The Suppression of the Hyphen

Prior to the beginning of the First World War, Germans-American kultur flourished politically, socially, and culturally within the city of Chicago. Those who wished to be elected to public office in Chicago needed to campaign specifically to the German-American population which made up one-fourth of the city’s total population.[6] Various candidates such as William Hale Thompson campaigned with pro-German policies during the war in order to gain clout to be elected to the senate.[7] The German-American population in Chicago was not only politically connected, but also socially connected with over four hundred German Social Societies. Among these, most notably The German-American Alliance, the Germania Club, and the German Club.[8] Many German-Americans owned beer gardens and hosted parades, concerts and carnivals as ways of connecting with the rest of Chicago society.[9] The Bush Temple of Music in Chicago was the last German language theaters in the country and was considered a highlight of German-American entertainment.[10] Additionally, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was conducted by the highly renowned German-American Fredrick Stock and would perform famous German pieces such as “Meistersinger von Nurnberg”.[11] There were also multiple monuments dedicated to distinguished Germans such the playwright Johan Friedrich von Schiller. [12] This political, social, and cultural prominence would ultimately be attacked during the anti-German movement of WWI.

The endorsement of anti-German sentiment from the federal government caused a severe xenophobia towards ethnic Germans within the city of Chicago. The New York Times reported that President Theodore Roosevelt stated there was, “no room in the country for dual nationality”.[17] The German-American identification was no longer cohesive with American nationalism. Furthermore, the Espionage Act of 1917, and Sedition Law of 1918 were utilized to suppress any anti-war/pro-German sentiment during the war.[18] These laws empowered certain groups such as the American Protective League, who aimed to collect information on their German-American neighbors and publicly accuse them of anti-American activities.[19] This type of vigilantism succeeded in terrorizing the community and fueling the anti-German hysteria. Discriminatory signs were erected in Edison Park, barring pro-German people from entering. In addition, films such as “The Ordeal” painted the German-American as a danger to society.[20] This feeling of a domestic threat influenced President Wilson to require all German-American men over the age of fourteen to be registered with the local police and constantly carry their registration cards.[21] Chicago officials interpreted this executive action as an endorsement to ban German-Americans from residing, working, and traveling through the Loop without a permit granting them permission.[22] This, along with many organizations' refusals to employ any ethnic Germans, caused the German-American unemployment rates to exponentially increase.[23] These acts of severe xenophobia prompted the city of Chicago to officially distance itself from its prominent German-American citizens by ridding of German kultur from all public institutions.

While Chicago forced an institutional cleanse, many of the German-American people also elected to voluntarily shed their native culture as a form of self-preservation against the dangers of xenophobia. The federal government supported this complete overhaul of German kultur within Chicago by implementing its own institutional cleanse.[26] The New York Times headlines read “To Strike Germany from Map of U.S.” the country needs to eliminate the culture by changing the names of items such as Sauerkraut to “Liberty Cabbage” as well as anglicizing surnames upon naturalization.[27] German-Americans felt that, in order to prove their patriotism, they must publicly display loyalty to America by voluntarily discarding their German kultur.[28] They followed the federal government's example, instituting a mass renaming within Chicago. Some examples include: The Bismarck Gardens becoming known as The Marigold Gardens, the Hotel Bismarck converting to the Hotel Randolph, the Kaiserhof Hotel changing to The Atlantic Hotel, Germania Club becoming known as Lincoln Club and German Hospital being changed to Grant Hospital.[29] The boycott against German entertainment by organizations such as The Use Nothing German Society forced the Bush Temple of Music, the last German Language theater in the United States, to close its doors in 1917. [30] The various German-American clubs ceased to entertain the people of Chicago with parades, carnivals, and concerts.[31] The Chicago Symphony Orchestra conductor, Frederick Stock was forced to step down during the war until he could become an official American citizen and publicly reject his German heritage.[32] Even the German language itself was targeted when teachers and clergy were pressured to stop speaking and teaching German.[33] Any German-American who resisted these attempts to eliminate the German kultur in Chicago would have been targeted by the American Protection League and harassed into submission. Ultimately, they were left with no other option.

American temperance organizations were able to exploit this renunciation of German-American kultur in order to pass the prohibition amendment which affected many German-Americans in Chicago. The German-Americans who controlled the Beer trade were known as “Beer Barons”.[35] The most famous in Chicago was Charles H. Wacker who was determined to prove his patriotism via funding of various American war efforts. This came after initially supporting the German-American Alliance and German Red Cross, organizations which supplied the German army. [36] Upon further investigation, many additional beer barons were found to be initially supporting German relief organizations, providing the Anti-Salon league with evidence equating the beer market with treason.[37] Many news articles, pamphlets, speeches, etc. were circulated, claiming a boycott against alcohol would prevent any more aid from going to the German army.[38] Previously, prohibition was not a popular idea among the American people. However, by connecting it to the war, the temperance league was able to connect it to patriotism. This ability to utilize the anti-German sentiment to equate prohibition with patriotism was essential to the passage of the 18^th amendment.