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Jun. 30 | 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize
Nominations for the 2012 Bode-Pearson Prize for Outstanding Contributions to American Studies due
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Kimmel, Sheryl Adelman. "The Changing of the Guard: A Case Study of Maynard I. Wishner as an American Jewish Communal Leader," American Studies, University of Kansas, May 2007. Advisor: David M. Katzman
This dissertation examines the role of American Jewish communal organizations and leadership within intergroup relations in the United States. It focuses on the case study of Jewish communal leader Maynard I. Wishner. As an attorney staff member of the Chicago Commission for Human Relations, chair of the board of governors and president of the American Jewish Committee, and president of the Chicago Jewish Federation, Wishner played a key role in events that defined the nature of post-World War Two American Jewish organizations in American and Jewish world affairs. In each leadership position, Wishner’s commitment to social justice, human rights, and freedom of expression exemplified values within American and Jewish secular and religious traditions.
This dissertation provides an historical overview of Wishner’s participation in these areas of American intergroup relations and evaluates his role as a leader. In particular, the dissertation explores his role in early civil rights initiatives in the city of Chicago from 1947-1953; as a local leader of Jewish organizations and national leader of the American Jewish Committee during the 1977-1978 Skokie, Illinois controversy over a Nazi march; and in building inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations among Polish, Catholic, and Jewish communities. Wishner’s particular personality, style of leadership, and commitment to social justice and the Jewish people made him an influential voice in American Jewish organizational affairs and offer a model for other ethnic and religious leaders in the United States. The role of volunteer leaders in Jewish communal affairs and the extent to which wealth, charisma, and gender influence the success of such leaders are also explored as part of a larger analysis of Wishner’s function as a leader in contemporary Jewish organizational affairs.
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