1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910838381503321

Autore

Chaddock Katherine Reynolds <1945->

Titolo

The Spingarn brothers : White privilege, Jewish heritage, and the struggle for racial equality / / Katherine Reynolds Chaddock

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Baltimore : , : Johns Hopkins University Press, , 2023

©2023

ISBN

9781421445526

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (206 pages) : illustrations

Classificazione

BIO032000SOC070000

Disciplina

323.092/2

Soggetti

African Americans - Civil rights - History - 20th century

Jews - United States

Civil rights workers - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction: Brothers and brotherhood -- Sons of determination -- The Columbia stamp -- No simple launch -- Roots of activism -- Goodbye, Columbia -- Joining by doing -- New tactics for new abolition -- Great war; great debates -- Aftermath -- Ongoing challenges and final change -- A new era for old soldiers -- Epilogue: Beyond brotherhood.

Sommario/riassunto

"An absorbing account of how two Jewish brothers devoted themselves to the struggle for racial equality in the United States.In the late nineteenth century, Joel and Arthur Spingarn grew up in New York City as brothers with very different personalities, interests, and professional goals. Joel was impetuous and high-spirited; Arthur was reasoned and studious. Yet together they would become essential leaders in the struggle for racial justice and equality, serving as presidents of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, exposing inequities, overseeing key court cases, and lobbying presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy. In The Spingarn Brothers, Katherine Reynolds Chaddock sheds new light on the story of these fascinating brothers and explores how their Jewish heritage and experience as second-generation immigrants led to their fight for racial equality. Upon graduating from Columbia University, Arthur joined a



top Manhattan law practice, while Joel became a professor of comparative literature. The two soon witnessed growing racial injustices in the city and joined the NAACP in 1909, its founding year. Arthur began to aim his legal practice toward issues of discrimination, while Joel founded the NAACP's New York City branch. Drawing from personal letters, journals, and archives, Chaddock uncovers some of the motivations and influences that guided the Spingarns. Both brothers served in World War I, married, and pursued numerous interests that ranged from running for Congress to collecting rare books and manuscripts by Black authors around the world. In this dual biography, Chaddock illustrates how the Spingarn brothers' unique personalities, Jewish heritage, and family history shaped their personal and professional lives into an ongoing fight for racial justice"-- Provided by publisher.