Black List Up Before D.a.r. Convention Committee; Discussion on Floor Barred

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

Mrs. Helen Tufts Bailie and Mrs. St. Omer Roy of Kansas, delegate to the convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution in session here and local secretary of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, will appear before the Resolutions Committee of the D. A. R. convention today in support of a resolution introduced by Mrs. Roy, providing for a referendum to all chapters on questions of “national importance” and the exercise of their own discretion by chapters in selecting speakers. The latter resolutions involves the D. A. R. Black List which includes the names of a number of Jews and is now the main bone of contention between the Committee of Protest and the present administration. Mrs. Roy sought to introduce the resolutions from the floor but Mrs. Alfred J. Brosseau, president general, ruled that the resolutions must be referred to the committee of which Mrs. Henry B. Joy is chairman. Mrs. Joy, chairman of the committee, in a subsequent press conference denied reports that she had said the resolution would be smothered by the committee.

The Washington Council on International Relations, a group of prominent educators, religious leaders and social workers, launched an attack upon Mrs. Brosseau, president general of the D. A. R., scoring the Black List as “baseless and unintelligent” and accusing Mrs. Brosseau of “alligning the D. A. R. with Fred R Marvin and other ‘ commercial heresy hunters’ against the Federal Council of Christian Churches, the National Welfare Council, Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A., President Faunce of Brown University, President Neilson of Smith College, President Mary E. Woolley of Mount Holyoke College and other educators; Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick, Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and other ministers, and all other men and women of light and learning, of peace and good will who believe that international differences can be settled by conference and other peaceful means.”

Mrs. Bailie declared in a statement to the Jewish Daily Bulletin correspondent here that, within her knowledge the D. A. R. has never issued literature reprinting or quoting from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. What she and the Committee of Protest did call attention to, however, was the fact that in a D. A. R. pamphlet called “The Common Enemy,” references and excerpts were contained from a book by Mrs. Nesta Webster, and English woman, entitled “World Revolution.” This book, Mrs. Bailie stated, contains material from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Mrs. Webster published this material in the anti-Semitic London “Morning Post.”

The fact that the D. A. R. used material from such a book in one of its official publications is sufficient indication of the mistaken policy of the present administration, she said.

Mrs. Bailie also declared that Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and Bernard G. Richards had protested to E. P. Dutton against a book by the same author.

Lag Baomer will be observed this year on May 8. The Jewish Welfare Board has issued bulletins on the observance of this festival in the Jewish Centers and “Y’s” affiliated with it. A bulletin has also been issued for the observance of Mother’s Day on May 13.

Shavuoth, the Festival of Weeks, will occur on May 25 and 26. A set of twenty questions and answers on the observance of this holiday has been prepared by the Jewish Welfares Board. Literature for Memorial Day on May 30 and Flag Day on June 14 is also available.