1950s synagogue bombings

Between November 11, 1957, and October 14, 1958, there were five bombings and three attempted bombings of synagogues, seven in the Southern United States and one in the Midwest United States. There were no deaths or injuries.

The bombings occurred against a backdrop of increased antisemitic activity in the United States, both nonviolent and violent, after U.S. Supreme Court established that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional with Brown v. Board of Education in May 1954. White supremacists, such as the Confederate Underground, were opposed to Jewish support for integration and believed that integration was a Jewish plot to ruin America.

There was an increase in antisemitic activity in the United States, both nonviolent and violent, after U.S. Supreme Court established that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional with Brown v. Board of Education in May 1954. Since the decision, there were more than 80 bombings in the Southern United States.^[1]

Between November 11, 1957, and October 14, 1958, there were five bombings and three attempted bombings of synagogues, seven in the South and one in the Midwest. There were no deaths or injuries.^[1]

Despite the rise in violence against Jews in the late 1950s, authorities were slow to associate them with integration until the Confederate Underground started to take credit for the bombings, in part because the southern segregationists were not uniformly anti-Jewish. According to the strategy of segregationists like John Kasper and J. B. Stoner, black aspirations for equality were a symptom of a Jewish communist plot to ruin America.^[2]

For example, ahead of the bombing targeting the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 16, 1958, antisemitic literature falsely claimed that that JCC was hosting integrated community meetings.^[2]

The bombings resulted in shock and support from the local communities for the Jewish populations.^[1]

After the bombings of the Jewish centers in Nashville and Jacksonville, police learned of a possible conspiracy to bomb other Jewish centers and synagogues throughout the South.^[3]

After the Atlanta bombing on April 28, President Dwight Eisenhower directed the FBI to provide assistance to the Atlanta Police Department. Mayor of Atlanta William Hartsfield condemned the perpetrators of the bombing, calling it the "end result of demagogy".^[1]

Haydon Burns, mayor of Jacksonville, convened a conference in Jacksonville on May 5, 1958, during which police and civic officials from more than 20 cities pledged a cooperative response.^[1]

By the end of 1958, the Anti-Defamation League recognized the bombings as part of a region-wide campaign of domestic terrorism. However, the FBI still not believe it had the authority to act.^[2]

According to George Kellman, federal lawmakers considered legislative changes to curb the spread of antisemitic literature, but proposals were complicated by freedom of speech concerns.^[1]

Five men associated with the National States Rights Party were arrested and indicated for the Atlanta bombing.^[1]

Most of the bombings were unsolved.^{[citation needed]}

• List of attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States