America’s religious-minded people should be united in opposing intolerance and race hatred, Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts declared yesterday at ceremonies marking dedication of a statue to civil and religious liberty which was presented to this 300-year-old city by the Newport Jewish Congregation.
“Wherever in the world religion lies crushed and races are being persecuted, tyranny is enthroned,” Senator Walsh asserted. Denouncing “cruel and terrorizing persecution” in Germany, he warned Americans that many developments “may well give us concern and cause us to take heed to the need of eternal vigilance.”
Highlight of the ceremonies was the reenactment of George Washington’s visit to the Jewish congregation in 1790 when he delivered his famous message on religious and civil liberty. Flanked by a color guard of the Newport Artillery Regiment in colonial costume, W. Selden Washington President Washingtons great-great grandnephew, was greeted by Elward Jonas Phillips, direct descendant of Moses Seixas, who greeted Washington 149 years ago, and repeated the first President’s message.
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.
