American Trailblazers Who Fought Persecution at Home and Abroad

United States poster promoting the need for a desegregated workforce to support the war effort, 1943. —Gift of the Crown family

As news of the rising Nazi threat reached Americans in the 1930s, the United States was struggling with racism, antisemitism, and anti-immigrant biases. In response, some religious leaders, members of the Black press, and other bold Americans gathered momentum to condemn Nazi persecution in Europe and racial discrimination in the United States.

In this digital program, Dr. Charles L. Chavis, assistant professor of conflict analysis, resolution, and history at George Mason University, discusses the leaders who confronted hatred overseas and at home while planting the seeds for the American civil rights movement with Dr. Edna Friedberg, a Museum historian.