William Steinway's Attitudes Toward Jews

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William Steinway’s attitudes toward Jews were complex. The broader question of what constituted anti-Semitism in 19th-century America was also complex. William’s Diary includes at least 64 references to Jews, and by 21st-century standards many of them seem anti-Semitic. But while his language – even his fairly benign use of “Jew” to identify specific individuals – reflected his society’s stereotypical prejudices, his actions toward Jews revealed an attitude that was not only relatively tolerant and generous for his time but in some cases remarkably positive.

Attitudes toward Jews in 19th-Century America

William’s attitudes toward Jews can be properly understood only within the context of general American views of Jews in the 19th century, which were ambivalent. On the one hand, Americans admired Jews as God’s “chosen people” and welcomed them as equal citizens in a country that saw itself as the land of freedom. On the other hand, Americans had inherited age-old European prejudicial views of Jews as the killers of Christ and devil-like with big noses.(7, pp. 169-72)(21, pp. 15-18)(27, pp.118-23)

Ambivalent attitudes were also evident in the business world inhabited by William. On the positive side, Americans regarded Jews as hard-working, thrifty, productive, charitable, and contributing wealth to society. On the negative side, they also clung to the ancient stereotype of Jews as greedy, exploitative, and obsessed with money.(7, pp. 185-6)(13)(21, p. 18)

In addition to these contradictory beliefs, Americans found Jews inherently difficult to understand, due to Jews’ insistence on maintaining a separate identity, refusal to intermarry, and general resistance to assimilation. These tendencies caused most Americans to view Jews as different and even alien.(21, pp. 102-3)(7, pp. 188-9)

Given these confusions, historians do not have a consensus on whether tolerance or anti-Semitism was the more prevalent attitude toward Jews in 19th-century America.(7, pp. 169-70). Nor do they agree on whether the kind of language used by William about Jews constituted anti-Semitism. Some historians say “Jew” was used as an epithet by anti-Semites.(7, pp. 198, 206-7)(19). Others say it was common to use “Jew” merely as an ethnic or religious descriptor.(21, pp. 119-21)(28). Still others say it is difficult to determine whether references to someone as a “Jew” were meant to be derogatory.(25)(8)

Categories of William’s Attitudes toward Jews in his Diary

These general historical ambiguities underscore the difficulty in characterizing William’s references to Jews. This difficulty is compounded by the brevity of his Diary entries, which often do not clearly reveal his underlying attitude. But even with these caveats in mind, it is possible to categorize 64 entries mentioning Jews as follows:

* 13 seem to be primarily neutral identifiers of people as Jews
* 14 other identifiers are a special case, expressing his grief over his wife’s extramarital affair with “the Jew Stern”, but not reflecting real anti-Semitism
* 14 convey more obvious evidence of anti-Semitic prejudice
* 23 indicate positive or sympathetic attitudes, including 13 concerning specific actions he took on behalf of Jews and 4 suggesting disapproval of blatant anti-Semitic incidents.

William’s use of “Jew” as an identifier

William typically identifies Jews as such in his Diary. Typical examples include:

* “I … explain … the Jew Goldschmidt connection with Kupka”(Diary, 1876-08-01)
* “Mr. Louis, a jewish singer, of not much account, is there.”(Diary, 1878-12-19)
* “… the Jew Pollak sued him for breach of contract.”(Diary, 1882-12-04)
* “… the Jew Steinmann pestering me for money to go to Vienna.”(Diary, 1883-01-05)
* “… drowning of a young Jew … at Bowery Bay”(Diary, 1886-07-07)
* “Holwede sends Copy new lease from the Jew Pollak to Theo”(Diary, 1883-03-26)
* “A Jew named Naser also calls”(Diary, 1889-07-22)
* Am called upon by two polish Jews ...” (Diary, 1895-04-16)

In each of these entries, William’s use of the term “Jew” seems intended primarily to identify the individuals by their ethnicity or religion. Even in the somewhat negative references to Louis and Steinmann, William seemed mainly to note that they were Jews rather than to express malice. But even if we assume he used “Jew” as a neutral identifier, as was common practice in the 19th century, this still begs the question of why he used such language so frequently. One historian says an “obsession with who is Jewish … can certainly be a hallmark of anti-Semitism.” (15) It is fair to say that William’s language showed his perception of Jews as different from other Americans. But compared to his more detailed and explicit comments about Jews – both negative and positive – elsewhere in his Diary, we cannot say definitively that his mere identification of Jews was consciously anti-Semitic.

