1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and UH 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: for our listeners. Like I know sometimes that I'm listening 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: to podcasts, I'm just letting them flow, and I don't 6 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: always look at what's coming next, like when I'm driving around. 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: But if you are a person that looks at your 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: podcast selection and you pick one or you just see 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: it come up, and you like to read what's coming up, 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: if you saw the title for today's episode, you might 11 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: be braced for a really horrific or upsetting story. I, 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: in fact, was braced for such a thing when you 13 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 1: told me what you were researching this week. UH, I 14 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: give you relief because the bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent 15 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: Congregation temple in Atlanta in the late nineteen fifties was 16 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: a unique moment in the civil rights movement. And while 17 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: there are some elements of the temple's pre bombing history 18 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: and some UH ideologies that are troubling and horrific, I 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: will give you a spoiler and say that overall, this 20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: is really a very very hopeful story. Yeah, there is 21 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: there is definitely a bombing. There is also racism and 22 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: anti Semitism, but the story is not the parade of 23 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: tragedy you may be expecting based on title. Correct. So 24 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,119 Speaker 1: it means if you were worried or scared that this 25 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: was one you just were not ready for. Today. Uh, 26 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: it is probably not going to be as upsetting as 27 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: you think, although of course there is some upsetting rhetoric 28 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: being discussed on the part of people that would bomb 29 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,479 Speaker 1: a thing. Uh, so we're going to hop right into it. 30 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: While Atlanta has had a Jewish population since the city 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: was founded, at the end of eighteen forty seven, Jews 32 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: were really a small minority of the city's people. In 33 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, fewer than thirty Jews were recorded living in Atlanta, 34 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: less than one percent the city's residents, and by eighteen sixty, 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: the year before the United States Civil War began, the 36 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: Jewish population in the city had doubled. Atlanta's Hebrew Benevolent 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: Society was also founded. That organization came together with two 38 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: primary missions, assisting the city's impoverished Jewish population and securing 39 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,239 Speaker 1: a burial ground. Two years after the Civil War ended, 40 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: while Atlanta was still rebuilding as a city. The Hebrew 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: Benevolent Society took its next step establishing a temple. And 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: this move was precipitated by the words of the Rabbi 43 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: Isaac Lisa of Philadelphia, who was here presiding over a 44 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: wedding that was the first Jewish marriage ceremony in Atlanta 45 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: in January of eighteen sixty seven, and Rabbi Liser told 46 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: the Southern Cities Jewish community that they should establish a 47 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: permanent place of worship. And his words were definitely heard 48 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: and they were encouraging. When the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation was 49 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen six seven, it was the first official 50 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: Jewish institution in Atlanta. By the late spring of that year, 51 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: just four months after Rabbi Liser's encouragement, they had their charter. 52 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: Over the next eight years, the congregation planned and built 53 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: a temple in downtown Atlanta, which was completed in eighteen 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: seventy five. The early years for the temple, which is 55 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: the name it came to be known by that shortened version, 56 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: we're a little bit rocky. There was a series of 57 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: changeovers in rabbis as the congregation struggled with its identity 58 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: and the type of worship that it would favor swaying 59 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: between traditional and reform ideologies, But in three year old 60 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: Rabbi David Marks was hired and he would stay at 61 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: the temple for more than half a century, steering it 62 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: towards classical reform Judaism. When Rabbi Marks retired after World 63 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: War Two, he was replaced with Rabbi Jacob Roth's Child 64 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: in n Rothschild built on Marx's work and fostering connections 65 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: with the greater Atlanta community, including with other religious faiths. 66 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: Rabbi ross Child was also a vocal supporter of civil 67 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: rights and social justice, and this was a departure from 68 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: his predecessor's work, who had felt that in order to 69 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: keep his congregation as safe as possible from anti Semitic 70 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: sentiments in the community, it was best to avoid confrontations 71 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: with the wider community on such issues. To be clear, 72 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: there was a very real and understandable reasoning behind Marx's 73 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: efforts to keep peaceful relationships with Atlanta's gentile population. Many 74 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: of the Temple community remembered vividly an event from nineteen 75 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: thirteen when a member of the temple named Leo Frank 76 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: was lynched by a mob after being accused of the 77 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: murder of a young girl. The evidence against him was thin, 78 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: but by virtue of being an outsider, being a Northerner 79 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,279 Speaker 1: who had moved to the South and a Jew, Leo 80 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: Frank became escape a scapegoat who was easy to vilify. 