Memo

By: Alfred E. Smith

Date: 1920

Source: Moskowitz, Henry, ed. Progressive Democracy: Addresses and State Papers of Alfred E. Smith. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1928, 275–276.

About the Author: Alfred E. Smith (1873–1944) was born on the Lower East Side of New York, the child of second-generation immigrants. With only an eighth-grade education, Smith went on to become a New York State assemblyman, governor of New York for four terms, and, in 1928, the Democratic presidential candidate. As New York governor (1919–1921 and 1923–1929), he worked to pass legislation to improve social welfare and preserve the rights of individuals.

Introduction

The "Lusk Laws" were passed during the "Red Scare" following World War I (1914–1918), a period marked by a distrust and fear of radicals and foreigners, especially those individuals thought to represent the...