Charles Hamaker, Acquisitions Librarian for the Thomas Jefferson Library, UM-ST. Louis, donated the Christian Nationalist Crusade collection to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on May 16, 1986.
Gerald L. K. Smith founded the Christian Nationalist Crusade in St. Louis in 1942 to "preserve America as a Christian nation being conscious of a highly organized campaign to substitute Jewish tradition for Christian tradition," to oppose Communism, world government and immigration, and to "fight mongrelization and all attempts to force the intermixture of the black and white races." The political party promoted racist and anti-Semitic causes in St. Louis in the 1940s and 1950s. It published and distributed tracts and a monthly magazine, The Cross and the Flag. Targets of Gerald L. K. Smith's rhetoric included radio commentator Drew Pearson, Hollywood communists and jazz music.
Headquartered in St. Louis, the Christian Nationalist Crusade circulated petitions and urged initiative actions throughout the country to legalize segregation. In 1949, the Globe-Democrat reported that a group of blacks met to pass a resolution calling for Smith's death. The Christian Nationalist party unsuccessfully ran candidates in the Missouri General Election in 1950. It also chose Douglas MacArthur as its presidential candidate, without his endorsement, in 1952.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Christian Nationalist Crusade collection documents racist and anti-Semitic sentiments in St. Louis primarily in the 1940s and 1950s. It contains the group's political tracts and issues of its newsletter, The Cross and The Flag, from 1947-1952. The collection also includes literature from related groups such as the Patriotic Tract Society, Associated Industries of Missouri, the National Citizens Protective Association, the Minutemen, and the United States Constitution Council. Some material from the related groups dates from 1966 to 1968. Arranged chronologically.
FOLDER LIST
1. Tracts, undated
"Hollywood Treason" by Frank L. Britton
"Names of Jews Running the United Nations"
"I Was Branded With The Number 66611 by John W. Hamilton
"The Jewish Problem As Dealt With By The Popes"
"Army General Exposes Jews"
"Drew Pearson--Black Mailer, Character Assassin, Perjurer"
by Gerald L. K. Smith
"The Most Dangerous and Glorious Thing In The World"
2. Tracts, 1945-1951
Congressman John E. Rankin, 1940s
"The Hidden Empire," 1945
"The Plot of the Jews"
"The Physical Appearance of Jesus"
"Jews In Government"
"Two Party Treason" by Don Lohbeck
3. The Cross And The Flag, April 1947-June 1950
Attack, May 1, 1950
4. The Cross And The Flag, September 1950-July 1952
5. Tracts, Other Groups, 1956-1968
"The Communist Manifesto, Blueprint for World Revolt," Associated Industries of Missouri, 1956
The White Sentinel, National Citizens Protective Association, Volume VI, No. 4, April 1956
The White Sentinel, Vol. VII, No. 8, August 1957; Vol. VIII No. 2, February 1958
"Blueprint for Victory" by Robert DePugh, with Questionnaire, Minutemen, 1966
"Freemasonry A Jew Front," Gordon Winrod, May 1967
"Does The White Race Deserve To Die?," United States Constitution Council, 1968
6. Tracts, Other Groups, undated
"How Do You Like," Citizens Protective Association
"Jew Stars Over Hollywood," Patriotic Tract Society
"An Eye Opener, History of the US," Patriotic Tract Society
"A Summary of the Purposes, Platform and Policies of the Patriotic Party," Independence, Missouri
"Minutemen," Norborne, Missouri
7. Material from Accession 2011-025. 6/24/2011 donated by George Roth
Leaflet: The Jew Created Communism.
List of Crusading Literature.
Tract: Mr. Smith Returns From Washington
Tract: The International Jew
Tract: Abolish the United Nations
Tract: Poison Water, Red Plot
flyers advertising books
Magazine reprint, The Plot Against the McCarran-Walter Act.December 1952
The Cross and the Flag, March 1954
INDEX
Afro-Americans--Civil Rights
Anticommunism
Anti-Semiticism
Anti-United Nations
Christian Nationalist Crusade
The Cross And The Flag, f. 3,4,7
Fluoridation of Water, f. 7
Jazz, f. 4
Lohbeck, Don
MacArthur, Douglas, f. 4
McCarthyism
Pearson, Drew, f. 1, 3
Politics
Racism
Segregation
Smith, Gerald L. K.
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
8001 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143
E-MAIL: whmc@umsl.edu