Life of North American Jewry in Review

Repercussions of the Doug Brinkley lecture of last week are cropping up, with the management of one of Chicago’s largest loop hotels broadcasting apologies.

The lecture originally scheduled for the Assembly hall in the Masonic Temple, was canceled at the last minute because of pressure brought to bear on the management of the building by anti-Nazi groups here, and the deposit made on the hall was returned. All opposed groups were satisfied that the meeting had been prevented and ceased their vigilance.

However, the resourceful Friends of New Germany were sponsoring the “Doug Brinkley Lecture Forum, and educational medium,” went to the LaSalle Hotel and hired the grand ball room a few minutes before the lecture scheduled for the Masonic temple was to take place. Men were stationed at the Masonic temple and directed the audience to the LaSalle, four blocks away.

When a Jewish merchant, who does a considerable amount of business with the hotel, noticed the meeting, he protested to the management and explained the real significance of the meeting and the actual backers of the affair.

As a result, James Louis Smith, manager of the Hotel LaSalle, sent the following letter to Dr. Paul Hutchinson, president of the Chicago Committee for the Defense of Human Rights Against Nazism:

“I want to take this occasion to express my sincere regrets on account of the undue situation which arose from a meeting held at the Hotel LaSalle last week. We were not informed in advance of the nature of the meeting and, having been innocent in booking it, we hope you will appreciate our embarrassment in this matter. I need not assure you, of course, that anything of this nature will not be tolerated here and I can only reiterate my opology on behalf of the Hotel LaSalle.”