Herbert Jacob Seligmann (1891 - March 3, 1984) was an American author and journalist known for his writings on

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

issues, African Americans, bigotry, the U.S. occupation of Haiti, and the rise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in Europe. He also wrote about well known artists such as

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

and John Marin,Herbert J. Seligmann Papers, 1908-1984
The New York Public Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division and about writers like

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, Albert R. Brand, and J. Hendrix McLane. His review of Lady Chatterley's Lover appeared in

The New York Sun ''The New York Sun'' is an American online newspaper published in Manhattan; from 2002 to 2008 it was a daily newspaper distributed in New York City. It debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of the earlier New York ...

but was removed from later editions because of the obscenity ban. His book on Lawrence was the first by an American. Seligmann was the first publicity director for the NAACP between 1919 and 1932, and was interviewed about the group's history on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

's radio program for African American subject matter. He also worked for the

Jewish Telegraph Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its we ...

Early life

He graduated from Harvard University. In 1918 he traveled around the Southern United States and wrote about African Americans willing and able to defend themselves. His first marriage was to Lilias H. MacLane, a dancer, and his second to Lise née Rueff Seligmann.

Professional work

He worked for various periodicals including ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'', '' The New York Evening Post'', ''

The New York Globe ''The New York Globe'', also called ''The New York Evening Globe'', was a daily New York City newspaper published from 1904 to 1923, when it was bought and merged into ''The New York Sun''. It is not related to a New York City-based Saturday fami ...

'', ''

Down East "Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. Th ...

'' and ''

The New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dom ...

''. He also worked for a couple of Jewish organizations, including the

Joint Distribution Committee American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...

. He took photographs of Jews in Europe in the period after World War I. In 1920 he wrote about the "menace of race hatred" in Europe.

Civil rights work

Seligmann's 1920 book, ''The Negro Faces America'', described an American psychosis when it came to skin color with economic and media difficulties exacerbating the problem. Basing his conclusions on first-hand looks at areas of where riots occurred, Seligmann makes the case that race colors all aspects of American life that disadvantages and disenfranchises African Americans and lays the conditions for race riots. Excerpts from the book were published in ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

''. In his review in ''

The Journal of Negro History ''The Journal of African American History'', formerly ''The Journal of Negro History'' (1916–2001), is a quarterly academic journal covering African-American life and history. It was founded in 1916 by Carter G. Woodson. The journal is owned and ...

'', D. A. Lane (Jr) writes that the very fact that such a book was written gives hope for a new dawn in race relations in the United States. A review in ''

'', expressed uneasiness with the "aggressive insistence upon race inequality and the right of intermarriage", a statement which, in a 2015 opinion in the same magazine, was called out as being "filtered through the magazine's privileged white writers" and of "justifying racism". The phrase "

New Negro "New Negro" is a term popularized during the Harlem Renaissance implying a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit quietly to the practices and laws of Jim Crow racial segregation. The term "New Negro" was made popular by Alai ...

" emerged during the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

faulted the book for a lack of criticism of blacks and for idealizing them as a group instead of addressing issues Southern whites actually experienced in their encounters. During the

American occupation of Haiti The United States occupation of Haiti began on July 28, 1915, when 330 U.S. Marines landed at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after the National City Bank of New York convinced the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, to take control of ...

in 1920, Seligmann reported on atrocities by occupying American forces. In 1929 he wrote about the first 20 years of NAACP history. He nominated

Eddie Tolan Thomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan (September 29, 1908 – January 30/31, 1967), nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who competed in sprints. He set world records in the 100-yard dash and 100 meters event and Olymp ...

for the NAACP's Spingarn Medal in 1932. In 1939, Seligmann published an expose on the Nazi Party and their views on race.

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the movements known as historical ...

wrote the introduction to his book on Nazi race theories.

Photography

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...

, a friend of Seligmann's, photographed him producing a palladium print. Seligmann transcribed conversations and comments by Stieglitz, publishing them as ''Alfred Stieglitz Talking'' in 1966. The

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

has a gelatin silver print photograph Seligmann photographed of the Brooklyn Bridge. A collection of his photographs of Romanian Jews taken from 1936 to 1938 was published in 2016. Eight of his sketches are part of the John Marin collection at the Smithsonian.

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

wrote to him in 1911 about his thesis. Seligman wrote for ''Down East'' in the 1950s including an entry on

Marsden Hartley Marsden Hartley (January 4, 1877 – September 2, 1943) was an American Modernist painter, poet, and essayist. Hartley developed his painting abilities by observing Cubist artists in Paris and Berlin. Early life and education Hartley was born ...

Bibliography

*''The Negro Faces America'', Harper & Brothers (1920) *"The Menace of Race Hatred", ''The Atlantic'' (March, 1920) *''D.H. Lawrence: An American Interpretation'' (1924) *''Sun and Tides'' (1932), a book of poems *''Race Against Man'' (1939) *''Man and Bird Together'', a memoir of Albert R. Brand *''Voyages'' *''A South Carolina Independent of the 1880's: J. Hendrix McLane'' (1965) *''Alfred Stieglitz Talking'' (1966).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seligmann, Herbert J. American reporters and correspondents 1891 births 1984 deaths Jewish American journalists 20th-century American photographers Harvard University alumni NAACP activists 20th-century American Jews