jewish holidays, theycould walk to class. Medical students from otherneighborhoods would often stay at the Chaimovitzhome over Shabbat when there was a special lecture thathad to be attended at the school.

In 1967, while on a trip to Israel with his wife,Lillian, to plan their aliya, Rabbi Chaimovitz passedaway suddenly, at the age of 53. Lillian lived until 1999.

Within a few years after the rabbi’s passing, theAnshe Shavel Yanova shul in Austin was absorbed intoCongregation Beth Itzchok, at 6717 North WhippleStreet. Rabbi Chaimovitz’s shul had served the Austincommunity for almost twenty years. �

Rabbi Louis J. Chaimovitz: An Orthodox Rabbi’s Founding Role in Chicago

BY SEMA CHAIMOVITZ MENORA

In 1962, the newly remodeled Congregation Anshe ShavelYanova in Austin (also known as Central Hebrew Congrega-tion because of its location at 52 North Central Avenue) wasdedicated. From left: Rabbi Arnold Weiner, the architect who designed the remodeled building; the spiritual leader,Rabbi Louis J. Chaimovitz; and officers Ben Levin and RabbiReuben Deitz. Photo courtesy of the author.

Walter Roth, in a recent President’s Column, mentioned the Yiddish language newspaper, the Jewish Courier, and brought back the memory of my family’s beginnings.


ABRAHAM KOHN’SAMERICAN FLAGcontinued from page 5

Books, of course, by writersof American Jewish his-

tory—specifically, Jacob RaderMarcus, Isaac Markens, andBertram Korn—were combed;but these simply containedreferences to the flag and itspresentation to Lincoln.

One may ask, “Why thesearch?” Simply stated, theresponse would be that weJews have always been aremembering people. We havealways looked back upon thepast with shining eyes, with anunderstandable and persistentzeal for evocations andmemorabilia of Jewish worldsgone by. Particularly applicableto Jews, perhaps, is an expres-sive statement by Goethe,appearing as a preface to thetranslation of the diary ofAbraham Kohn:

Happy is he whoremembers hisprogenitors with pride,who relates withpleasure to the listenerthe story of theirgreatness, of theirdeeds, and silentlyrejoicing, sees himsleflinked to the end ofthis goodly chain.

Editor’s note: In the original1983 article, Joseph Levinsonwrote that the biblical verses onthe flag began with Joshua 1:5.McKinley, in his letter, wrote ofthe quotation starting with 1:4,as did H.L. Meites in Historyof the Jews of Chicago. So we,too, began with that portion.

Start of the WackerDrive Rehab, Part II,2005. From left:Senator Dick Durbin,Senator BarackObama, AldermanBurton Natarus,Mayor Richard M.Daley, CongressmanDanny Davis, and(unidentified). Photo from the website of formeralderman Natarus.

Report on the Society’s January 25 Open MeetingBurton Natarus: “Memories of A Public Official”

About fifty hardy Chicagoans attended our open meeting on a near-zero-degree-cold Sunday afternoon. We met in the chapel of Temple Sholom,3480 North Lake Shore Drive, after a social hour with refreshments.

Program Chairman Charles B. Bernstein introduced our guest speaker,Burton Natarus, former alderman of Chicago’s 42nd ward (1971–2007).

A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, Natarus was born to Jewish immigrantparents from Russia. There were only four Jews in Burton’s high school. Hewas on the track team and credits his 10.3-second speed in the 100 yarddash to his “training”—being chased by and escaping from non-Jews.

He earned a BA and LLD from the University of Wisconsin and came toChicago in 1960, hired as a trial lawyer at Montgomery Ward. He wasintroduced to politics that year as a volunteer for JFK.

In 1961, he was married to Barbara Eisendrath (deceased). She camefrom a Reform family; his background was Orthodox/Conservative. So hiswishes for a traditional marriage ceremony required some negotiating withRabbi Louis Mann of Sinai Congregation who officiated at their wedding inthe Ambassador East Hotel—good practice for a politician.

He was brought into the 42nd Ward Regular Democratic Organizationby State Senator Ira Colitz; Chicago Park District Commissioner “LittleJack” Levin, the longtime Madison Street restauranteur of cheesecake fame;and George Dunne, the 42nd ward committeeman. When the incumbent42nd ward alderman died in office, Natarus assumed his duties without pay.He then became a candidate and won the next election.

Natarus remembers that when he first entered the city council, in 1971,there were a number of Jewish aldermen, including Bernard Stone and LeonDespres. (Mayer Goldberg, a previous alderman of the 42nd ward, had leftthe council for a judgeship in 1968.)

An expert in land use planning, Natarus considers his greatestaccomplishments to be the rebirth of the Near North Side, sponsorship ofnoise abatement ordinances, the hands-free cell phone requirement fordrivers, and the ordinance permitting religious articles (including mezuzahs)to be displayed on condominium and apartment doors.

He is rather pessimistic about the future of Jews in Chicago electiveoffice and political influence, due to changes in local demographics andwhat he feels is our failure to unite in support of co-religionists.