81 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: That is a way over some amplified version of this story. 82 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: We have an episode about it in the archive. It 83 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: was a huge miscarriage of justice and much of the 84 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: Jewish community in Atlanta opted to keep a low profile 85 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,280 Speaker 1: after that out of out of self preservation. Yeah. So 86 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: when we say that that Rabbi Marks had not been 87 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: vocal about civil rights, it wasn't necessarily because he didn't 88 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: care about them, but he was very concerned about the 89 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,479 Speaker 1: anti Semitic issues that were still very much a part 90 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: of culture at the time. But on Yam Kapoor, almost 91 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: from the time that he became the rabbi at the temple, 92 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: Rothschild used the holiday as an opportunity to speak about 93 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: segregation and to vocally oppose Jim Crow laws. He did 94 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: so during subsequent Yam Kapoor sermons as well. It kind 95 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: of came to be expected as the topic he included 96 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: the following, as he addressed his congregation, how comforting this 97 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: day might be. Here's the perfect opportunity to find ourselves forgiven. 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: God's standard is too high for us. His law is 99 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: too difficult our sins. We're just the expected failures of 100 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: all mortals. All we need to do, therefore, is come 101 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: into His presence on each ya, acknowledge our inevitable guilt, 102 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: and pray for forgiveness, and low we shall be forgiven. 103 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: We are held accountable for our conduct. We are responsible 104 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: for our acts. Don't rationalize your guilt by claiming that 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: morality is too difficult for attainment by mirror man. Don't 106 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: pretend helplessness because the right way to live is placed 107 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 1: out of your reach. Don't for a moment think that 108 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: you can blame your sinfulness on the fact that goodness 109 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: is beyond your grasp. Quite the opposite is true. We 110 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: must do more than view with alarm the growing race 111 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: hatred that threatens the South. The problem is ours to solve, 112 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: and the time for the solution is now. We have 113 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: committed no over sin in our dealings with negroes. I 114 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: feel certain that we have treated them fairly. Certainly, we 115 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: have not used force to frighten them. We have even 116 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: felt a certain sympathy for their predicament. No, our sin 117 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: has been the deeper one, the evil of what we 118 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: didn't do. This was, as you might suspect, not entirely 119 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: welcomed rhetoric. The fear of bigoted anti Semitic sentiment was 120 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: still very real to some of the people that Rothschild 121 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: was speaking to. They had lived through that nineteen thirteen incident, 122 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: and they knew how scary the world could be. They 123 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: didn't want to invite conflict or stirrup trouble, and they 124 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: were certainly afraid of stirring up the level of anti 125 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: Semitism that had led to Leo Frank's murder. I would 126 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: say also, this was in the nineteen forties, so there 127 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: was huge reason to be afraid based on events going 128 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: on in Europe yep like there was, there was a 129 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: lot of a reason that people felt the need to 130 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: stay quiet. And then, additionally to all that, Rothschild was 131 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: something of an outsider himself. He was from Pittsburgh and 132 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: he came to lead the temple after having served as 133 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: an Army chaplain. So while some of his congregation agreed 134 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: with his ideas, but feared retribution for them. Others dismissed 135 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: his message as being out of touch with the culture 136 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: of the South and the tentative peace among the differing 137 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: cultures that made up Atlanta. But to Rothschild, the morality 138 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: that he felt was an integral part of his faith 139 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 1: meant that he had to use his platform to address 140 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: social injustice. So he continued to speak out again and again, 141 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: and he put actions behind his words. He joined interfaith 142 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: organizations and civic groups, including the Southern Regional Council, the 143 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 1: Georgia Council on Human Relations, as well as the Greater 144 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: Atlantic Council on Human Relations, and under his stewardship, the 145 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: temple hosted an institute for the Christian clergy every February. 