Limmudfest 2020

Between 1949–1967, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) helped oversee the National Social Welfare Assembly's Comics Project, which published inserts in mainstream comic books to promote ethical standards, including greater acceptance of immigrants, refugees, and minorities. At the same time, public condemnations of comic books drove a broad censorship campaign, a dynamic underground comics scene emerged, and creative Jewish visionaries like Maurice Sendak emulated the subversive potential of comic books in other visual forms, such as the picture book. This session explores how postwar comics operated both as a social tool for promoting collective American values and as a means for Jewish self-exploration, social resistance, and liberation.