—compiled from notes by Rachelle Gold and Ed Mazur


M y source for these selections isthe Chicago Foreign Language

Press Survey Microfilm Collection atthe Chicago Public Library, HaroldWashington Library Center.

In the autumn of 1936 theChicago Foreign Language PressSurvey was organized under the WorksProgress Administration (WPA) ofIllinois. The purpose of the Survey wasto translate and classify selected newsarticles appearing in Chicago’s foreignlanguage press from 1861 to 1938.

Financial curtailments in the WPAprogram ended the Survey in October1941. The Chicago Public Librarypublished the work in 1942. Theproject consists of a file of 120,000typewritten pages from newspapers of22 different foreign languagecommunities in Chicago.

Yiddish is the foreign language of the Jewish press in the Survey.English language periodicals are alsoincluded, as well as the publicationsof charitable institutions, communalorganizations, and synagogues.

ED MAZUR’S

PAGES FROM THE PAST

time, several hundred dollars wereraised, and hundreds of pounds ofbread and other foodstuffspromised. Supplementary to thesesubscriptions, was $1,000 raisedby Mr. Koppel, personally.

The money is being expendedin food under the direction ofMessrs. Koppel and Kallis. Ticketsare issued to the hungry people.Those able to pay are charged tencents for a meal, but thosewithout means are fed withoutcost. The food is being distributedfrom Kallis Hall. The work will bekept up until times are better.—The Occident, August 25, 1893.

FUND FOR REVOLUTIONARIES—CHICAGO RUSSIAN JEWSDECLARE OUTRAGES MUST BEAVENGED Funds for the purchaseof arms and ammunition by therevolutinary committee at St. Petersburg were collected lastevening at a meeting of theRevolutionary Society of RussianJews at the West Side Auditorium.The local branches of the SocialDemocrats and the Social Revolu-tionists united with the JewishBund is urging contributions.

For the purpose of purchasingarms for the revolutionaries$92.50 was collected. Subsequentpersonal contributions raised theamount to $256.80. An attemptwill be made to divert a portion ofthe general fund for arming theJews of Russia for self-defense.There will be a meeting tonight atMetropolitan Hall to further therevolutionary cause.—ChicagoChronicle, November 17, 1905.

LE BASSKY RESIGNS FROMHEBREW INSTITUTEAttorney Jacob S. Le Bassky hasresigned his membership in theChicago Hebrew Institute,because the Institute closed itsdoors to Alexander Berkman, who

was supposed to speak for theLabor Defense League.

Mr. Le Bassky claims thatthrough this action, the Institutewrecked the principle of freespeech. In his letter of resigna-tion, Mr. Le Bassky states that heattended the meeting, which,refused by the Institute, was heldat the West Side Auditorium.Between 400 and 500 men andwomen attended this meeting.The crowd was orderly in everyrespect, and no unpatrioticutterances were made against theAmerican flag. Mr. Le Basskydeclares that generally he didn’tsee anything there except theeducational worth of the meetingfor the public.—Daily JewishCourier, August 16, 1915

A SOCIALIST RABBI Not everyreader could understand RabbiJacobson’s article, “Every PiousJew Must Be A Socialist,” inyesterday’s issue of The DailyWorld. But everyone is interestedin the phenomenon that there isin Chicago a rabbi who declareshimself publicly as a Socialist.

We have had, until now,political rabbis or bootblacks tothe worst sort of social leaders.But we never had a rabbi herewith the courage to declare…that“Every Pious Jew Must Be ASocialist.” In Chicago we seerabbis open their synagogues tothe lowest types of politicians.

It is therefore pleasant to seethat there are also pious Jews inChicago who cling to the ancientJewish law of Moses and theProphets. We trust that the piousJews will, from now on, spreadtheir socialism in the synagogues,Hebrew schools, and theologicalcolleges, and will also win therespect of free thinkers.—The Daily World, April 27, 1918

RELIEF MEETING HELD AND AIDPROMPTLY FURNISHED HUNGRYPOLISH AND RUSSIAN JEWSSeveral hundred people attendeda meeting held Wednesdayevening in Kallis Hall, 511Jefferson Street, in aid of theunemployed Russian and PolishJews in this city. AlexanderKoppel, the Canal Street bankerpresided, and exhibited a list containing names of 213 adultsand 336 children, who were actually suffering for food.

Alexander Koppel, who isnoted for his many charitabledeeds in Chicago, urged themeeting to take immediateaction. As a result, in a short

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IN THIS ISSUE:Abraham Kohn’s 1861 FlagChicago’s Jews and Abraham LincolnSándor(A. Raymond Katz)

and The Chicagoan MagazineRosika SchwimmerRabbi Louis J. ChaimovitzReport on Jan. 25th Meeting

Documents

chicago jewish historychicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2009/cjh_2009_1.pdf · and Medical Center, ... Two are in Forest Park; ... 4. Chicago Jewish History Winter 2009. Chicago Jewish