146 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: And while he worked hard to fill stir understanding across 147 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: varying faiths, Rabbi Rothschild also works to bridge the color 148 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: divide as well, asserting that black ministers must be included 149 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: in these kinds of gatherings, and he also invited leaders 150 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: of the black community to speak at the temple. In 151 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: late nineteen fifty seven, so after he had been working 152 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: at this for about a decade in Atlanta, Rosschild co 153 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: authored the Atlanta Manifesto, which was an anti segregation document 154 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: that was signed by more than eighty area religious leaders 155 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: and was directed at city authorities. While he worked on 156 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: the manifesto, Rothschild was not one of the signatories because 157 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: he felt that the city's Christian leaders should head the 158 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: initiative for it to have its best chance at a 159 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: positive reception, and that manifesto read in part, we do 160 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: not believe that the South is more to blame for 161 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: the difficulties which we face than our other areas of 162 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: our nation. The presence of the Negro in America is 163 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: the result of the infamous slave traffic and evil for 164 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: which the Earth was as much responsible as the South. 165 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: We are also conscious that racial injustice and violence are 166 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: not confined to our section, and that racial problems have 167 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: by no means been solved anywhere in our nation. Two wrongs, however, 168 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: do not make a right. The failures of others are 169 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,959 Speaker 1: not just a justification for our own shortcomings, nor can 170 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: their unjust criticisms excuse us for a failure to do 171 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: our duty in the sight of God. Our one concern 172 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: must be to know and to do that which is right, 173 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: and all of this vocal opposition to racism on the 174 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: part of the rabbi did not go unnoticed by the 175 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: greater population. But unfortunately the rabbi's efforts to foster understanding 176 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: and compassion led to some very serious consequences, and we're 177 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: going to talk about that right after we first pause 178 00:10:54,720 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: for a little sponsor break. While there were people in 179 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: Rabbi Rosschild's congregation who were a little unsettled by his 180 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,559 Speaker 1: constant engagement with social issues, there were plenty of people 181 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: from outside the temple's community who were downright incensed. For example, 182 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:21,559 Speaker 1: in May of nine, Rosschild was engaged as a speaker 183 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: at Atlanta's first Baptist church. In the evening of his lecture, 184 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 1: a man appeared outside the church carrying a picket sign 185 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:32,800 Speaker 1: specifically against the rabbi, and then he later heckled the 186 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: rabbi during the q and A segment of the evening's presentation. 187 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: And there was already a weird conflation on the part 188 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: of white Soupprentcist groups when it came to the Jewish 189 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: and Black communities. If you listen to our episodes about 190 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: the Palmer Raids, you may recall how Palmer and stirring 191 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: up a panic, started to lump anarchists and communists together 192 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,079 Speaker 1: as one huge threat pool and then eventually cast suspicion 193 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: on all emigrants. There was a similar though different rhetoric 194 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: playing out in the South of the nineteen fifties. And 195 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: to be clear, there are Jewish black people, yeah, but 196 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,839 Speaker 1: this was viewing the Jewish community as a whole in 197 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: the black community as a whole, sort of the same 198 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: general threat base, yes uh. And so for example of 199 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: how these things got combined, one flyer that was being 200 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,319 Speaker 1: circulated by the Christian Anti Jewish Party at the beginning 201 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: of the nineteen fifties was titled Jews behind race mixing, 202 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: and this flyer claimed that the Jewish population was working 203 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: against segregation so that the white race would be diluted 204 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: and weakened, warning that quote, a race once mongrelized is 205 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:46,319 Speaker 1: mongrolized forever. So there was no illusion that an outspoken 206 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: rabbi arguing against segregation wasn't going to make people angry. 207 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: But the real moment where it became clear that rothstop, 208 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: that Rothschild was really ruffling feathers came and the very 209 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: early morning of October twel when there was an explosion 210 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,479 Speaker 1: at the temple. It was three forty am on a Sunday. 211 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 1: Rabbi Rothschild was called atn am by the custodian at 212 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: the temple, Robert Benton. Benton had been the one to 213 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: discover the damage when he arrived at work that morning. 214 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: And you might think, as you listen to this and 215 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: you think about the timeline, that an explosion that large 216 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,479 Speaker 1: at three in the morning would have woken the neighborhood. 