Zahavi will discuss effects of the Red Scare on upstate towns
Cartoonist Carey Cassius Orr drew this picture titled “Close The Gate” for the Chicago Tribune where he worked for nearly half a century. A semi-professional baseball player in his youth, Orr used the money he made from baseball to study at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
To the Editor:
The New Scotland Historical Association is hosting a program called “Red Scare on Main Street!” on Dec. 4.
Dr. Gerald Zahavi will discuss how the 1918-1920 “Red Scare” affected upstate communities including the Capital District as state and federal authorities reacted to anti-war activists during World War I and labor radicals in the immediate post-war period.
Dr. Zahavi, professor of history at the University at Albany, is a historian of capitalism and anti-capitalism and is also a documentary media producer. One of his current projects is a book focusing on the local and regional history of American communism from its emergence in the post-World War I decade to the 1950s.
The Post World War I “Red Scare” had a major impact on immigrant communities throughout the United States, including those in our nearby small cities and towns. Dr. Zahavi’s presentation will, in part, be based on his research and will draw on unique sources from the New York State Archives.
This timely and informative program will be presented on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the Wyman Osterhout Community Center in New Salem on Old New Salem Road. Admission is always free. Also, the association’s museum will be open one half-hour before the program.
Judy Kimes
Publicist
New Scotland
Historical Association
