That the Jewish people have a great contribution to make to America, but that contribution can be made only if the Jews hold fast to the high ideals and traditions of their race, was the statement of Solomon Levitan, State Treasurer of Wisconsin, in an address before The Independent Order of Bnia Brith at Minneapolis, tonight. “High on the roll of men who have given great service to this country as Jewish-Americans”, Mr. Levitan placed the names of Justice Brandeis, Dr. Simon Flexner, Julius Rosenwald. “These are names to conjure with”, declared Mr. Levitan.
“I need to recall to you only a few names to prove that the Jews of today are making a great contribution to America. In the realm of music there is Leopold Auer, Joseph Hoffman, Mischa Elman, Zimbalist, Heifitz, Levitski, Morini. On the stage there are Delasco, Frohman, Gest, David Warfield, Schildkraut. In the film world there are Lasky, Zukor, Goldwin. In the field of art who has not heard of Jo Davidson, Henry Mosher, or Jules Brotensky.
“In medicine there is the noted Dr. Simon Flexner, there is Dr. Koller who discovered the use of cocaine in surgery; there is Dr. Harry Plotz who isolated the typhus germ.
“In journalism what name shines brighter than that of Adolph Ochs who placed the New York Times in the forefront of American dailies. Among jurists there are Justice Brandeis and Louis Marshall. In the pulpit there is Rabbi Stephen Wise, in the field of labor there is Samuel Gompers; in business there is Julius Rosenwald, Felix Warburg, and Nathan Straus.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