217 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: And it did. But when police patrolled the area in 218 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,320 Speaker 1: response to calls about the noise, they did not drive 219 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 1: up the temple's driveway, and from their perspective, they couldn't 220 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 1: see the hole in the building from the streets, so 221 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 1: it looked like everything was fine. I'm imagining that they 222 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: went to investigate this noise and then we're basically like, huh, 223 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: that was weird, right. Fifty sticks of dynamite had been 224 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: detonated at the temple's north entrance and the blast made 225 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: a huge hole in the building. Fortunately, though there were 226 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: no injury. There was, however, somewhere between one hundred thousand 227 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: and two hundred thousand dollars worth of damage to the structure, 228 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: depending on what source you are looking at. Yeah, especially 229 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: if you're looking at newspapers from the time. The number 230 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: varies wildly. One of the things that I read suggested 231 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: that two hundred was like the highest estimate. But as they, 232 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: you know, got more and more information about how bad 233 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: the damage was, it it crept downward a little bit 234 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: closer to the one thousand dollar number. Still a very 235 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: large sum in wherever or now. Yeah, I think we're 236 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: so used to modern uh stories of of explosions or 237 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: damages being in the billions, that it may not seem 238 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: initially that large an amount to the modern ear, but 239 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: in fact it's a lot of money. Uh. And this 240 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: attack was claimed by a white supremacist group called the 241 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: Confederate Underground. A man claiming to be the leader of 242 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: the group and calling himself General Gordon, phoned the United 243 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: Press International Office to tell them, quote, we bombed a 244 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: temple in Atlanta. This is the last empty building we 245 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: will bomb. Negroes and Jews are hereby declared aliens. At 246 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: six fifteen that evening, there was another call, this time 247 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: to the rabbi's home, where his wife Denise answered. They call. 248 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: The call said, I'm one of them that bombed your church. 249 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: I'm calling to let you know there's a bomb under 250 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: your house and it's lit. You've got five minutes to 251 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: get out and save your life. While Denise and a 252 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: neighbror got themselves and their children out of the house, 253 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: it turned out to have been an empty threat. Yeah. 254 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,520 Speaker 1: The police came and did a full scan of the 255 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: house and found nothing. But how terrifying and horrible. Um 256 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: and that same group, the Confederate Underground, had attacked a 257 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: synagogue in Charlotte, North Carolina, the prior November. The dynamite 258 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: that they used in that attack failed to detonate, and 259 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: between that failed attempt and the explosion at the temple 260 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, that can Federate Underground had bombed four other 261 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: temples and Jewish community centers, while their second attack in Gastonia, 262 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: North Carolina, on February nine, had also been thwarted by 263 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: faulty dynamite. Their third and fourth bombings, carried out just 264 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: hours apart on March six, sixteenth, at the Orthodox Temple 265 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: Bethel in Miami, Florida, and the Jewish Community Center in Nashville, Tennessee, 266 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: both caused building damage. The fifth attack, at the Bethel 267 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: Synagogue in Birmingham Alabama on April was unsuccessful, this time 268 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: due to diffuse failure, and the following day there was 269 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: another failed attack at the Jewish Community Center in Jacksonville, Florida. 270 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: I feel like this highlights the fact that, like the 271 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: series of bomb threats at Jewish community centers that is 272 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: ongoing today, has layers of being terrifying beyond just the 273 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: fact that it's a bomb threat. Right, Yes, it's a 274 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: bomb threat. That's part of a history of bomb threats 275 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: and bombings specifically against Jewish centers and houses of worship. 276 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: Because of those attacks and a protest demonstration outside the 277 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: Atlantic Constitution Offices in July where protesters carried signs reading 278 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: free America from Jewish domination, the Temple and all synagogues 279 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: throughout the South had increased their security, but this was 280 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,679 Speaker 1: not enough to deter the terrorists. The other thing that 281 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: happened as a result of the previous attacks was actually 282 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: an improvement in coordination across police forces from jurisdictions throughout 283 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: the South, and so after the attack on the Temple, 284 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: the law enforcement network activated immediately. More than seventy five 285 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: detectives worked in conjunction with agents from the FBI and 286 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in an unprecedented effort to 287 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,960 Speaker 1: search for suspects in the crime. Five days after the bombing, 288 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: on October seventeenth, ninety eight, five men, all associated with 289 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: the white supremacy groups, the National States Rights part and 290 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: the Knights of the White Camelia were indicted for the blast. 