Heywood Broun, noted newspaper columnist and founder of the American Newspaper Guild, who died this morning of pneumonia and complications at the age of 51, was one of the most outspoken campaigners against racial and religious hatred.
In recent years Broun had devoted increasing attention to prejudice, frequently discussing the issue in his column and calling for a positive stand in defense of human rights. Last June he announced at his home in Stamford, Conn., that he would run for Congress on a platform in which “I shall stress religious and racial tolerance.” Broun was a Catholic.
The last column in which Broun discussed anti-Semitism appeared on Nov. 20. A campaign for tolerance was not enough in the fight against racism and mounting prejudice, he said. “The time has come for non-Jews to testify out of their hearts, out of history and out of their own religious faith that the world stands in debt to the past and present achievements of Jewry.” His column on the S.S. St. Louis incident last June 15 was considered a classic. With deep feeling he compared the plight of the refugees on the ship to passengers on a vessel flashing an S O S to indicate danger.
At the time of his death, Broun was employed by the N.Y. Post, for which he had written only one column, however, before being stricken. He came to the Post from the World-Telegram.
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.
