Working on a traveling exhibit about Alabama and the Holocaust

My home state has funded Backstory’s latest project, a brilliant new traveling exhibit, on Alabama’s support of persecuted Jews during the Nazi terror.

That support took many forms, from state-issued resolutions to a vibrant and outspoken press. Jewish clergy, from Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham led the way. Catholic clergy followed their lead.

Sometimes those battling Naziism did so in the athletic arena.

Two Black Alabama legends, Jesse Owens and Joe Lewis, represented American democracy even at a time they were denied many of the privileges of full citizenship. At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Hitler notoriously refused to shake hands with Owens. His rationale: Owens had an unfair advantage because he was not human.

Later, Joe Louis dealt white supremacy another blow with his defeat of German boxer Max Schmeling. Schmeling proved much more gracious in defeat.

In their first fight in 1936, Schmeling knocked out Louis, a win that made him the number one contender for the heavyweight title.

But Louis wasn’t giving up. In a 1937 match, Louis knocked out James Braddock to win the championship. With Louis now the man to beat, Schmeling and Louis went head to head again in 1938. Louis won by technical knockout in the first round.

The Louis-Schmeling saga is one of over a dozen stories Backstory is celebrating in a new traveling exhibit on Alabama’s opposition to the Holocaust. Funded by the state of Alabama, the yet-to-be-titled exhibit explores stories about Alabama’s press and their condemnation of Naziism, refugee Jewish scholars who taught at Talladega College, and Governor Benjamin Meek Miller’s support of persecuted Jews. Based on Dan Puckett’s book In the Shadow of Hitler, the exhibit is fully funded by the Alabama State Legislature to travel the state.

Amanda Lucius of Mandalu Designs is handling the graphic design. Expo of Trussville, Alabama, is supplying the platform. Dan is the project’s lead advisor and undisputed expert. Backstory is writing the script and managing the project.

I’ll keep you posted as the exhibit develops.