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This nation is a work in progress. We are a promise in a dream. We are a nation built
upon the principles of equality and justice, but still striving to realize our ideals,
to fulfill the promise. To perfect the dream. That is why ADL was founded a hundred years
ago. And why ADL still exists today. In each generation since its founding, the Anti-Defamation
League has been a force for change. A champion of our nation's values and a shield against
hate and extremism.
1913. The Jewish community of the United States faced rampant anti-Semitism and overt discrimination.
Books, plays, and above all, newspapers depicted Jews with crude stereotypes. Against this
backdrop of bigotry and intolerance, an attorney from Chicago named Sigmund Livingston put
forth a bold idea. To create an organization with a mission to stop the defamation of the
Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. Starting with a $200 budget
and two desks in Livingston's law office, the Anti-Defamation League was founded with
a clear understanding that the fight against one form of prejudice could not succeed without
battling prejudice in all forms. During the same time, an event in Georgia makes the need
for the organization painfully clear. Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman, who moves to
Atlanta to manage his family's pencil factory, is convicted of the *** and *** of a 13-year
old female employee, following a trial which was defined by anti-Semitism. When the governor
reduces his death sentence to life in prison, a mob, including some influential community
leaders, drags Frank from his prison cell and lynches him. It is not until decades later,
at ADL's urging, that the State of Georgia issues Frank a posthumous pardon.
For 100 years, the Anti-Defamation League has been a force for change, a champion of
our nation's values, and a shield against hate and extremism. ADL has come a long way
from two desks in a Chicago law firm to an internationally recognized leader in the fight
against prejudice, bigotry, and hate, with 28 offices across the country and a team of
professionals and lay leaders dedicated to stopping the defamation of the Jewish people
and securing justice and fair treatment to all. ADL begins its second century knowing
that there is much more work to be done. Imagine a world without hate. ADL will not rest until
the dream becomes a reality.
Imagine. A World. Without. Hate.