Averbuch Incident (1908)

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Albion W. Small to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1908

Albion W. Small to Jane Addams, March 19, 1908

Jane Addams to Sarah Alice Addams Haldeman, March 24, 1908

James Weber Linn to Jane Addams, May, 1908

Maud Warner McCormick to Jane Addams, May 1908

Harriet Eliza Merriam Van Der Vaart and Anna Eliza Nicholes to Jane Addams, [May 1908]

Nathan Bijur to Jane Addams, May 1, 1908

The Chicago Settlements and Social Unrest, May 2, 1908

William D. P. Bliss to Jane Addams, May 4, 1908

Harriet Flower Smith Farwell to Jane Addams, May 6, 1908

Jane Addams to Anita McCormick Blaine, May 7, 1908

Franklin MacVeagh to Jane Addams, May 7, 1908

John Reynolds Morron to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Evart Grant Routzahn to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Alfred R. Urion to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Chester Mitchell Dawes to Jane Addams, May 9, 1908

Frederick Greeley to Jane Addams, May 9, 1908

Otto Carl Schneider to Jane Addams, May 11, 1908

Seymour Coman to Jane Addams, May 11, 1908

Henry Joseph Haskell to Jane Addams, May 12, 1908

Charles Lawrence Hutchinson to Jane Addams, May 13, 1908

Lucretia Peabody Houghteling to Jane Addams, May 20, 1908

Frederick William Morgan to Jane Addams, May 24, 1908

Unknown (B. F.) to the Editor of the New York Evening Post, May 29, 1908

Jenkin Lloyd Jones to Jane Addams, August 14, 1908

Harold LeClair Ickes to Jane Addams, October 12, 1908

Autobiographical Notes Upon Twenty Years at Hull-House: Echoes of the Russian Revolution, September 1910

Harold LeClair Ickes to Jane Addams, September 14, [1910]

Americanization, December 29, 1919

Americanization, December 29, 1919

Nationalism, a Dogma?, February 7, 1920

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Founding Date

1908-03-02

Ending Date

1908-03-02

Description

The "Averbuch Incident" occured on March 2, 1908. On this day, a Jewish boy, Lazarus Averbuch, was shot by Chicago police officer George Shippy. Averbuch, Shippy claimed, had asked for him at his home as an anarchist intent to kill the officer. Averbuch was spurred, Shippy claimed, by the recent banning of famous Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman from speaking in Chicago.

Shippy was injured in their fight, stabbed under his right arm, but claimed that Averbuch had also shot Shippy's son Harry as well as James Foley, Shippy's driver. The account of the fight was largely taken as truth, even by Jewish corners of the Chicago community. Some activists, such as Emma Goldman and Jane Addams, believed Shippy's story had too many inconsistencies. Addams organized a privately funded investigation of her own through Julius Rosenwald and led by Chicago attorney Harold Ickes, and surfaced inconsistencies and absurdities in Shippy's story.

Addams and the Jewish press tried to prove that Averbuch was simply an immigrant looking for a letter of recommendation from the town's police, as he would have done in Russia. Though Addams and the press never changed the public's opinion on Averbuch, there are many who are still interested in the incident.

Source

Photo 1: Body of Lazarus Averbuch, DN-0005898, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

Photo 2: Living room inside the residence of Police Chief George M. Shippy, DN-0005940, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum

Collection

Events

Map

Edited By

Sciancalepore, Victoria

Rights

Public domain

Bibliography and Links

Multiculturalism in Chicago's Lazar Averbuch Case, 1908; Illinois Periodicals Online

The Lost Boy, Chicago Magazine

The Mysterious Death of Lazarus Averbuch, Jewish Virtual Library

Citation

“Averbuch Incident (1908),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed December 8, 2023, https://mail.digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/2954.

Averbuch Incident (1908)

Item Relations

Albion W. Small to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune, March 14, 1908

Albion W. Small to Jane Addams, March 19, 1908

Jane Addams to Sarah Alice Addams Haldeman, March 24, 1908

James Weber Linn to Jane Addams, May, 1908

Maud Warner McCormick to Jane Addams, May 1908

Harriet Eliza Merriam Van Der Vaart and Anna Eliza Nicholes to Jane Addams, [May 1908]

Nathan Bijur to Jane Addams, May 1, 1908

The Chicago Settlements and Social Unrest, May 2, 1908

William D. P. Bliss to Jane Addams, May 4, 1908

Harriet Flower Smith Farwell to Jane Addams, May 6, 1908

Jane Addams to Anita McCormick Blaine, May 7, 1908

Franklin MacVeagh to Jane Addams, May 7, 1908

John Reynolds Morron to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Evart Grant Routzahn to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Alfred R. Urion to Jane Addams, May 8, 1908

Chester Mitchell Dawes to Jane Addams, May 9, 1908

Frederick Greeley to Jane Addams, May 9, 1908

Otto Carl Schneider to Jane Addams, May 11, 1908

Seymour Coman to Jane Addams, May 11, 1908

Henry Joseph Haskell to Jane Addams, May 12, 1908

Charles Lawrence Hutchinson to Jane Addams, May 13, 1908

Lucretia Peabody Houghteling to Jane Addams, May 20, 1908

Frederick William Morgan to Jane Addams, May 24, 1908

Unknown (B. F.) to the Editor of the New York Evening Post, May 29, 1908

Jenkin Lloyd Jones to Jane Addams, August 14, 1908

Harold LeClair Ickes to Jane Addams, October 12, 1908

Autobiographical Notes Upon Twenty Years at Hull-House: Echoes of the Russian Revolution, September 1910

Harold LeClair Ickes to Jane Addams, September 14, [1910]

Americanization, December 29, 1919

Americanization, December 29, 1919

Nationalism, a Dogma?, February 7, 1920

Averbuch, Lazarus (1889-1908)

Maron, Isadore (1888-?)

Comments