Join us Thursday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m. for a Legacy Lecture by historian Dr. Pamela D. Toler about her book The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany. A book signing and reception will follow the presentation.
How did one reporter keep the truth flowing out of Nazi Germany?
For more than two decades, Sigrid Schultz reported from the center of a Europe being remade by revolution, dictatorship, and war. As the Chicago Tribune’s Berlin bureau chief and primary foreign correspondent for Central Europe from 1925 to 1941, she tracked the rise of the Nazi Party, exposed the regime’s propaganda, and warned American readers about dangers many still preferred to dismiss. She did so while fighting another battle inside her own profession, where women were rarely trusted with front-page foreign news and male colleagues resented her authority.
In The Dragon from Chicago, historian Pamela D. Toler reconstructs Schultz’s remarkable career through extensive archival research. She shows how Schultz cultivated sources, found ways around censorship, and resisted Nazi efforts to manage foreign correspondents through intimidation, bribery, and threats of expulsion or death. Schultz’s reporting made visible the regime whose expansion gave urgency to George C. Marshall’s work as Army Chief of Staff, when he had to prepare an unready Army before the United States had decided how far it would go to stop fascism. This vivid biography restores Schultz to the history of American journalism and reveals why reporting the truth became an essential front in the struggle against dictatorship.
How can I attend?
The event is free to the public, but reservations are required. To reserve a seat, or for more information about the event, contact [email protected] or call 540.463.7103, ext. 138.
How can I watch from home?
The presentation will also be livestreamed on the Marshall Foundation YouTube channel (https://bit.ly/2Or0E8D) simultaneously. Viewers of the stream are encouraged to write questions using the live video chat (to the lower right of the video) or via email at [email protected]. Chat will be monitored for abusive comments.
Who is Pamela D. Toler?
Pamela D. Toler is an author, speaker, and historian who brings overlooked people and unfamiliar perspectives into popular history. She holds a PhD in South Asian history from the University of Chicago and is the author of ten books for adults and children, including Women Warriors: An Unexpected History, Heroines of Mercy Street: Real Nurses of the Civil War, and The Dragon from Chicago. Her work has appeared in the American Scholar, Aramco World, MHQ, Ms., Time, and the Washington Post, and has been featured in National Geographic.
Related content
Learn how George C. Marshall mobilized Army journalists to counter Nazi propaganda and inform American troops; explore his work with the Office of War Information; see how Frank Capra’s Why We Fight films answered the propaganda of Nazi Germany; and listen to how another overlooked woman, Elizebeth Smith Friedman, helped dismantle Nazi spy rings.
The George C. Marshall Foundation Legacy Series is sponsored by:
Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation; Edward Jones; CornerStone Bank; Lexington Sunrise Rotary Club; Raymond James; and Mr. Ted Judt