Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at www.djnfoundation.org
‘Father of Hate Radio’
T
oday, unfortunately, we live in an era
of numerous self-promoted media
“experts” who spread misinforma-
tion, conspiracy theories and, often, bold-
faced lies. The advent of the digital world,
along with its wonderful capabilities to pro-
vide useful information and connect people
and families, has exacerbated the problem of
unreliable news sources. Anyone with inter-
net access can create a media outlet: Deep
knowledge of a topic or accurate reporting
are not prerequisites.
Worse, many of these
media “talking heads” not
only spread falsehoods and
ignorance, but they also pro-
mote hate, including virulent
antisemitism. Although the
new media forces of the dig-
ital age may seem novel and
unprecedented, they are not. An outstand-
ing new podcast, “Radioactive: The Father
Coughlin Story,
” from Tablet Magazine
reminded me of this fact.
Father Charles Coughlin (1891-1979) was
America’s first mass media celebrity. He is
also, as University of Michigan Sociologist
Donald I. Warren succinctly wrote, the
“Father of Hate Radio.
” Indeed, the roots of
today’s media miscreants can be traced to
Coughlin’s radio show in the 1930s when
tens of millions listened to his broadcasts
every week.
An ordained Catholic priest, Coughlin
was on the faculty at Assumption College
(now, university) in Windsor, Ontario, 1916-
1923. Detroit Bishop Michael Gallagher
gave him an opportunity to establish a new
parish, now the Shrine of the Little Flower in
Royal Oak. Through massive donations via
his radio appeals, Coughlin built the Shrine
into a magnificent structure on Woodward
Avenue. Although building a religious shrine
may seem like a somewhat noble cause, this
one has a very dark underside.
Coughlin made his first radio appearance
in 1926. This was just six years after the
first regularly scheduled radio program-
ming in history. By 1930, Coughlin had a
huge national audience. Although his initial
broadcasts focused upon Catholic education,
he soon became political. Coughlin claimed
— like many media personalities today — to
speak for the “common” folks. In 1935, he
formed the National Union for Social Justice
(NUSJ). It soon had 1 million members and,
in 1936, begin publishing Social Justice as a
vehicle for his viewpoint.
Coughlin was staunchly anticom-
munist and, as the years passed,
increasingly antisemitic. He cited
Jewish “financiers” as dominating
the world’s economy and as insti-
gators of World War II. Coughlin
praised Adolf Hitler, defended the
Nazi violence of Kristallnacht and
published his own version of the
Protocols of Zion. Finally, in 1942, after
America’s entry into WWII and a fed-
eral investigation, Detroit Archbishop
Edward Mooney forced Coughlin to
cease non-congregational activities.
Coughlin continued his work at the
Shrine of the Little Flower until his retire-
ment in 1966.
Coughlin has a large presence in the
William Davidson Digital Archive of
Jewish Detroit History, appearing on
476 pages. Perhaps the best indication
of how Coughlin vexed Detroit’s Jewish
community is that reports about him
appeared on 53 front pages, with
headlines like: “Columnists and
Editors Join in Condemning Rev.
Coughlin’s Attacks on the Jewish
People” (Dec. 9, 1938, Chronicle),
“Father Coughlin Preaching Hate…”
(June 2, 1939, Chronicle) and
“Rabbis Charge Father Coughlin
is Exploiting ‘Social Justice’ Term”
(June 23, 1939, Chronicle), to name
just a few.
The “Radio Priest” generated a mas-
sive audience. It’s too bad he chose to
set a precedent of spreading hate instead
of promoting good. This is a history we
should not forget.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at
www.djnfoundation.org.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
62 | NOVEMBER 18 • 2021