THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS

The Lynching of Robert Praeger: A World War I Hate Crime for Uncle Sam

Peter Stehman will discuss his book, “Patriotic Murder,” a fascinating look at the anti-German frenzy, fueled by government propaganda, that led to the lynching of Robert Praeger at Collinsville, Illinois on April 5, 1918. Stehman discusses how civil liberties were hijacked in the name of patriotism during World War I. There are lessons for today in this story of a crime where intolerance and hate against immigrants led to a suspension of civility. There were two crimes against Robert Praeger. Not only was he an innocent man murdered for his nationality, but the leaders of the mob who committed the crime were exonerated.