The Jewish Labor Committee today announced the establishment of a commission to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Jewish life in America. “We will especially emphasize the role which the mass immigration of Jews played in the development of our country and of our Jewish community, “the announcement said.
“Those days have passed when only certain groups, the so-called ‘Yahudim’ could act as the spokesman of the Jewish people,” the statement said. “The great mass of the Jewish people, the army of workers and creators, has come of age and influences and molds the fate of our people. This fact is bound to play an ever more significant role in the life of the Jewish people in America, as well as in the life of the Jewish people throughout the world.”
The statement accentuated the role played by the Jewish trade union movement, which the immigrants had built and which had contributed materially to the creation of a vital general trade union movement in the country. Declaring that “the immigrants and their sons and daughters of the first, second and third generations had helped to build throughout the United States the great industries that have helped to make us rich and powerful,” the statement also pointed out the Jewish contributions to science, culture and the movement for human rights.
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.
