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I'm An American -- William Schlamm

Recorded Sound | Digitized | RG Number: RG-91.0066

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    Overview

    Description
    On July 13, 1941 William Schlamm spoke with William H. Marshall, Assistant District Director of Immigration at Ellis Island, about what democracy looks like to a refugee from a dictatorship. Schlamm reveals his first English words, ‘‘I want to be an American," were published in an American Magazine two months after he arrived. He explains how the country was different than he expected. Schlamm suggests Americans should talk about accomplishments and achievements like dictators, because it could change the opinion of fascists and the world. The two men discuss how official statements made by totalitarian nations can tell the true state of affairs. Schlamm confesses to a loss of nostalgia for Europe even if the region recovers from the Nazism. He shares how he felt abandoning allegiance to his homeland. Although American democracy is not perfect, the Austrian-born journalist, believes it will be more successful than totalitarianism.

    William Schlamm (b. William Siegmund Schlamm) was born on June 10, 1904 in Przemyśl, Galicia, Austria to a Jewish family. He was a communist in his teens but abandoned the political ideology at 25. He joined the left-wing magazine "Die Weitbuhne." The Austrian journalist fled to the United States after Hitler came to power. Schlamm joined the staff of Fortune magazine in 1941 and became a foreign policy advisor to the publisher, Henry Luce. He became a naturalized citizen in 1944. He went on to edit numerous magazines and publications. He is credited with encouraging William F. Buckley Jr. to create the conservative magazine National Review. Schlamm emigrated back to Germany in 1957 and later founded the own monthly journal Die Zeitbuhne. He coined the phrase, “The trouble with socialism is socialism. The trouble with capitalism is capitalism.”
    Date
    Broadcast:  1941 July 13
    Format
    WAV

    Physical Details

    Language
    English
    Genre/Form
    Radio broadcasts.

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
    Copyright
    NBC Universal
    Conditions on Use
    Contact NBC Universal at www.nbcuniarchives.com for permission to duplicate and use this film or sound recording.

    Administrative Notes

    Legal Status
    In process
    Recorded Sound Provenance
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased digital copies of these sound recordings from the Library of Congress in March 2018.
    Recorded Sound Notes
    More information about William Schlamm:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willi_Schlamm
    http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=661&loc=r

    More information about I’M AN AMERICAN:
    https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/historians-mailbox/im-american
    https://www.npr.org/2017/10/16/557338355/im-an-american-radio-show-promoted-inclusion-before-world-war-ii
    Recorded Sound Source
    Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
    File Number
    Source Archive Number: RWB 6671
    Record last modified:
    2024-02-21 07:27:11
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn621016

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    Also in "I'm An American" NBC radio broadcasts

    I’M AN AMERICAN premiered in 1940 on the eve of WWII. The NBC radio broadcast was spearheaded by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Labor to foster a “deeper consciousness of the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship and more tolerance for fellow american of all birthplaces”. The weekly program featured distinguished foreign-born citizens discussing their naturalization process, the meaning of “democracy” and reminding all Americans of the value/privilege of U.S. citizenship. Sound recordings of I’M AN AMERICAN are available from the NBC Radio Collection in the Library of Congress.

    Date: 1940-1944

    I'm An American -- Anton Lang

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Guy Lombardo

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Ludwig Bemelmans

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    I'm An American -- Hans Kindler

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Luise Rainer

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Charles Pergler

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Gaetono Salvemini

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Paul Muni

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Béla Schick

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Leopold Stokowski

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Attilio Piccirilli

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Igor Sikorsky

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    I'm An American -- Louis Adamic

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Konrad Bercovici

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Emil Ludwig

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Walter Damrosch

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Guiseppe Bellanca

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    I'm An American -- Thomas Mann

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    I'm An American Day 1942 part 2

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1942 part 3

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1942 part 4

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1943 part 1

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1943 part 2

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1943 part 3

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day -- Christmas in Freedom

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    I'm An American -- Walter Huston

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    I'm An American -- Robert Zuppke

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    I'm An American -- Efrem Zimbalist

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    I'm An American -- Daniel Tobin

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    I'm An American -- Edith Kempthorne

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    I'm An American -- Pitirim Sorokin

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1942 part 1

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    I'm An American -- Vilhjálmur Stefánsson

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- César Saerchinger

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    I'm An American -- Ferdinand Schumann-Heink

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    I'm An American -- Frank Kingdon

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    I'm An American -- Richard Waring

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    I'm An American -- Max Lerner

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    I'm An American -- Fortune Gallo

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    I'm An American -- Fred Perry

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Raymond Loewy

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    I'm An American Day 1941 -- The Dangerous Days

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    I'm An American Day 1941 -- I'm An American Day

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    I'm An American Day 1941 -- Fiorello LaGuardia

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American Day 1941 -- One Nation Indivisible

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    I'm An American -- Henry Morgenthau Sr

    Recorded Sound

    I'm An American -- Kurt Weill

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    I'm An American -- Franz Werfel

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    I'm An American -- Frank Capra

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    I'm An American -- Xavier Cugat

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    I'm An American -- Anton Carlson

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    I'm An American -- Johannes Steele

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    I'm An American -- Yolanda Mero-Irion

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    I'm An American -- Jean Hersholt

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    I'm An American -- Rabbi Stephen Wise

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    I'm An American -- Gregory Zilboorg

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