“The Jew Stern”

William’s most singular experience with a Jewish person was his anguish upon learning that his first wife Regina had a sexual affair with Louis Stern. Fourteen separate Diary entries, from 1876 to 1882, refer to “the Jew Stern”. But despite his anger toward Stern, the affair does not seem to have been a particular motivator of anti-Semitism for William. All of his references to Stern were focused on that one man, and none included any broader criticism of Jews. Some of his notable positive actions toward Jews occurred during the same years. In light of the obvious and understandable emotional trauma caused by the wreckage of his marriage, it seems that William’s description of Stern as “infamous fiend” captures his feelings better than “the Jew”. For details see The Stern Affair.

William's prejudice against Jews

But even if we excuse William’s anger toward “the Jew Stern” and his more neutral identifiers of others as “Jews”, other entries in his Diary reveal clear social prejudices against Jews. His years as a diarist coincided with a significant increase in Jewish immigration. In 1870 there were only 80,000 Jews in New York City, mostly from Germany. In the following thirty years an influx of more than 500,000 Jews – most of them from poor, rural, and lower social classes in Eastern Europe – triggered a rise in anti-Semitic feeling among gentile Americans. Even German Jews, by 1870 an established and prosperous element of New York society, looked down on the newly arrived Eastern European Jews as socially uncouth and “semi-barbarous”.(9)(16, p. 70) As a respectable German Christian, it would not have been unusual for William to have at least some prejudice against Jews. His Diary records four kinds of anti-Semitic attitudes: a) publication of a grotesque caricature of large Jewish noses in in the satirical humor magazine Puck; b) perception of Jews as unscrupulous money-lenders; c) general dislike of Jews; d) fondness of “Jew jokes”. For more details on William’s prejudice against Jews see William and his Negative Feelings About Jews

But even if it is reasonable to put a negative cast on William’s “Jew jokes”, ethnic humor was common and popular at the time – as was evident in the pages of Puck – and its purpose could be to promote the “melting pot” of America. It is also worth noting that Abraham Lincoln was known for privately telling racist jokes and using the word “nigger”. But in the context of his time, Lincoln was a liberal who never doubted the humanity of African-American slaves and their right to be free. Lincoln’s racial views grew progressively more enlightened, and by the end of his life he became the first president to advocate voting rights for blacks. (22, pp. 356-9) (11) William Steinway, as we shall see presently, also was able to rise above his prejudices and take positive actions on behalf of Jews.

William’s positive attitudes toward Jews

In evaluating attitudes toward Jews, historians of anti-Semitism say it is important to distinguish between what people say or think and what they do. Having prejudicial feelings toward Jews but not actively discriminating against them, these historians say, did not necessarily constitute anti-Semitism.(7, pp. 171, 198)(32, pp. 10-16) By this standard, William was sympathetic and friendly toward Jews. Particularly notable is that he often displayed inclusionary attitudes in a time when discrimination against Jews was increasing. Examples of William’s positive actions toward Jews include: a) mockery of buffoonish anti-Semites; b) support for Jewish membership in his Liederkranz singing society; c) charitable support for a Jewish technical school; d) socializing with Jews; e) public denunciation of a notorious German anti-Semite; e) leadership of the campaign to build a monument to the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. For details of these actions see William's Favorable Attitudes Toward Jews

Conclusion

In reviewing the total record, it is clear that William, like Lincoln, shared to a relatively mild extent the common racist sentiments of his time, yet was able to rise above his prejudice to demonstrate significant tolerance and friendship toward a widely disliked minority. William’s “Jew jokes” and his promotion of the “three Jew faces” paled in comparison to the gross bigotry of true anti-Semites like Corbin, Hilton, and Ahlwardt. And they were considerably outweighed by his strong endorsements of Jewish virtues, his leadership in increasing Jewish membership in the Liederkranz society in the face of anti-Semitic opposition, and his acts of benevolence toward the Hebrew Technical Institute.

In a similar vein, we can evaluate William according to four major features of anti-Semitism identified by Princeton sociology professor Melvin Tumin: 1) a belief that Jews are different; 2) fear of Jews; 3) a desire to keep Jews at a distance; and 4) willingness to discriminate against Jews.(32, p. 11) Only the first of these attitudes describes William, who viewed Jewish faces and voices as distinctively different and as subjects of mockery. But he did not fear or avoid Jews, and he explicitly opposed discrimination against them.

William’s character is also reflected in the historian John Higham’s observation about the compatibility between Jews and other Americans in economic life: “As an ethnic group, Jews have traditionally emphasized the materialistic, competitive values of business life that are so deeply ingrained in American culture. The prestige America confers on the businessman – the man of thrift, enterprise and rational calculation – has ordinarily encompassed the Jew.”(16, p. 74) William was just such a man, and he recognized and valued the same qualities in his prosperous Jewish counterparts who contributed so much to business, education, and the arts. In seeing these commonalities despite ethnic differences, William helped bring Jews into the fabric of American life.
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Sources:
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