ANTI-FASCISM AND FREE SPEECH ON CAMPUS: ERNST TOLLER'S QUEENS COLLEGE AFFAIR1

Abstract

The countless public speeches Ernst Toller gave during his six-year exile from Nazi Germany included a particularly controversial one in 1938 at the newly founded Queens College, in New York City. The controversy stemmed from the fact that it almost did not take place: two days after receiving what he understood to be an invitation to speak at a symposium, Toller learned that the college could not host him after all because of his well-known anti-Nazi stance and the danger that it might offend German-Americans throughout the borough of Queens. Eventually the college heeded widespread criticism, including in the New York press, and Toller did address the college audience. This article compares Toller's ‘Queens College affair’ to other examples of the collision between fascism, anti-fascism, and free speech in New York City in the 1930s, including the German-American ‘Bund’ rally at Madison Square Garden in February 1939. The article considers what bearing these historical controversies have on current debates about free speech, including on college campuses.