Walter S. Steele

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Walter S. Steele (died March 3, 1962) was an American editor and publisher of The National Republic monthly magazine and an anti-communist, anti-immigration activist.[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Walter S. Steele was born circa 1892 in Indiana. He had two sisters and a brother.[1]

Career[edit]

Steele started his career by working for Indiana newspapers. From 1916 through 1920, he was an alderman in Muncie.[1]

National Republic magazine[edit]

Steele moved to Washington, DC, and in 1924 joined The National Republic—originally The National Republican of Muncie, published April 1925 to March 1960, which billed itself as "A National Organization Defending American Ideals and Institutions".[1][2][3] During the 1930s and 1940s, Steele "waged a determined campaign against Communists throughin his magazine" and was also seen as anti-labor tendencies and accused of being pro-NazI.[1]

Anti-communism and HUAC testimony[edit]

Steele appeared before the Dies Committee and its successor the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).[1][4][5]

During his December 29, 1934, testimony before the Dies Committee, Steele presented a speech "for the purpose of boiling my testimony down." His chief allegation was the "The number of Communists and their affiliates in the United States at the present time is six times greater than that in Russia at the outset of the bloody revolution in that country." He immediately followed that statement by claiming that "The Communist movement has shown great gains in the United States since November 1933 than in any period of such short duration, and this in spite of the fact that on November 17, 1933, the soviet Government interested into a solemn written agreement with the Government of the Unites States." Steele stated he was editor of the National Republic Magazine and represented the "American Coalition."[6]

During his July 21, 1947, testimony before HUAC, Steele leveled "spectacular charges," accused hundreds of Americans as communists, and claimed to be a spokesman for "20 million patriots."[2] His testimony was "possibly the most irresponsible ever presented" to HUAC.[7] (HUAC supported him so strongly that the committee issued a 188-page, stand-alone book of his testimony in 1947.[8] In terms of timing, the testimony was most helpful to HUAC's Hollywood investigations into movie stars as famous as Charlie Chaplin - see the Hollywood Ten.[9])

On May 2, 1949, Steele spoke with Congressman Richard Nixon and HUAC research director Benjamin Mandel at a Knights of Columbus annual town hall.[10]

Anti-immigration[edit]

Opponents accused him of "having anti-labor and anti-liberal tendencies." In 1937, Steele responded with denial to an accusation of distributing pro-Nazi propaganda made before a Massachusetts legislative investigating committee.[1]

Steele served as chairman of the National Security Committee of the American Coalition of Patriotic, Civic and Fraternal Societies, founded by John B. Trevor Sr. (an American lawyer and "one of the most influential unelected officials affiliated with the U.S. Congress,"[11] even "the most influential lobbyist for restriction" of immigration,[12][13] who along with David A. Reed and Samuel Gompers shaped the Immigration Act of 1924, which established restrictive immigration quotas through 1964[14]).[1][2]

Steele was an advisory board member of the "Paul Reveres," an "anti-Semitic coterie."[2]

Personal life and death[edit]

Steele married Valerie Knoobe; they had two daughters and a son.[15]

