The History of Antisemitism: Henry Ford

Antisemitism flourished in early twentieth-century America. The Great Wave of Immigration from 1881 to 1914 brought 2.2 million eastern European Jews to America, fleeing persecution and seeking opportunity. They were often met with suspicion, and even violence. One such person who is emblematic of the antisemitism of this time is Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. In 1918, Ford purchased a newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, where he published antisemitic articles that would later become four volumes titled The International Jew. Based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which described an international ruling conspiracy, the article series alleged that such a conspiracy was infiltrating America. These articles ran from 1920 to 1924, reaching hundreds of thousands of readers and legitimizing ideas that otherwise may have remained on the fringe.

Join the Museum for a panel discussion about Henry Ford's antisemitism and its wide-ranging effects with Hasia R. Diner, Professor Emerita in the Departments of History and the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University; Steven Watts, author of The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century; and Victoria Woeste, author of Henry Ford's War on Jews and the Legal Battles Against Hate Speech. They will be in conversation with Britt Tevis, Rene Plessner Postdoctoral Fellow in Holocaust and Antisemitism Studies at Columbia University.