(Jewish Group) A beloved Fresno State librarian fantasized about 'target practice' on Jews
A report commissioned by Fresno State University looking into the views of Henry Miller Madden, for whom the school’s library was named, has found copious — and unambiguous — examples of antisemitism, as well as a through line of heartfelt admiration for Hitler and the Nazi party.
“I think all of us were surprised by the extent, the virulence, of Madden’s antisemitism — and the persistence,” said Jill Fields, a history professor and founding coordinator of the school’s Jewish studies program, who was a member of the task force that created the report.
The report follows an announcement in December 2021 that administrators at Cal State Fresno would consider renaming the library. Bradley Hart, a professor in the school’s Media, Communications and Journalism Department, had included Madden’s writings in his 2018 book, “Hitler’s American Friends.” However, only after Hart mentioned this material during a lecture in November 2021 was there an outcry.
Subsequently, the school’s president, Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, assembled a task force of academics, librarians and Jewish community members to look more fully into Madden’s papers — which are in the library’s collection — and examine his views over time in an effort to consider whether to remove Madden’s name from the library.
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