1 Rhode Island History Pub lished by The Rhode bl. nd Hrstorrcal Soc reev, 1 10 Benevolen t SUttt, Providence, Rhode Island, 01906, and pnmed by a grant from the SUle 01Rhode Volume 44, Number 4 November 1985 Island and Providence PI. nUlions , Ed ward D , DlPrcle, Gove rnor ; Susan L. farmer, Secrererv 01SUte Issued Quaner!y .1Pro....idence, Rhode Island, February, M.y, AU~M ,.nd Contents November. Secoed class pona,lte paid at Providence, Rhode Island Ethnicityand Politics in Rhode Island : 97 Karl EriCson, prr:5ldcnf Alden M Anderson , vtce pr~ldent The Career of Frank Licht Mrs. Edwm G fucher, vi ce presuient WA LT ER H . CO NSE R, JR . M. Rachel Cunha, sr:crr:UJI}' Stephen Wllh. ms, treasurer Arnold Friedman, aSSIstant secre tary Black Pauper Burial Records: Alben T. KJybcrlt, dut'cror 109 Providence, Rhode Island, 1777-1831 ftLLOWS Of THl SOCllTY J AMIE C O UG H TRYA ND l AY C OUG H TR Y cet Bridenbaugh Sydney V. James Antometle F, Downmg Nicholas Brown to Isaac Backus: Richard K, Showma n On Bringing Rhode Island College to Providence t2t PUIlLIC ATlONS COMM ITTH Leona rd I. Levan, chairman RI CHARD L U FT GLASS Henry L. P. Bec kwuh, Jr. Joe! Cohen Norman Frenng Book Review 12 6 Robe rl Allen Greene Pamela Kennedy Alan Simpson Index to Volume 44 129 William McKenZie Wood ward STA FF Jon athan Srsk, edito r Joyce Burelho, pict ure editor Leonard I. Leven, copy editor lean leGwm, designer The Rhode b land Hr stoncal Socu:ty assumes no rcsponsrluh ty lor the oprruons 01 conrn buto rs. 0 1985 by Th e Rhode bland Hrstonca l Society MHOOI I\LASD HIHOIY (l S\ N 00,,·.. (1,191 Licht campaIgning among textile workers in Warwick during the 1968 campaign. Providence loumal Bulleun Photo. , Ethnicity and Politics in Rhode Island: The Career of Frank Licht Walter H. Conser, Jr. Though its role has not always been the same nor us prominence so Waller H. Conser, h., received a Ph .D distinct, ethnicity has alw ays played a part in the American political In h,swT)' ho m Bmwn Umversuv In 19-" 1 and curre n tly h {l ld~ an appointmen t a ~ experience. In a stu dy of American politics wn nen In 19)1 , Samuel VIMlin,!!; J. s s l ~lam rr n ll" ~ !>Or In the De part ­ Lubell discussed, for example. the rise and consolidation of halo­ ment 01Phllowphy and Reh,l!;lon OIl Ihe Umversuv oj North Ca rolma ar W,lmmjl· Ame rican e1ecIOT.11 strength in Rhode Island and the hmited but sig­ IOn He IS (he JII uth" r III Church and Can · ruflcan t implicationsof thisethniccohesion. Twenty years later ,in 1971, f..55IOn- C()n~ervarlVt Theologians In Mich ael Novak su rveyed the conte mporary American poli tical scene Germany. England. lind America. ,8, {_ / 866 as well av arnclcs In the io urn al of and found am ple ev idence that this ethnic consciousness among th e Amaican } h~ t () r r . kmmal of Sou/ha n nati on's vot ers was asserti ng itself more forcefu lly. In The Rise of HI~I()n' , and other s\:hnJaJly jour nals Unmelrable Ethnics Novak st udies the descendants of southe rn and I. Samuel Lubell, Th.. Future ur Ama,· can !'oll lln, and revised edmon. [New eas tern European immigrants and thei r role in the development of a York , l\ln rl 7\-19, .'v1 lchad Novak, The politics of cultura l pluralism based on ki nship, neighborhoods, and per­ Il,w of th e Unme1table E lhmc~ [N l' w sonal familiarity.' York, 19111, <,I . Novak argued tha t America's newly established ethnic constituen­ cies shared a common frustration with the cultural power of the ruling Yankee Prot esta nt elite. Repeatedly undersco ring the political dimen­ sion of this ethnic phenom enon, he saw the invocati on of suc h cultural symbols as heritage, loca tio n, and aspiration overcoming differences (If national background, class, and experience to uni te these disparate groups. Such app eals need not be explici t as ethnic voters understood even veiled allusion s regarding cthrucrty as directed against their oppo­ nents' preeminent position . Rhode Island po liti cs in th e twentieth century includes many ex­ amp les of th e dynami cs and stgrufica nce of ethmcitv 10 th e electoral process. Novak's central argume nt about th e persis tence of ethnic cohe­ sion amo ng the children of immigrants can be seen in the achieve­ me nts of Fran k Licht , a leader whose poli tical career was shaped by his experiences 10 South Provide nce 's lew ish community and forwarded by the Democrat ic party's des ire to represent Rhode Island's diverse ethnic cons titu encies, Lich t 's public service culminated in his elec tion In 1908 and 1970 to two terms as governor. As Rhode Island 's first Jewish governor, and one of only a handful throughout America, Licht 's ca­ reer- especially th e 1968 gubernatorial election-illustrates a parti cu­ lar Rhode Island m ix of politics and ethnicity. 