A significant step in furtherance of good will between denominations was announced here in the formation of the Chicago Committee of Christian Friends cooperating with Jewish groups in the presentation of “Romance of a People” in Soldier Field at a Century of Progress on July 3.
The spectacle, with a cast of 3,500 which will dramatize the high lights of the Old Testament, as the climax of Jewish Day, will receive the support of Protestant and Catholic leaders cooperating under the auspices of the Religious Educational Association, Dr. J. M. Artman, director of the association, announced.
Judge John M. McGoorty has accepted the chairmanship of the Chicago Committee of Christian Friends cooperating in the event. Among others who have accepted appointment to the committee are President Robert Maynard Hutchins of the University of Chicago; President Walter Dill Scott of Northwestern University; Dr. John Timothy Stone, Dr. Shailer Mathews, Henry P. Chandler, Dean Charles W. Gilkey of the University of Chicago chapel, D. F. Kelly, Knight of St. Gregory of the Roman Catholic church; Bishop George Craig Stewart, Dr. William J. Parker, the Rev. Walter Mee, Bishop Ernest L. Waldorf, William J. Bogan, Supperintendent of Schools; Miss Jane Addams of Hull House; the Rev. Ernest Fremont Tittle, Dr. Ellamay Horan and the Rev. Paul Rader.
CHRISTIAN FRIENDS OF JEWISH DAY
In a letter to the Jewish Day Committee, Dr. Artman states:
“We have noted with much interest the progress you have been making in the promotion of the pageant, ‘Romance of a People’. Several leaders in the Christian groups have wondered how they might aid in the promotion of this extraordinary event.
“In the light of this widespread interest, our executive committee unanimously voted on May 31st to appoint a Chicago Committee of Christian Friends, sponsoring Jewish Day and the pageant, ‘Romance of a People’. Already a significant start has been made, and widespread interest among leaders of Christian organizations has been created.
“Men of all shades of religious opinion have enthusiastically endorsed the work which the committee has proposed to do.”
” ‘I am glad to know,’ says John Timothy Stone, president of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of Chicago, ‘that the pageant is to be presented in such dramatic form. Surely it should be of most interest to all people everywhere. I am glad to have a share in seeking to interest others in this splendid presentation.’
GESTURE OF GOOD WILL
“The Religious Educational Association and the sponsoring committee will do everything possible to make ‘Romance of a People’ a great gesture of neighborliness and good will and sponsor a widespread sale of tickets wherever possible.”
The offer of aid was enthusiastically accepted by the Jewish Day Committee of which Judge Harry M. Fisher is chairman. Judge Fisher said:
“We greatly appreciate the generous offer of help and the expression of good will which prompted it. We feel highly gratified that the Christian world should regard our efforts as of interest to them and we feel that we already are successful in large measure as the purpose of our undertaking is none other than to broaden the basis for understanding among all peoples
“This demonstration of friendliness coming at a time when many of our people in other lands are harassed by bigotry and ignorance is heartening not only to the Jewish community but to all who believe in freedom of thought and the right of man to worship as he may see fit.”
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.
