Statements made by the National Council of the Jewish Tribune in its protest to Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt against the use of state funds to aid preparations for the Third Winter Olympic Games to be held at Lake Placid, N. Y., in 1932, were denied in a statement issued today by Judge Thomas A. Leahy, president of the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, who said:
“The statement of the National Council of the Jewish Tribune regarding the relation of the Lake Placid Club to the Winter Olympic Games is altogether erroneous. The Games were awarded by the International Olympic Committee to Lake Placid Village, not Lake Placid Club, and are organized by the Third Winter Olympic Games Committee appointed by the American Olympic Association.
“Lake Placid Club has also cooperated by furnishing the Intervales Ski Jumping Hill to the Olympic Committee, both without cost and wholly independent of club control. The Olympic Stadium which has just been built in the heart of the village at a cost of $150,000 is likewise wholly independent of the Lake Placid Club.”
The Olympic Committee contends that the bob run had to be built on this site owned by Lake Placid Club, because there was no other site on private land available in this region.
Following publication of the Jewish Tribune’s statement in New York newspapers, the Chamber of Commerce president appointed a committee of five local men to draft a reply to the Governor. On this committee are: Willis Wells, town supervisor and member of the Olympic Games Committee; Mayor Martin Ryan; Rollie Kennedy, member of the State Olympic Commission appointed by the Governor and chairman of the North Elba Park Commission; Sol Feinberg, Postmaster of Lake Placid; and S. J. Volpert, village trustee. Mr. Volpert is now in New York and his son, Dr. Samuel Volpert, was asked to represent him.
Although this committee’s letter to the Governor answering the Tribune’s charges was not made public, it is understood to claim that the Governor has been misinformed as to the facts and assures its support and assistance in any investigation he may make.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
