Jehovah's Witnesses and not saluting the U.S. flag...
Item # 725592
December 05, 1935
THE NEW YORK TIMES, Dec. 5, 1935
* Secaucus, New Jersey Jehovah's Witnesses
* 11 year old Alma Hering expelled from school
* For refusing to salute the American flag in classroom
* Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society member
* Charles Taze Russell followers - Bible Students
Page 10 has a one column heading: "Girls Ordered To School" with subhead. (see image)
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because there was really no reason to save it at the time.
Complete with 52 pages, rag edition in nice condition.
background: On December 4, 1935, William Hering initiated a formal legal challenge against the Secaucus Board of Education following the expulsion of his daughters, Alma and Vivian, for their refusal to salute the American flag—a stand rooted in the Jehovah’s Witnesses' belief that such an act constituted forbidden idolatry. This case was a local flashpoint in a growing national conflict between compulsory patriotic rituals and individual religious liberty, occurring at a time when the "Bellamy salute" (an outstretched arm) uncomfortably mirrored the gestures used by fascist regimes in Europe. While the New Jersey courts initially ruled against the Hering family, arguing that the salute was a secular duty rather than a religious imposition, the persistence of the Hering sisters and other families like them eventually forced the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their struggle laid the vital groundwork for the landmark 1943 Barnette decision, which ultimately secured the right of all American students to abstain from the Pledge of Allegiance on the grounds of conscience.
* Secaucus, New Jersey Jehovah's Witnesses
* 11 year old Alma Hering expelled from school
* For refusing to salute the American flag in classroom
* Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society member
* Charles Taze Russell followers - Bible Students
Page 10 has a one column heading: "Girls Ordered To School" with subhead. (see image)
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because there was really no reason to save it at the time.
Complete with 52 pages, rag edition in nice condition.
background: On December 4, 1935, William Hering initiated a formal legal challenge against the Secaucus Board of Education following the expulsion of his daughters, Alma and Vivian, for their refusal to salute the American flag—a stand rooted in the Jehovah’s Witnesses' belief that such an act constituted forbidden idolatry. This case was a local flashpoint in a growing national conflict between compulsory patriotic rituals and individual religious liberty, occurring at a time when the "Bellamy salute" (an outstretched arm) uncomfortably mirrored the gestures used by fascist regimes in Europe. While the New Jersey courts initially ruled against the Hering family, arguing that the salute was a secular duty rather than a religious imposition, the persistence of the Hering sisters and other families like them eventually forced the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their struggle laid the vital groundwork for the landmark 1943 Barnette decision, which ultimately secured the right of all American students to abstain from the Pledge of Allegiance on the grounds of conscience.
Category: The 20th Century
