Anti-Defamation League Formed
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), founded on this day, is a Jewish civil rights organization, founded
“to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.”
At the time of its founding, anti-Semitism in the United States was widespread and seemingly on the increase. Through the 1930s, many pominent figures in American life made public anti-Semitic statements without embarrassment.
The most notorious anti-Semitic event during the time of the founding of the ADL was the lynching of Leo Frank in Georgia on August 17, 1915.
The civil liberties activities of the ADL also include issues related to the separation of church and state and the free exercise of religion.
Go to the ADL web site: http://www.adl.org
Learn more: Gregg Ivers, To Build a Wall: American Jews and the Separation of Church and State (1995)
Learn about anti-Semitism: Leonard Dinnerstein, Antisemitism in America (1994)
See the ADL’s program on civil rights: http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/
Learn about the ADL’s history: http://www.adl.org/centennial/#.Ux5VrU2YbMo