 | Death to Fascism: Louis Adamic''s Fight for Democracy Subjects: Adamic Louis 1899–1951; Adamic Louis 1899–1951 -- Political and social views; Slovenian Americans -- Biography; Historians -- United States -- Biography; Social reformers -- United States -- Biography; Anti-fascist movements -- United States; Born to Slovenian peasants, Louis Adamic commanded crowds, met with FDR and Truman, and built a prolific career as an author and journalist. Behind the scenes, he played a leading role in a coalition of black intellectuals and writers, working class militants, ethnic activists, and others that worked for a multiethnic America and against fascism. John Enyeart restores Adamic's life to the narrative of American history. Dogged and energetic, Adamic championed causes that ranged from ethnic and racial equality to worker's rights to anticolonialism. Adamic defied the consensus that equated being American with Anglo-Protestant culture. Instead, he insisted newcomers and their ideas kept the American identity in a state of dynamism that pushed it from strength to strength. In time, Adamic's views put him at odds with an establishment dedicated to cold war aggression and white supremacy. He increasingly fought smear campaigns and the distortion of his views--both of which continued after his probable murder in 1951. John P. Enyeart is professor and chair of the Department of History at Bucknell University. He is the author of The Quest for "Just and Pure Law": Rocky Mountain Workers and American Social Democracy, 1870-1924 . |