Walter S. Steele died age 70 on March 2 or 3, 1962, in his Rockville, Maryland, home.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Walter Steele, a magazine editor". New York Times. 4 March 1960. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Robert Justin Goldstein, ed. (13 May 2016). Little 'Red Scares': Anti-Communism and Political Repression in the United States, 1921-1946. Routledge. p. 243. ISBN 9781317104148. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. ^ "National Republic". Library of Congress. OCLC 07618798. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  4. ^ Hubbs, Nadine (18 October 2004). The Queer Composition of America's Sound: Gay Modernists, American Music, and National Identity. University of California Press. pp. 239 (fn34). ISBN 9780520937956. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  5. ^ Barranger, Milly S. (10 June 2008). Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era. SIU Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780809387335. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  6. ^ Investigation of Nazi Propaganda Activities and Investigation of Certain Other Propaganda Activities... Statement of Walter S. Steele. US GPO. 29 December 1934. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1-4529-1067-3. Retrieved 10 March 2024. The American Coalition's officers included Frank B. Steele and organizational members included: "Abigail Adams Colony, National Society of New England Women; Aero- nautical Association of America, Inc.; Allied Patriotic Societies, Inc.; American Defense Society, Inc.; American Legion Auxiliary ; American Vigilants Alliance ; American Vigilant Intelligence Federation; American War Mothers; American Women's Legion; Anglo-Saxon Federation of America; Auxiliary, Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War; Aztec Club of 1847; Bergen County, N. J., Women's Republican Club; Betsy Ross Corps; Better America Federation of California; Chicago Woman's Ideal Club; Committee on American Education; Congress of States Societies ; D. of C. Society, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America; Dames of the Loyal Legion of the United States; Daughters of America National Council; Daughters of America, District of Columbia Council; Daughters of the Defenders of the Republic; Daughters of the Union, 1861-65, National Society; Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-65 ; Defenders of the Constitution of United States ; Disabled American Veterans of the World War; Englewood, N. J.; Women's Republican Club; First Motor Corps Unit No. 12, Massachusetts State Guard Veterans; General Court, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America; General Society of Mayflower Descendants; General Society of the War of 1812; Government Club, Inc.; Immigration Restriction Association; Immigration Study Commission; Industrial Defense Association, Inc.; Junior American Vigilant Intelligence Federation ; Junior Order United American Mechanics, New Jersey; Ladies Auxiliary, Order of Independent Americans; Ladies Auxiliary, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States; Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic; League of Club Presidents; Massachusetts Society, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America; Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States Commandery of the District of Columbia; Military Order of the World War; Minute Men of America, Inc.; National Constitution Day Committee; National Patriotic Association; National Patriotic Council; National Patriotic League; National Security League, Inc.; National Society of American Seamen; National Society, Daughters of the Revolution; National Society of New England Women; National Society 1917 World War Registrars Inc.; National Sojourners; National Sojourners, Du Pont Chapter No. 78; National Sojourners, Manhattan Chapter No. 86; National Sojourners, New York Chapter, No. 13 ; National Woman's Relief Corps; Naval and Military Order of the Spanish American War, National Commandery; New Jersey State Society, Daughters of the Revolution; New York City Colony, National Society of New England Women; Old Glory Club of Flatbush, Inc., Beacon No. 1; Order of Colonial Lords of Manors in America; Order of Independent Americans, Inc., State Council of Pennsylvania; Patriotic Builders of America, Inc., National Society ; Patriotic Order of Americans, National Camp; Patriotic Order Sons of America, National Camp; Patriotic Women of America, National Society; Paul Reveres; Pennsylvania Society, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America; Protestant Women's Civic Federation; Reserve Officers Association of United States; R. O. T. C. Association of the United States; Rhode Island Association of Patriots; Ridgewood Unit of Republican Women, Inc.; Service Star Legion, Inc.; Society for Constitutional Security; Society of Colonial Wars, District of Columbia; Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York; Society of the Daughters of the United States Army; Society of Native Born of the U. S. A., Inc., Henry Clay Council No. 179; Society of New York State Women; the American Revolution, National Society; Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; Sons and Daughters of Liberty, National Council; Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims, National Society; Southern Vigilant Intelligence Association , Inc.; Union of Republican Women, Sangamon County, Ill .; United Daughters of the Confederacy, New York Chapter; United States Air Force Association, Inc.; United States Daughters of 1812, National Society ; United States Naval Reserve Officers Association; Veterans of Foreign Wars of United States; Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Americanization Committee; Veterans of Foreign Wars of United States, Department of Delaware; Westchester Security League; Wheel of Progress ; Woman Patriot Corporation ; Women's Patriotic League of America; Woman's Pioneer Aircraft Association of Chicago, Inc.; Women of Army and Navy Legion of Valor, United States of America; Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, National Society"
  7. ^ Nelson, Both (1999). Libel in News. University of Minnesota Press. p. 99. ISBN 9781452910673. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  8. ^ Testimony of Walter S. Steele regarding Communist activities in the United States. US GPO. 21 July 1947. p. 188. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. ^ Maland, Charles J. (1991). Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image. Princeton University Press. p. 262. ISBN 9781452910673. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. ^ "3 to speak at anti-Red rally here: Sponsored by KC". Washington Post. 1 May 1949. p. M20.
  11. ^ Tucker, William H (2002). The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-02762-0
  12. ^ Margo Conk. The Census, Political Power, and Social Change: The Significance of Population Growth in American History. Social Science History, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter, 1984), pp. 81-106
  13. ^ Nelkin D, Michaels M. Biological categories and border controls: the revival of eugenics in anti-immigration rhetoric. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 18, Number 56, 1998, pp. 35-63(29)
  14. ^ Trevor, John B. An Analysis of the American Immigration Act of 1924.
  15. ^ "Patricia Steele Fuller "Patti"". Washington Post. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2019.

External links[edit]

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