{"id":579,"date":"2012-05-07T13:50:40","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T13:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=579"},"modified":"2012-05-07T13:53:50","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T13:53:50","slug":"gertrude-stein-unlisted-in-white-house-proclamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/gertrude-stein-unlisted-in-white-house-proclamation\/","title":{"rendered":"Gertrude Stein unlisted in White House proclamation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a tradition begun in the George W. Bush administration, the White House released a proclamation declaring\u00a0the month of May as “Jewish American Heritage Month.”\u00a0 As part of the proclamation, several well-known Jewish figures were cited and acknowledged for their various contributions. However, following objections from Jewish scholars and leaders, a revised\u00a0proclamation was issued on May 3 to exclude the name of Gertrude Stein<\/strong> as a “Jew who brought to bear some of our country’s greatest achievements and forever enrich\u00a0national life.”\u00a0\u00a0 In re-issuing the proclamation, spokesman Matt Leichler<\/strong> acknowledged the Obama administration had received some complaints about using Stein as a positive Jewish role model. Stein, an American expatriate who spent most of her life in France,\u00a0 has been criticized because of several controversial quotes attributed to her. Among them was a New York Times<\/em><\/strong> interview in 1934 that praised Adolph Hitler<\/strong>. Stein, a prominent lesbian whose longtime partner was Alice B. Toklas<\/strong> also, ironically, linked masculinity with genius. Because of this, she has been discounted by feminist leaders in the years following her death in 1946.<\/p>\n

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