by Paul A. Tenkotte
Special to NKyTribune
One hundred years ago, on April 6, 1917, the United States officially entered World War I.
George Creel
Shortly thereafter, in mid-April, President Woodrow Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to generate support for the war and to release official war information to the news media. George Creel (1876-1953), a journalist who had assisted Wilson in his 1916 reelection campaign, was appointed chair of the committee. Creel became one of the great masterminds of propaganda, turning an isolationist America into a patriotic war machine to “make the world safe for democracy.”
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines “propaganda” as “any systematic, widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc. to further one’s own cause or to damage an opposing one.”
In essence, many nations and organizations use propaganda, so the definition does not necessarily imply a negative connotation. Over the years, however, and particularly in the hands of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, propaganda earned an unsavory reputation more akin to psychological manipulation.
Unfortunately for President Wilson, the dual tasks of convincing an isolationist nation to prosecute a war to save democracy, coupled with the necessity of protecting the United States from internal and external sabotage, muddied the waters.
The U.S. Congress passed two separate acts during the course of World War I dealing specifically with this concern — the Espionage Act (passed June 15, 1917) and the Sedition Act (passed May 16, 1918).
For a succinct explanation, see the History Channel’s “This Day in History” site.
The Supreme Court of the United States, in a landmark case entitled Schenck v. the United States (1919), upheld the Espionage Act, arguing unanimously that it did not violate the First Amendment right of free speech. The decision was one of the first to help define the modern interpretation of free speech, and made famous an analogy known to many citizens: “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.”
Charles Schenck was the general secretary of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania branch of the Socialist Party. Like many Socialists of his time, he opposed the war. Hence, he and other colleagues printed and mailed some 15,000 brochures, encouraging able-bodied American men to oppose the draft because, in their view, it violated the Thirteenth Amendment prohibiting involuntary servitude. Schenck was arrested and charged, and the case made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that Schenck’s criminal conviction was valid in such a time of war.
In Cincinnati, a similar case actually pre-dated Schenck’s arrest, and further, as a matter of fact, preceded the very passage of the Espionage Act. Hence, the arrest and conviction of Lotta Burke and 12 others in Cincinnati in June 1917 was truly of questionable legality.
The chronological unfolding of events details the problems involved. In May 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service Act, enacting a temporary draft of able-bodied men. The first draft registration, for men aged 21 through 31, was scheduled for June 5th. Four days earlier, on Friday, June 1st, 11 men distributed handbills in Cincinnati, with the heading “Down with Conscription,” encouraging men to not register for the draft. The eleven were subsequently arrested and charged with treason. On the evening of Tuesday, June 12th, Lotta Burke and Thomas Hammerschmitt, were also arrested and charged with treason in the anti-selective service handbill case. Three days later, on June 15th, the U.S. Congress passed the Espionage Act. President Wilson signed it that same day, and it became effective immediately.
Front page of the Cincinnati Post, February 25, 1920.
Lotta Burke (1869-1960) was a fairly well-known Cincinnati woman of her day. A garment worker, labor leader, suffragette, women’s rights speaker, and a Socialist, she was a pacifist opposed to World War I. Surprisingly, in pre-World War I America—including the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region—the Socialist Party was fairly influential and often ran candidates for municipal offices. For example, Thomas Hammerschmitt, an engineer and also a Socialist, was running for Mayor of Cincinnati at the time of his arrest. Burke and Hammerschmitt had placed the order for the printing of the handbills at the Queen Card Company of Cincinnati.
On Monday, June 25th, Lotta Burke received a preliminary hearing before U.S. Commissioner, Joseph Adler, whereupon she argued that she was merely following her pacifist conscience. Held for three weeks in a Dayton, Ohio jail, she was released on Monday, July 16th on $3,000 bond. Subsequently, her case and that of her colleagues worked its way through the federal court system.
In February 1920, Judge John Weld Peck of the U.S. District Court upheld the treason charges against Lotta Burke, Thomas Hammerschmitt, and the 11 Socialists. Their attorney, Cincinnatian Edward F. Alexander, immediately appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and all 13 were released upon payment of a $3,500 bond each.
In February 1923, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. District Court’s decision. Alexander then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, who under Chief Justice and native Cincinnatian, William Howard Taft, overturned the lower courts’ decisions in May 1924. After seven years, Lotta Burke, Thomas Hammerschmitt, and the 11 other Socialists were vindicated.
In the highly charged atmosphere of World War I, the Espionage and Sedition Acts, fueled by the magnetism of propaganda, resulted in a number of unconstitutional activities in Cincinnati and nationwide. The case of Lotta Burke, Thomas Hammerschmitt, and the 11 Socialists was only one of dozens of examples of war hysteria (and anti-German hysteria) in the region. In these instances, the facts and the chronologies of the situations were sometimes disregarded, and the civil liberties of American citizens were abridged. Ironically, Wilson’s war “to make the world safe for democracy” caused some to question how safe that democracy was at home.
We want to learn more about the history of your business, church, school, or organization in our region (Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky). If you would like to share your rich history with others, please contact the editor of “Our Rich History,” Paul A. Tenkotte, at tenkottep@nku.edu. Paul A. Tenkotte, PhD is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at NKU.