291 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: Wallace Allen, Robert Bowling, George Bright, Luther Corley, and Kenneth Griffin, 292 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,199 Speaker 1: and they eventually let one of the men go, but 293 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: the first of the five men that they tried was 294 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,919 Speaker 1: George Bright, and his trial started on December one, with 295 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: Judge Derwood te Pie presiding. The case against Bright was 296 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: the strongest the prosecutors believed, and the hope was that 297 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: a conviction in his case would make it easier to 298 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: convict his cohorts. They were kind of relying on a 299 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: domino effect to take place. The evidence against Bright included 300 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: a note found in his home that threatens terror against 301 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: the Jewish population, anti Semitic literature found in his home, 302 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: and testimony from an FBI informant who said that he 303 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: had been in a meeting with the other men in 304 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: May of that year where they planned the temple attack. Additionally, 305 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: the man we mentioned earlier who protested a lecture giving 306 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: given by Rabbi Rothschild and then heckled him from the 307 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: crowd was also George Bright. He had also been part 308 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: of the anti Semitic protest outside the newspaper offices. The 309 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,120 Speaker 1: jury in the case actually came to a deadlock. There 310 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 1: were nine in favor of conviction and three that were opposed, 311 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: and none were willing to budge, so on the tenth 312 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: day of the legal proceedings, Judge Pie declared a mistrial. 313 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: A second trial soon followed, but this time Bright was acquitted. 314 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: There's actually a whole weird side story where his um 315 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: lawyer was found in contempt of courts and I think 316 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: actually ended up doing some jail time, but he got 317 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: his client off. Uh. It sounded like a circus. But 318 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: because of the failure to secure a guilty verdict in 319 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: what they thought was clearly their strongest case, prosecutors eventually 320 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: it took quite some time, but they eventually dropped the 321 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,120 Speaker 1: charges against the other alleged conspirators. No other suspects were 322 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: ever charged for the bombing, so there was absolutely never 323 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: any justice in this case. Well, and this is also 324 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: pretty circumstantial evidence. It is clear evidence that he was 325 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,880 Speaker 1: anti Semitic, but like not a conclusive thing directly connecting 326 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:15,360 Speaker 1: him to the bombing. Um So well, that's a somber 327 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: element of this case. It does, as we mentioned at 328 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: the top of the show, have some truly hopeful elements 329 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: to it, and we will talk about those after a 330 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: quick word from one of our sponsors. All of that 331 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: outreach that Rabbi Rosschild had been doing in Atlanta's diverse communities, 332 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,160 Speaker 1: as uncomfortable as it sometimes made people, was really repaid. 333 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: In the aftermath of the bombing. People from all walks 334 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: of life rallied around ross Child and his congregation, religious 335 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: and civic leaders in Atlanta and then in the US 336 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: and then around the globe contemned the attack. The help 337 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,679 Speaker 1: came in both verbal condemnation of the attack and in 338 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: financial support for the temple to rebuild. The mayor of 339 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: it Lanta at the time, William be Hartsfield and Amy 340 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: will recognize if you have ever flown in or out 341 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: of Atlanta, said in an interview right after the attack, quote, 342 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: my friends, here you see the end result of bigotry 343 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: and intolerance, and whether we like it or not, those 344 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,280 Speaker 1: practicing rabble rousing and demagoguery are the godfathers of the 345 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: cross burners and the dynamiters. Yeah, there's actually footage of 346 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: of him making that pronouncement on television, and in his 347 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: Southern accent. It's quite charming. The editor of the Atlanta Constitution, 348 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: Ralph McGill, another name you'll recognize if you've been in 349 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: the city. We have a street named after him, wrote 350 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: a series of editorials on the bombing, which eventually earned 351 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,719 Speaker 1: him a Pulitzer Prize, in which he said, quote, you 352 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: cannot preach and encourage hate for the negro and hope 353 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: to restrict it to that field. When the wounds of 354 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: hate are loosed on one people, then no one is safe. 355 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: Donations came from rich and poor alike, including one which 356 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: was sent in by Fulton County Prison Chaplain Bill Allison. 357 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 1: The money, the chaplain explained, had been contributed by the 358 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: prisons black population, who had taken up a collection to donate. 359 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: The chaplain received a letter of thanks from Rothschild which said, quote, 360 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: of all the gifts which we have received, this one 361 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 1: certainly is one of the most meaningful and heartwarming. The 362 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: Social Hall at the temple was named Friendship Hall to 363 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: acknowledge the many people from all over Atlanta and the 364 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,520 Speaker 1: world who stood by Rothschild and his congregation and helped 365 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: him rebuild, and the rabbi's first sermon after the bombing, 366 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: he shared this message of hope quote. This despicable act 367 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,880 Speaker 1: has made brighter the flame of courage, and renewed and 368 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: splendor the fires of determination and dedication. It has reached 369 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: the hearts of men everywhere, and roused the conscience of 370 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: people united and righteousness. All of us together shall rear 371 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: from the rubble of devastation a city and a land 372 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: in which all men are truly brothers, and one shall 373 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: make them afraid. The following