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drawn to Jerauld Olmsted, the editor-in-chief 
of the yearbook, who was deemed primarily 
responsible for the publication. Olmstead and 
Kaplan had an intense rivalry to be number 
one in the class. Olmsted ultimately finished as 
the top student in 1922.
Olmsted was the regimental commander 
and also the president of the class. Additionally, 
Olmsted was among five members of the class 
slated to receive recognition for demonstrat-
ing exceptional leadership qualities from Rear 
Adm. Henry Wilson, the superintendent of the 
Naval Academy.

IMMEDIATE REACTION
The infamous page created a huge commo-
tion initially at Annapolis and subsequently 
throughout the country. 
The Baltimore Sun on June 9, 1922, seven 
days after the class graduated, reported the 
details of the scheme. The article said that the 
Academy Superintendent Rear Adm. Henry 
Wilson was subtly punishing Olmsted by not 
sending him a letter of commendation for 
exceptional leadership qualities. Following 
the news article, an editorial in a Washington 
newspaper titled “The Cruelty of Youth” criti-

cized those responsible for the page.
Sen. Howard Sutherland of Kaplan’s home 
state of West Virginia had the editorial read 
on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He led the 
charge on the incident claiming that the 
mistreatment of Leonard Kaplan was due to 
Kaplan being Jewish.
Sutherland declared on the Senate floor: 
“[An] offense has been committed in stig-
matizing the young midshipman of the 
Jewish race as he has been stigmatized, 
because of his nationality.
” (For many 
years, the phrase “Jewish race” was used 
conventionally by some to refer to Jews 
as an ethnic group. Others, however, 
used it nefariously to promote a pseu-
do-scientific, racial theory. The phrase 
was largely discarded as a result of the 
Holocaust.)
Concerns were also voiced in the 
Senate regarding the lack of disci-
pline that permitted such a shame-
ful act to occur at a government 
institution.
Sutherland sent a letter to 
President Warren Harding 
demanding that those responsible 

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION ARCHIVES

View of the United States Naval Academy, 
Annapolis, Maryland. Photo taken from a boat in 
the Annapolis Harbor on the Severn River, a trib-
utary of the Chesapeake Bay.

KAPLAN WAS A BRILLIANT JEWISH STUDENT
WHO GRADUATED SECOND IN HIS CLASS
AND WON SEVERAL ACADEMIC PRIZES.

continued on page 18
Editorial from the 
Detroit Jewish Chronicle

COASTALPICS / ISTOCK

