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Sweating for Democracy: Working-Class Media and the Struggle for Hegemonic Jewishness, 1919-1941 by Brian Craig Dolber Dissertat

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SWEATING FOR DEMOCRACY: WORKING-CLASS MEDIA AND THE STRUGGLE FOR HEGEMONIC JEWISHNESS, 1919-1941 BY BRIAN CRAIG DOLBER DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committe: Professor Robert W. McChesney, Chair Professor James R. Barrett Professor John C. Nerone Associate Professor Inger Lisbeth Stole ii Abstract Using the framework of political economy of media, this dissertation examines the history of the Jewish working class counterpublic in the United States during the interwar period and its relationships to the broader public sphere. Between 1919 and 1941, organic intellectuals, such as B.C. Vladeck, J.B.S. Hardman, Fannia Cohn, and Morris Novik, employed strategies to maintain the Yiddish-language newspaper the Forward, worker education programs, and radio station WEVD. These forms of media and cultural production were shaped by internal conflicts and struggles within the counterpublic, as well as evolving practices and ideas around advertising, public relations, and democracy. Vladeck, Hardman, Cohn and Novik all helped to extend Yiddish socialist culture through the reactionary 1920s while laying the groundwork for an American working class culture represented by the CIO in the 1930s, and a broad consensus around a commercial media system by the postwar period. This history demonstrates the challenges, conflicts, and contradictions that emerge in media production within counterpublics, and posits that other similar case studies are necessary in order develop enlightened strategies to democratize our contemporary media system. iii Acknowledgments While this dissertation is the product of many years of labor on my part, I can not imagine having completed it without the support and inspiration of so many people. First, I thank my two home departments at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: the Institute of Communications Research and the Department of Communication. Both provided me with intellectual and financial support through my years as a graduate student. In addition, I thank Matti Bunzl and Harriet Murav of the Program in Jewish Culture and Society, and the Illinois Initiative for Media Policy Research (IIMPR), for their generous support of my scholarship as well. As this is a work based largely on archival research, I owe a debt of gratitude to the many archivists and library workers at the various collections I visited, namely those at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Library; the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago, IL; the Kheel Center at Cornell University; the Tamiment Library and Wagner Archive at New York University; the New York Public Library; the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, MD; the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison, WI; and the YIVO Archives at the Center for Jewish History in New York. I had the honor of working with an excellent dissertation committee, who are not only some of the most renowned scholars in their respective areas, but who admirably make the link in their everyday lives between research and praxis. My time in graduate school was marked by significant upheaval at the University of Illinois-- within the field of communication and within the university as a whole-- and my committee consistently worked to protect my best interests as a student, a worker and a human being. They all showed their support when it mattered most, as iv the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) went on strike to protect its tuition waivers in November 2009. James Barrett helped me develop ideas for this project in its earliest stages while I took his U.S. Working Class History course during my first year as a graduate student, and consistently offered in-depth comments regarding both the substance and style of my work throughout my time in the Ph.D. program. I knew, as a communications scholar, that I would need the input of a working class historian on this project in order to make sure my work was sound. I thank Jim for his willingness to give my work serious consideration-- from reading suggestions to line edits-- while juggling so many other responsibilities, among them struggling to make the Urbana-Champaign campus and community a more just place. Inger Stole also helped me considerably with the early development of this project. Much of the material in chapters two and three emerges from work I did as an independent study with her about World War One propaganda and the Jewish working class, and from a paper I wrote while taking her History of Consumer Culture seminar. Through the writing process, she was generous with her time, reviewing several chapter drafts and offering helpful suggestions regarding archival research. Inger has played a formative role in my thinking about media history, and particularly the role of advertising and public relations. I learned much from being her teaching assistant, and she served as a consistent advocate on my behalf. John Nerone has provided me with an intellectual and moral compass throughout my time in graduate school. He has always pushed me to think in new, innovative ways while blurring the boundaries between the seminar room and the “pub” (a term I use deliberately, with John in mind). His intellectual flexibility, curiosity and rigor gave me the courage to pursue a v project that drew from multiple academic literatures and perspectives. John has been a teacher, a mentor, a therapist, and a friend. I could not have completed my Ph.D. without his support. The next pitcher is on me. My advisor, Bob McChesney, was one of my major inspirations to get a doctoral degree in communication in the first place. His commitment to fusing scholarship and social change has been both admirable and effective. I think many graduate students of my generation have been drawn into the field by Bob’s works, such as Rich Media, Poor Democracy, but I am one of the lucky ones who had the opportunity to work with him. Bob pushed me, particularly in the preliminary stages of research and writing, to clarify my project and make sure that it wasn’t just interesting to me but relevant to many. He reviewed drafts of my work through the writing process, and offered his criticism and support. Bob helped me navigate the tumultuous terrain of graduate school and always ensured that I would have a space to do my research and flourish. And perhaps most importantly, he has provided me with a model of how historical research, pedagogy and political engagement can be brought together. I also had the opportunity to take courses with many other wonderful faculty at the University of Illinois who shaped my thinking, and made an impact on this project indirectly. Among them are Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Clifford Christians, Cara Finnegan, Isabel Molina- Guzman, Dan Schiller, and Bruce Williams. Many others have also offered their input on this project, and I thank them for taking the time to assist me. Paul Buhle wrote several lengthy emails to me, displaying a lifetime of knowledge around working class culture, and offering me advice and encouragement in this endeavor. Nathan Godfried and Tony Michels, (whose work on WEVD and Yiddish socialism vi respectively, provided the basis for much of my research here), Harry Sapoznik, and Steve Macek, also offered me helpful advice in the research process. I was also fortunate enough to find the Union for Democratic Communications (UDC) as a graduate student, which I am sure will provide me with an intellectual home and camaraderie through the rest of my career. I could not have made it through graduate school without the intellectual and emotional support of the many friends and colleagues I met on the prairie-- among them are John Anderson, Peter Campbell, Christina Ceisel, Matt Crain, Ian Davis, Julie Laut, Eric McKinley, Caroline Nappo, Molly Niesen, Ben Poole, Richard Potter, and Desiree Yomtoob. Many of them assisted me with this project directly in reviewing chapter drafts, while others have enriched my ideas in unquantifiable ways through ongoing conversations and dialogue. I also thank my many sisters and brothers in the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO), IFT/AFT Local 6300. If there is any contemporary organization that embodies the spirit of social unionism discussed in this dissertation, it’s the GEO. Finally, my family’s imprint on this dissertation is deep. I began to investigate left-Jewish culture and media following the death of my great-uncle, Paul Pincus, during my first semester of graduate school. Paul was a Julliard-trained clarinetist who played both klezmer music and in Broadway pit orchestras, and on Station WEVD. My memories of him mostly consist of him sitting in his chair at my grandmother’s house on holidays, vodka in hand, yelling at the Mets game on television or repeating his stories about playing for Ethel Merman. When I came across his obituary on the Yiddish Radio Project website, while looking for information about Socialist radio stations, I knew I was on the path towards uncovering an important chapter of media history. The familial connection to this project has provided a motivating force through several vii years of arduous research. More importantly, it has taught me that our lives are all shaped by prior struggles. Social history can uncover those struggles, so that we may draw upon the past to build a better future. My parents, Michael and Elaine, have provided me with constant love and support for thirty years. After so many years in school, they are still the most important teachers I’ve ever had. Their shared commitment to education, social justice, and the labor movement clearly set a course for me early on to work as a union organizer, and to pursue a Ph.D.
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