The Great Christmas Boycott of 1906 - by Scott D Seligman (Hardcover)

About the Book

Scott D. Seligman chronicles a 1906 battle waged by New York City's emergent Jewish community over Christmas pageants in the city's public schools and traces the larger issue of Yuletide celebrations in America's schools to the present day.

Book Synopsis

Today's battles over Christianity in U.S. public schools have deep roots. In the nineteenth century it was an intramural struggle between Protestants and later-arriving Catholics. But at Christmastime in 1905, when Frank Harding, the Presbyterian principal of a Brooklyn elementary school, urged his Jewish students to be more like Jesus, the Jewish community entered the fray in a big way. It was just the trigger Orthodox Jewish activist Albert Lucas had been waiting for. Fresh from battling Christian settlement houses intent on converting Jewish children, Lucas accused the public schools of illegal proselytizing and called for Harding's ouster.

After the Board of Education let Harding off in 1906 with a slap on the wrist and declined to clarify the rules governing religion in schools, New York's Jews staged a boycott of school Christmas pageants in protest. The board's concession to exclude sectarian hymns and religious compositions generated enormous antisemitic public backlash. Jews were accused of waging war on Christmas and of being less than true Americans.

The Great Christmas Boycott of 1906 traces the Christmas celebration dispute to the present day and describes how Jewish organizations of the twenty-first century, persuaded that politics are unlikely ever to permit a victory, seem to have reconciled themselves to the status quo and moved on to other, more winnable issues.

Review Quotes

"A forgotten protest over celebrating Christmas in New York City's public schools reveals Jewish immigrants determined that their new nation must live up to its founding ideals. The Great Christmas Boycott of 1906 speaks not only to the past but to the present, a powerful reminder that the First Amendment states: 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.'"--Pamela S. Nadell, Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender History at American University and author of Antisemitism, an American Tradition

"Scott D. Seligman shines light on an overlooked incident from church-state history--a protest against Christmas celebrations in New York City public schools in the early twentieth century. Filled with intriguing characters, colorful detail, and valuable context, The Great Christmas Boycott of 1906 is a fascinating look at an issue--the proper role of religion in public education--that continues to bedevil our nation. This is an important, instructive story, and Seligman tells it with verve and style."--Rachel K. Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State

"The date is 1906 and the place New York City, where Jewish families are increasingly ostracized when they protest required Christian celebrations in the schools, especially at Christmas. Scott Seligman, a consummate storyteller and careful historian, diligently unravels this often-neglected chapter in the ongoing struggle to recognize that diversity is the foundation of public education in the United Sates. A must-read to understand the background of today's controversies."--Charles H. Lippy, Martin Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

About the Author

Scott D. Seligman is a writer and historian. He is the national award-winning author of numerous books, including The Chief Rabbi's Funeral: The Untold Story of America's Largest Antisemitic Riot (Potomac Books, 2024) and The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City (Potomac Books, 2020).