year, on the anniversary of 374 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 1: the bombing, the temple had been repaired and red, white, 375 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: and blue stained glass windows filled the space that had 376 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: been the whole caused by the blast, and in a 377 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,639 Speaker 1: statement to the press that was made on that anniversary, 378 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 1: Rabbi Rosschild said that the windows quote symbolized the basic 379 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: faith of the people. While the bomb attack had the 380 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: surprise consequence of bringing a lot of the Atlanta community together, 381 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: that also highlighted the problems that were still so clear 382 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: across the country. There were very valid questions raised about 383 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: whether there would be such kindness and good pr if 384 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: the same thing had happened at a black church. There 385 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,600 Speaker 1: were already plenty of cases of racist violence on the 386 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,639 Speaker 1: books against African Americans that had not been pursued so 387 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: diligently as the temple bombing, or at all. In some instances. 388 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: The bombing in its reaction also caught the aggregationist movement 389 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:05,360 Speaker 1: off guard. While supporters of segregation had long seen liberals 390 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: from the North and the end of a c P 391 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,880 Speaker 1: in the Supreme Court as their enemies in what they 392 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: thought was right, there were also efforts at this point 393 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: to try to disassociate from the militant white supremacist movements 394 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,399 Speaker 1: like the National States Rights Party, the Knights of the 395 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: White Chamelea, and the kkk UH. They wanted not to 396 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: let that mar what they thought was their correct ideology, 397 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,719 Speaker 1: and there were also some claims by white supremacist groups 398 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 1: that this whole bombing had been staged just to incriminate them. 399 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,719 Speaker 1: There were certainly still many battles to fight in the 400 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: civil rights movement and racial equality, and frankly anti semitism 401 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,200 Speaker 1: still remain issues today, but the bombing at the temple 402 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: is largely seen as a watershed moment that moved the 403 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: civil rights movement forward. When Rabbi Rothschild's wife, Janice Rothschild Blumberg, 404 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: wrote about the incident later in her life, she tiled 405 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: her hiding the bomb that healed, and in that writing, 406 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: which appeared in American Jewish History magazine Jenny's, also astutely 407 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: acknowledged the racial divide that offered the temple a bit 408 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: of privilege in the wake of this bombing. She wrote, 409 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: quote to churchgoing at Lantin's desecration of a house of 410 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: God was an abomination. That it was Jewish made no 411 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,679 Speaker 1: difference that its members were white. Probably did. And I 412 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: also want to say that, uh, that particular piece of 413 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: writing is spectacular and I encourage people to go read it. 414 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: It's available on j store because she really captures what 415 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: it was like to be in the midst of that 416 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: sort of weird shock wave, and what it was like 417 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,320 Speaker 1: from receiving that call in the morning, how they were 418 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,679 Speaker 1: dealing with it, what her emotions were doing, what the 419 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: community was doing. It's a really really good snapshot of 420 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: that moment in history. Well and you and I neither 421 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: of us is Jewish. We have not spent our lives 422 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: confronting anti semitism or racism. Frankly, so, having perspectives from 423 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: people who are coming from that side of it is 424 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: super important. Rabbi Rothschild continued for his entire life to 425 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: be an outspoken advocate for equality, even more so after 426 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: the bombing than before. He gave the eulogy for his 427 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: friend Martin Luther King, Jr. At an interfaith memorial in 428 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: Atlanta after the civil rights leader was assassinated. He died 429 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: of a heart attack on the last day of nineteen 430 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: seventy three. But the temple remains. It's changed and been 431 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: renovated several times to accommodate it's it's ever growing uh community, 432 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: and it is still an active place of worship. It 433 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,439 Speaker 1: is also on the National Park Service National Register of 434 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,119 Speaker 1: Historic Places to Visit. I mean, it's a part of 435 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:52,719 Speaker 1: Atlanta that we see all the time. People drive by it. 436 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: It is shown in the movie Driving Miss Daisy. It is. 437 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: It's a gorgeous, gorgeous structure and really lovely. So uh. 438 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: That is the story of the temple bombing, and it's 439 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 1: one of those things that I feel foolish. I did not, 440 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: even though I live here in Atlanta and I have 441 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: seen little snippets about it, I never really knew that 442 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: much about it. Yeah, and you and I had a 443 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: brief conversation before we started recording about having even been 444 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: There's a Jewish History museum in Atlanta, and havn't having 445 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: even been there. And I think gone through their exhibition 446 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: on his Jewish History in Atlanta through objects, it rang 447 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 1: a bell. But I knew so little about it at all. Yeah, 448 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: which is a pity. I mean, I know within the 449 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: Jewish community it is still a very big deal and 450 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 1: something that they speak about a lot, but I had 451 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 1: no knowledge of that fact prior to digging into this research. 