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The Temple Bombing
The most notable event in the 150-year history of The Temple happened in 1958.
For decades, Atlanta Jews had felt insecure because of the virulent and lawless anti-Semitism revealed by the lynching of Temple member Leo Frank in 1915. The congregation tried to blend in with its Gentile neighbors.
But when Rabbi Jacob Rothschild arrived in 1946, he became an outspoken opponent of racial segregation. By the late 1950s the Civil Rights movement had heated up, and on October 12, 1958, fifty sticks of dynamite were set off in the north entrance of the building. Fortunately no one was injured.
The bombing galvanized the commitment of Atlanta's leaders to being "the city too busy to hate." Mayor Hartsfield rushed to the site to condemn the bombing. Newspaper editor Ralph McGill also condemned it, So did President Eisenhower. Local institutions and ordinary citizens lent their support and pledged money. By the next day the Temple's signboard was advertising the title of Rabbi Rothschild's upcoming Friday sermon, "And None Shall Make Them Afraid."
Although five suspects were soon arrested and one was tried, none were convicted. However perhaps the bombing can be credited with shocking Atlanta into rejecting the kind of behavior seen in other Southern cities during the Civil Rights movement. When Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel peace prize, Atlanta's civic and business leaders threw an integrated banquet to honor him. Rabbi Rothschild, naturally, was one of the cosponsors.
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A light rain began to fall before I could color the magnolias, so I threw the wet sketchbook into my tote bag and headed back to the transit station. I decided I like the magnolias the way they are.
Drawn March 11, 2017
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/temple-...
The Temple Bombing
The most notable event in the 150-year history of The Temple happened in 1958.
For decades, Atlanta Jews had felt insecure because of the virulent and lawless anti-Semitism revealed by the lynching of Temple member Leo Frank in 1915. The congregation tried to blend in with its Gentile neighbors.
But when Rabbi Jacob Rothschild arrived in 1946, he became an outspoken opponent of racial segregation. By the late 1950s the Civil Rights movement had heated up, and on October 12, 1958, fifty sticks of dynamite were set off in the north entrance of the building. Fortunately no one was injured.
The bombing galvanized the commitment of Atlanta's leaders to being "the city too busy to hate." Mayor Hartsfield rushed to the site to condemn the bombing. Newspaper editor Ralph McGill also condemned it, So did President Eisenhower. Local institutions and ordinary citizens lent their support and pledged money. By the next day the Temple's signboard was advertising the title of Rabbi Rothschild's upcoming Friday sermon, "And None Shall Make Them Afraid."
Although five suspects were soon arrested and one was tried, none were convicted. However perhaps the bombing can be credited with shocking Atlanta into rejecting the kind of behavior seen in other Southern cities during the Civil Rights movement. When Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel peace prize, Atlanta's civic and business leaders threw an integrated banquet to honor him. Rabbi Rothschild, naturally, was one of the cosponsors.
------
A light rain began to fall before I could color the magnolias, so I threw the wet sketchbook into my tote bag and headed back to the transit station. I decided I like the magnolias the way they are.
Drawn March 11, 2017
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/temple-...