1941

Articles from 1941

‘America’s No. 1 Negro” (The American Magazine, 1941)

Paul Robeson (1898 – 1976) was a multi-talented man and this article lays it all out.

Paul Robeson thinks of himself as conclusive proof that there is no such thing as a backward race. Given a few generations of equal opportunities, he believes, any people – Eskimos, Malayans, Fijians or the Untouchables of India – can produce as talented statesmen, scientists, educators, inventors and artists as the whites.

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New York Beneath a Bombsight (Coronet Magazine, 1941)

When this article hit the newsstands, W.W. II was in full swing throughout many parts of Asia, Europe and North Africa. America had not yet committed itself to the war, but the grim, far-seeing souls who ran New York City recognized that it was inevitable – and much to their credit, they had been studying the possibility of New York City air raids since 1939.


Another article about wartime N.Y. can be read here…

Click here to learn about the New Yorkers who volunteered to fight the Germans and Japanese in W.W. II.

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Harry Hopkins and Stalin (The American Magazine, 1941)

Bromance was in the air when Harry Hopkins (1890 – 1946) went to Moscow to meet Joseph Stalin (1876 – 1953) for their second meeting:

He shook my hand briefly, firmly, courteously. He smiled warmly. There was no waste of word, gesture, nor mannerism. It was like talking to a perfectly coordinated machine, an intelligent machine. Joseph Stalin knew what he wanted, knew what Russia wanted and he assumed that you knew.


Mic-drop.

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Reporter Under Fire (PM Tabloid, 1941)

CBS war correspondent Betty Wason (1912 – 2001) reported in a very chatty way about how the war was proceeding along the shores of the Southern Mediterranean Sea. Of particular interest was her observation regarding how thoroughly lame the Italian Army appeared to their opposite numbers in the Albanian Army. Rather than eliciting feelings of dread and hatred, the Italian soldiers were pitied for their poor skills – their bodies were plentiful on every battlefield.

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How Much Can the Germans Take? (Collier’s Magazine, 1941)

The attached 1941 Collier’s Magazine article reported on how the people of Berlin were faring after one solid year of R.A.F. bombing. By war’s end it was estimated that as many as 580,000 Germans had been killed as a result of the Allied bombing campaign (many of them were children and far more women than men). This article examines what Berlin life was like when the bombs fell.


Click here to read about the bombing of Japan.

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An Anti-Discrimination Law on the Home Front (Collier’s Magazine, 1941)

Inasmuch as the Roosevelt administration believed that the integration the armed forces was far too risky a proposition during wartime, it did take steps to insure that fair hiring practices were observed by all industries that held defense contracts with the Federal government; during the summer of 1941 a law was passed making such discrimination a crime.


The attached editorial from Collier’s Magazine applauded the President for doing the right thing:

For our money, the President’s finest single act in the national emergency to date is his loud-voiced demand for an end to all racial discrimination in hiring workers for the defense industries.


The primary political force behind this mandate was a group that was popularly known as the Black Brain Trust”…

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Charlie Chaplin’s Credo (Direction Magazine, 1941)

This, the much-discussed final speech in The Great Dictator, is more than a climax and conclusion to Chaplin’s newest film, it is a statement of Chaplin’s belief in humanity, a belief in which his creative powers and artistic development are deeply rooted.

Hope…I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible -Jew, Gentile -black man -white.

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Propaganda Radio (Direction Magazine, 1941)

This magazine article first appeared on American newsstands during February of 1941; at that time the U.S. was ten months away from even considering that W.W. II was an American cause worthy of Yankee blood and treasure; yet, the journalist who penned the attached column believed that American radio audiences were steadily fed programming designed to win them over to the interventionist corner. He believed that it was rare for isolationists to ever be granted time before the microphones and quite common for newscasters to linger a bit longer on any news item that listed the hardships in France and Britain. Objectivity was also missing in matters involving the broadcasting of popular song:


The morning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor President Roosevelt stood before the microphones in the well of the U.S. Capitol and became the first president to ever broadcast a declaration of war; CLICK HERE to hear about the reactions of the American public during his broadcast…

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The WPA Symphony Orchestras (Newsweek Magazine, 1941)

This article lays out the enormity of the WPA Music Projects in the City of New York during 1941 – It sponsors the most extensive musical organization ever assembled in one city: two symphony and eight dance orchestras, two bands, two choral groups and three ensemble employing some 500 musicians, not to mention 96 music centers with 188 teachers instructing 22,000 students.

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