Send us a text

In 1938, with war looming in Europe, Irving Berlin offered popular singer Kate Smith a new patriotic song to debut on her radio show. It’s forgotten today that in the form she sang it, “God Bless America” wasn’t just a patriotic anthem, it was an isolationist one, about how glad Americans should be that they were far from the “storm clouds” gathering “across the sea.” Then, just one day before Smith’s broadcast, the Nazis made one of their most despicable moves yet, and everything changed.

#irving berlin #katesmith #godblessamerica #isolationism #nazis #worldwar2 #johnstrausbaugh #kristallnach #hitler #jews

Send us a text

On the night of Wednesday, June 22, 1938, the whole world was focused on Yankee Stadium. Joe Louis, nicknamed the Brown Bomber, was fighting a rematch with Max Schmeling, called Hitler’s Superman. This was much more than a prizefight. Around the world, this was seen as a symbolic duel between democracy and fascism, freedom and slavery, white and black.

#joelouis #maxschmeling #boxing #hitler #nazis #prizefighting #yankeestadium #johnstrausbaugh

Send us a text

No one captured New York City in its noir 1930s and 1940s better than the photographer Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee. Ceaselessly roaming New York's streets, often at night while his competitors slept, Weegee took thousands and thousands of photos that visually defined what he called the Naked City. An exhibition of his work is on view at the International Center of Photography on the Lower East Side until May 2025.

#weegee #newyorkcity #nakedcity #internationalcenterof photography #worldwartwo #johnstrausbaugh