Part 2: The Shameful History Behind Iowa’s English Only Policy
by Nancy Thieman, LMSW, Sioux City, Iowa
An original Blog for Iowa exclusive in four partsA System of Coercion
The Babel Proclamation was not an Iowa law, per se. Nevertheless, the Babel Proclamation’s English-only policy appeared to carry the weight of law through a system of coercion, which included arrests by county sheriffs, neighbors spying upon neighbors and reporting what they saw, and “extra-legal” court proceedings that instilled themselves with the authority to fine and jail suspects who did not cooperate when money was extorted from them for “Liberty Bonds” or who were reported to be disloyal Americans—the only offense being that they were “caught” speaking German.
As researcher Leola Allen explains, during and even after World War I, “concern for the loyalty and patriotism of all Americans approached paranoia in many sectors of the nation. Iowa was particularly affected because many Iowans were of German birth or ancestry.” In fact, during World War I, each state set up a Council of Defense that organized the enforced patriotism. These councils had what were called “secret service” agents (no relationship to the modern-day Secret Service under the Department of the Treasury) who investigated purported acts of disloyalty, such as speaking the German language, and who used their pressure tactics to enforce the no-foreign-languages proclamation.
Targeting the German-language Ministers
Iowa’s Gov. Harding strongly believed that the German-speaking leaders of German-stock congregations “undermined trust in the nation with their indecent tales, communication in code, [and] their fanatically loyal following.” Therefore, one of the first groups targeted in the coercion campaign was the German-speaking ministers.
In one case, the Reverend Baushoff, pastor of the German-language congregation of the German Evangelical Church in Denver, Iowa, in Bremer County, said that he would take up arms to defend his right to preach in German. When he continued to deliver his sermons in the German language, he was “visited” by the Iowa secret service agents and quickly was “convinced” to sign a paper agreeing to give services only in English.
In Alta, Iowa, the Lutheran pastor, a Reverend Mennoich, who spoke no English at all, refused a “leave of absence” to study English, and was summarily called before a “board of military affairs,” where he promised to be “good.” One wonders how this “good” Reverend supported his family once he was forced from his profession.
In Cedar County, outside of Lowden, Iowa, the German immigrants and their children made up 81% of the population. This area was a hotbed of coercive behavior. For instance, when the German-language pastor of the Zion Evangelical German Reformed Church, the Rev. John Reichardt, voiced objections to public claims of German atrocities, maintaining that German cultural traditions and cultural consciousness deserved respect, a U.S. Marshall was sent to arrest him on charges of sedition under the guise of a law passed by the U.S. Congress in June, 1917. The judge “took pity” on Rev. Reichardt, exacted a promise to use his power for good, and let him go after he paid a $5000 bond to ensure his appearance in court, the rough equivalent of $84,750 today.
Tomorrow on Blog for Iowa
Targeting the Average German Speaker, Part 3 of The Shameful History behind Iowa’s English Only Policy Allen, L., (1974). Anti-German sentiment in Iowa during World War I. The Annals of Iowa, 42, 418-429.
Derr, N., (1979, July/August). The Babel Proclamation. The Palimpsest, 60(4), 98-115.
Derr, N., (1989, Summer). Lowden: A study of intolerance in an Iowa community during the era of the First World War. The Annals of Iowa, 50(1), 5-22.
Dollar Times Inflation Calculator. (2007). Retrieved September 21, 2007, from http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.html.
Sharon Avery, Archivist, State Historical Society of Iowa, personal communication, September 7, 2007
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