Description
29th President. Typed letter signed “Warren G. Harding” AS PRESIDENT, one page, 7×10.5, The White House Washington stationery, April 11, 1923 on White House letterhead, Charles Joseph of the Jewish Criterion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in full:
I have noted with interest and unqualified approval the effort you are putting forth to overcome whatever spirit of intolerance and racial antagonism there is in this country. I feel that there are few more deserving services that could be rendered to a spirit of true Americanism than this and it is always a pleasure to make acknowledgements of efforts along this line.
Light creasing from mailing prior fold, 2 small spots of staining, light paperclip impression at top.
A simply amazing letter from a sitting US President discussing race relations in the US with a leading Jewish editor. Harding would die just 4 months later.
The Jewish Criterion whose editors have included Rabbi Levy and Charles H. Joseph, was one of two weekly papers for Jews in Pittsburgh. It was published from 1895-1962, with the initial editor being M.K. Susman. WorldCat annotates it as the “Oldest English printed Jewish weekly representing Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia Jewry”.
