The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith today commended U.S. Secretary of Transportation John Volpe for stopping the expenditure of federal funds on a road project leaning to a shrine operated by “the notorious anti-Semite, Gerald Smith” in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Mr. Volpe announced today that after reviewing the proposal he had withheld approval because the expenditure of the required federal funds “was not supported by the road service that would be provided.” After announcement of the federal grant was made last December the ADL sent a telegram to President Nixon urging him to direct Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans and Transportation Secretary Volpe to withdraw government financing. The Eureka Springs project includes a seven story high statue of Christ, a “Passion Play” and a “Christ Only Art Gallery,” all run by the Foundation. The League, which maintains a regional office in the area, was particularly critical of the Smith version of the “Passion Play” which it said conveys the message that the Jews as a people are guilty of decide.
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.