98 T H E C A R EE R OF F RA NK LI L: HT A ship carrying i m m igra nts to A m erica (ci rca 192 5) arrives at State Pier number one, Allen avenue and Bay street. RIHS Collection (RHi L866 922). 1. Th is biographical material is drawn Born in 1916, Frank Licht grew up in th e Elmwood section of Provi ­ from the transcript of an oral interview of dence. Later in h is life he singled out a "feeling of belongin g" as the Frank Licht by Rita Michaelson, Au· gu st 14, 1976, and Septe mber I S, 1976 most characteristic aspect of hi s youth . Whil e th e familiarity and co­ [hereafter Michaelson inter view ), and an hesivene ss of th e South Providence neighborhood cont ributed to this oral interview of Frank Licht by the au­ sense of affinity, hi s involvement with organized religion probably tho r Ma y 19, 1982 [hereafter Conser inter­ view l. Th e int er view by Rita Michaelson helped more than any other influence to form his identity as a is in the possession of the William E. young man.' • Wein er Oral HIstory Library of the Amen­ can Jewish Committee , New York, NY., When Licht's parents arrived in Providence after emigrating from whose dir ector the author wis hes to eas tern Euro pe, they discovered a Jewi sh com munity in transition. thank for permiss ion to use this matenal. Like other Jewish settlements in America, th e Providence com muni ty was undergoing dramati c de mographic changes and experiencing con­ comitant social tensions. In rX70, for example, th e Providence city di­ rectory included only eighteen Jewish names; by 19 00 that number had grown to 1,607, an increase reflecting several important changes . While Ashkenazic Jews- those mainly of central and eastern European ori­ gin -had been emigrating to th e United States in larger numbers than Sephardic Jews- those of southern European or Mediterranean origin­ since th e second quarter of th e nineteenth century, from about 1875 through 1914 th e composition of the se Ashkenazic im migrants had changed from predominantly Ge rman to largely eastern European. Characteristically, th ese immigrants spoke Yiddish rath er than English THE C AREER O f f R .... N KL I CH T 99 or German and were Orthodox rather than Reform as the olde r commu­ }. Sa: M,u ym Puterman,"Some CU U41 nit y had tended to be:' Observatsons," Rhode Island {ewJ.\ h HIS­ rorlCal Soc/ely N OleS, IJI INoYembt'r In addi tion to these regional differences, changes in the occupational Il,l\ll ). ,U- S4. Sll~ney Coldstern. "Th e profile of the Jewish community emerged. Th e new eastern European Prov edence lewrsh Community Altel us Ytarf> ot Development." RIH, XXI(Apn l rm migrams became tailors, shoe makers, peddlers, and grocers, occupa­ 19M). SI- S8 tion s requ inng little capital but also further distinguishing these new ­ 4, Sa: the dlKuf>Mon by DavHJ C. Adel­ comers from their more affluent German predecessors, many of whom nun, "ThC' Providence lewlf>h Cornmu­ meres Un LIt." RhodeIsland!e""! f>h HJ5· were involved in comme rce. Th e immigrants felt sen led and accepted tOrlC<l1 SOClt'ly Nores, III[December In society and perceived their newly achieved respectability to be 19601. 188 - 9 1. s· Conser mter Ylt Wi Mlchaelwn in ter­ threatened by the appearances, customs, and indigence of the se fresh View , irnrrugrants. For their own part, the eastern Europeans resented the dis­ b . For a di SCUSSIOn of ZIOnism. its back­ approv ing condescension of the bourgeoi s Germans. These differences ground, and history, see Ben Halpern, Th e Id ea of the {ewlIh Srate [Carnbndgc, born of national background. language, and experience, however, never 1~ 6d i Sam uel Halpenn, The PO/lf lcal became so acute as to rupture the Jewish com munity's unity in Pro­ World IIf American Zronrsrn ([kI ro n, 1 9~>l l i ["sep h Hlau, tudaism In Am en c<l vidence. Here, a common faith, pressure from the outside society, and a (C hlca,Ro, 19761i David Vital, The O",RIn\ shared desir e to succeed in their new homeland bound the community of Zinmvm (Oxford.