452 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: Do you have some listener mail for us? I do 453 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,640 Speaker 1: have listener mail, and it's one of those cases where 454 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:52,359 Speaker 1: someone sent us a cool gift and I get to 455 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: spring it on Tracy while we record. She's in Boston. 456 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: Uh this when I've just delighted in and it might 457 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: just be me. We'll see uh this from our listener 458 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: erin She says, hello, fellow history near It's Tracy and Holly. 459 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,920 Speaker 1: I found your podcast about six months ago and I've 460 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: since gone bananas listening to as many as I can 461 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: cram into my long commute. I thoroughly enjoy them. Also, 462 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: thank you for regularly teaching me something new and enabling 463 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 1: me to continue my tradition of inserting weird historical facts 464 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 1: into more conversations than I can count. She is the 465 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: education manager at a history center in Indiana, and she says, 466 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: in this capacity, I get to give tours, teach workshops, 467 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,480 Speaker 1: and put on educational programs that go beyond the stories 468 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,400 Speaker 1: that we tell in our exhibits, which is a boatload 469 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,479 Speaker 1: of fun. I've learned some very interesting things about my county. 470 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: And then she talks a little bit about some topics 471 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: that might make good podcast subjects. So I will skip 472 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: over that in case. But here's the part where it 473 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 1: gets exciting. Any who. She says, for the last two years, 474 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: we have held a program called puzzle Fest in January 475 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: to coincide with National Puzzle Day. Part of puzzle Fest 476 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: includes a puzzle completion contest. Teams compete to see who 477 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,479 Speaker 1: can put the official puzzle together the fastest. I designed 478 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: the puzzle using images of artifacts from our permanent collection. Okay, 479 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: that's one. Just the coolest project ever. But that's a 480 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: whole separate thing. Uh. And this year's official puzzle is 481 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: a collage of photos and postcards. Since I know that 482 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: you thoroughly enjoy getting postcards from listeners around the world, 483 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: I thought you also might like a puzzle of a 484 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: bunch of postcards from a surprisingly interesting place in the 485 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: middle of the hills in Indiana. I've enclosed one puzzle 486 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: for each of you, since you're rarely in the same 487 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 1: place at the same time. Now that Tracy lives in Massachusetts, 488 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: so enjoy keep up the great work erin Look at 489 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: this cute puzzle, Tracy. I'm holding it up to the camera. Awesome. 490 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: It's really cool. And I don't know about you. I 491 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: love puzzles. I will be doing this when at work 492 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: because I have um some animals that make it not 493 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: possible for me to do puzzles at home anymore, and 494 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 1: I have really missed them, so I'm excited. Thank you 495 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: so much, Aaron. My my husband also really likes puzzles, 496 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: and at his place of work, they often have a 497 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: community puzzle that they work together as they need like 498 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 1: a mental break from whatever task. There in the middle 499 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: of they will go put a few pieces together. Yeah, 500 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: one of my previous jobs always had a puzzle going 501 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 1: in the brake room, so I love it. I love 502 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: puzzles and I've missed doing them, So thank you Erin. 503 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: You do not know that you've actually quenched the thirst 504 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: that has been sort of lurking for a long time. Yuh. 505 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: You would like to write to us, you can do 506 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,000 Speaker 1: so at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. 507 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: You can also find us across the spectrum of social 508 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: media as at missed in History that includes Twitter, as 509 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: at missed in History, Facebook dot com, slash missed in History, 510 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: miss in history dot tumbler dot com. You get the 511 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: idea it's missed in history everywhere. You can visit our 512 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: parents site, which is how stuff works dot com. You 513 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: can type in the word civil rights and get such 514 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: an expanse of options to look through. They will keep 515 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: you very busy and informed for a long time. You 516 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: can also visit me and Tracy at missed in History 517 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: dot com. Or we have show notes for every episode 518 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:56,479 Speaker 1: that the two of us have worked on together, as 519 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: well as a complete back catalog of every episode of 520 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,640 Speaker 1: a podcast ever of all time. So we encourage you 521 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: come and visit us at Miston history dot com and 522 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and 523 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.