Healing Hate: Overcoming Anti-German Hysteria in the United States, 1918–22

During World War I, anti-German sentiments emanated from virtually every social, academic, political and religious institution and media outlet in the United States. It has been well documented how German-Americans and German language professors and programs faced increasingly severe repression and discrimination between 1914 and 1918. The hatred and discrimination even intensified in some respects following the end of the hostilities, as America debated the terms of the peace treaty and its involvement with the League of Nations, and dealt with the loss of lives of American soldiers. It is less understood how tolerance replaced hate in the years following the end of the war and how some individuals with careers tied to Germany or peace advocacy groups successfully navigated this caustic environment to help re-humanize Germans and German-Americans. My poster will explore the life and work of Marian P. Whitney, Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Vassar, who strove to promote German language and culture in America in the unsettled years immediately following the war.

During her tenure at Vassar from 1905 to her death in 1946, Whitney modernized and expanded the program’s academic and social offerings, helped the college acquire German language materials, and published German textbooks and translated works. She was also instrumental in the establishment of Middlebury College and involved with women’s organizations such as the International Council of Women. To date, there has been no substantial work focusing on Whitney. Whitney’s ability to keep the German department at Vassar intact despite declining enrollment when most in the United States did not survive due to public opinion, institutional pressure, and/or correspondingly low enrollment, is remarkable and deserves more scholarly attention.

The poster will show key excerpts of Whitney’s correspondence with friends and family, departmental records, and interactions with organizations she was involved and highlight what skills and tools she found successful. The poster will also display correspondence with Henry Holt publishing company to shed light on the nature of publishing new works or reprints of works of German culture and language during this time period. I will also present posters and records from the Committee of Public Information to see how the anti-German rhetoric and propaganda officially promoted by the federal government changed during this time period, which may have impacted Whitney’s experiences and tactics used.

The poster will visually present the cluster and magnitude of the words, posters, actions, and qualitative data of anti-German hate, propaganda and repression of this immediate post-war period. Viewers will be able to see anti-German propaganda posters from after the end of the hostilities and also see early signs of peace and tolerance from various spheres of society. I will also depict the influence Whitney’s friends, family, colleagues and cohort at the ICW had on her. This presentation is ideally suited for a visual representation to depict and put into context Whitney’s experiences, motivations, resolve and abilities employed to foster an appreciation of German language and culture during this tumultuous time.