Ivan Dubovický – Czechs In America of sociologist Professor Herbert A. Miller (1875–1952) who formulated several important resolutions, organized some meetings and wrote a number of articles in the American press in favor of the Czechs. Adolph Joachim Sabath (1866–1952) of Záboří near Písek was one of the most prominent Czechs in the American political life. He moved to the United States in 1881, settling in Chicago where he graduated from law school. In 1907, he was elected to the United States Congress on the Democratic Party ticket, which office he succeeded in successively winning an unbelievable twenty-three times! He played a prominent role in asserting Czech interests in the United States: in 1912, he arranged for Count Francis Lützow to address the Congress with his lectures on the Czech nation and the Czech lands. In May 1917, it was thanks to Sabath that a resolution was enacted in Congress acknowledging the right of the Czech lands to freedom and independence. Sabath was the man who prepared for Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk a triumphant reception in Washington, D.C. in May 9, 1918, when twenty-seven members of the United States Congress turned out to welcome him. Sabath would use his political influence in the interests of Czechoslovakia once again, during World War II. Sabath fought for the liberalization of America’s immigration legislation and against anti-Semitism and prohibition. He had urged United States membership in the League of Nations and was one of the first American politicians to warn against the threat of Nazism. He was a personal friend of a number of prominent personalities and several U.S. Presidents, among them Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jane Addams, Samuel Gompers and Harry Truman. In Congress, he was known as “Judge Sabath”. He financed the building of an orphanage in his native village of Záboří, in his former homeland. A very important role was also played by another American of Czech-Jewish origin, Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1856–1941), Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Due to his influential position, he had a profound impact on the US political climate in favor of Czechoslovak independence. Brandeis was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Both his parents had come to the United States from Prague shortly after 1848. Even much later, in the course of his political career, Louis Brandeis did not conceal his Czech and Jewish origins. Following his law studies at Harvard University, he became a successful lawyer. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. His influence helped Tomáš G. Masaryk to obtain the necessary American support for the establishment — 97 —
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