100 Years Ago In the Forward

Socialist comrade Sol Fieldman was arrested this week on charges of disturbing the peace. He was brought before the magistrate, who ordered him held on $100 bail. Fieldman, who has relentlessly disrupted Socialist Party meetings with attempts to force his own political agenda on the party, refused to pay the bail and was sent to The Tombs. In the meantime, local police have harassed Toronto socialists and have arrested those who attempt to give speeches in public forums. The police are also accusing socialists of “disturbing the peace,” no matter what they do.

75 Years Ago In the Forward

Nowadays, everyone has a public relations agent. Many athletes have publicity people who cook up stories about them to get them fame and fortune. Some of the most outrageous tales come from the world of wrestling, where an agent advertised a wrestler as being a descendant of King David. The agent went so far as to claim that the wrestler was descended from the Spanish aristocratic family of Don Isaac Abravenel, also claimed to be descended from King David. Other English-language newspapers ate up this story. We didn’t buy it: We found this wrestler’s parents, and they’re regular old Ashkenazim from Poland.

50 Years Ago In the Forward

Famed playwright Arthur Miller was found guilty of contempt for refusing to testify before the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller, who testified before the committee in 1947, admitted to having attended meetings of writers affiliated with the Communist Party, but when asked to divulge who the other writers were, he refused to name names. Miller’s attorneys said they would appeal the decision.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT