“The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown:” Newspapers, Op-eds, and American Responses to Antisemitism

In 1940, there were nearly 1,900 daily newspapers in the United States read and shared by millions of Americans. These periodicals give us a glimpse into the intense struggles in the American heartland surrounding arguments promoting racism, discrimination, antisemitism and isolationism during the 1930s and 1940s.

Eric Schmalz, community manager for the History Unfolded project at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will talk about the role antisemitism played in the general American cultural landscape and how ordinary Americans reacted.

Provided in partnership with Ames Public Library, Ames Historical Society, and the Iowa State University Department of History and Greenlee School of Journalism and Commmunication/First Amendment Series. This program is made possible by the Campus Outreach Lecture Program of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, supported by the Leonard and Sofie Davis Fund. Supported by the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation.