American Jews and the Second Red Scare | Special Topics (Summer PD 2024)

About This Session

During World War I, the United States underwent a hyper-nationalist shift, which encouraged isolationism and distrust. In the years that followed, this shift then led to an era of paranoia and widespread fear of far-left movements such as Bolshevism, and mentions of Socialism and Communism were cause for suspicion as well. The result of these political and cultural changes was the first American Red Scare, an era of fear that disproportionately targeted Jews and other members of marginalized groups by questioning their loyalty and patriotism, often with dire consequences. In the years that followed, figures like J. Edgar Hoover continued to grow in prominence in the American political landscape, and by World War II’s end a second Red Scare was starting to build, one that would ensnare even more Americans in its grasp.

In this session, we’ll go into the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society to view primary source documents that explain and explore the lives of those who found themselves deemed “American subversives” in the years following World War II, and learn how those stories unfolded. Among the many collections we will examine are those of Morris Schappes, a City College professor jailed during the Red Scare; the papers of Lewis Strauss, known to movie fans as one of the antagonists in the film Oppenheimer;  and the Wise family, led by prominent Reform Rabbi Stephen Wise, whose entire family was targeted for their activism, including revocation of their passports amid charges of “disloyalty.” Through these and other materials, we will discuss the impact of these investigations and how they affected the individuals and families involved, but also the effect on the wider American community as well.

Watch the recording of AJHS’s 2023 Special Topics in History session below.