From Tzivi’s June ’11 Spotlight:
Beginning in 2006, when Illinois created a commemorative day named for Jane Addams, I’ve been continually surprised by all the forgotten links between Addams and Chicago’s Jewish community.
Addams pops up again as a major player in the sad tale of Lazarus Averbuch, a Jewish immigrant supposedly killed in self-defense by Chicago Police Chief George Shippy in 1908. When investigators tried to bury inconvenient evidence, Addams “convened a group of social activists and concerned Jews who weren’t sure they wanted the case to be closed yet.” So says Joe Kraus in An Accidental Anarchist, the fascinating book he co-authored with Walter Roth in 1998.
Kraus (who now teaches at the University of Scranton) will return to Chicago to present “An Accidental Anarchist: How I Got Drawn into the Lazarus Averbuch Affair” at Spertus Institute on Sunday June 12th.
Click HERE to order tickets from the Spertus website.
Illinois will celebrate its 5th annual Jane Addams Day on December 10, 2011.
