"Start Drive to Rid Country of All Hun Things,"

"Start Drive to Rid Country of All Hun Things,"

World War I

Across the country, these fears also led to large-scale deportations, attacks on foreign-language newspapers and magazines, and hostility towards all things foreign or politically radical (including immigrant organizations, newspapers, and languages). Vigilante attacks against German-Americans increased, including harassment, beatings, and even lynching. Stores owned by German-Americans were attacked, performers were driven off stage, and many with German names changed them. German, the most widely taught foreign language in 1914, virtually disappeared from high school and college curricula. In Connecticut, the governor banned instruction in foreign languages in elementary schools.

Bridgeport Evening Farmer

April 10, 1918