A memoir of Selig Perlman and his life at the University of Wisconsin: Based on an interview of Mark Perlman conducted and edited by Leon Fink

Anti-Semitism and Progressive Era Social Science: The Case of John R. Commons

“…Mark Perlman, for instance, reports his father’s embarrassment when he had to bring his parents to Greenbush, the “ghetto or Jewish section of Madison,” after the collapse of their economic activity in Russia. This made him appear to his mentor not only as a Jewish immigrant with “a Yiddish accent” but, even worse, as a “poor Russian Jew rather than as an intellectual Russian Jew” (Fink 1991b, pp. 512–513).…”

“…512–513). Mark Perlman also points out that two other Jewish students—William Leiserson and David Saposs—were part of Commons’s inner circle, the famous “Friday nighters” who would regularly meet once a week at the Commonses’ house (Fink 1991b, p. 517; see also Rutherford 2006). Both Leiserson and Saposs, however, were more “Americanized” and drawn away from religious practice than Perlman, and this made them more “acceptable” to Commons’s eyes.…”

What Does It Mean? A Comment on the Alleged Anti-Semitism of John R. Commons

“…Mark Perlman also recognized a problem with his own statement because Commons was on good terms with a number of Jewish students. He mentioned David Saposs and William Leiserson (Fink 1991, pp. 526–527).…”

“…In any case, Selig took offense and stopped coming to the Friday-night dinners. Again, Fiorito and Orsi omit a passage in the interview: “A month or so later, John R’s daughter, Rachel, a wonderful person, but driven to a miserable life including drink and suicide, came to the house, crying and saying that her father had not really meant what he said and that he would apologize at a Friday Night, but my father would not [go]” (Fink 1991, p. 522).…”

“…When Commons’s daughter died, the first person he called was Selig Perlman. He offered Selig Perlman his library (Fink 1991, p. 524). How can these actions be consistent with a “veiled hostility toward Jews”?…”