Dreyfus in America: A Pictorial Romance

The scandalous story of the Dreyfus Affair proved riveting to American readers in the 1890s, who followed the twists and turns of the legal case and the sufferings of Alfred Dreyfus, in newspapers and magazines across the country. In marked contrast to the French, American sentiment ran overwhelmingly in support of Dreyfus, who was seen as the tragic hero of a thrilling and scandalous political drama. The unambiguous sympathy of Americans toward this unlikely leading man (bespectacled, bland, unemotional) stands in sharp contrast to French antisemitic attitudes. This sympathy also serves as a puzzling exception to homegrown antisemitism that was inflamed at the time by cross-Atlantic Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe. This article will examine the evidence, focusing on the visual imagery that accompanied newspaper and magazine articles, and derive insights into both the difference between French and American biases, as well as the perplexing contradictions within the American viewpoint on Jews.