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We’ve seen a fair amount of the East Coast, but this hatred was nationwide, as evidenced by this postcard for Premiere Motel in Albuquerque, boasting “Select Clientele.”

This card from 1970 is a stark reminder that nothing we’re talking about is ancient history. I was in college in 1970. (Note another AAA logo on this card.)

New York and New Jersey are two places you would expect Jewish people to be welcomed pretty much anywhere, but that wasn’t the case. This postcard, from a hotel in New York in 1946, hits me especially hard. My mother grew up in Yonkers, just down the road, and her brother, my Uncle Jerry, was killed in action in 1944 while serving in the U.S. Army’s 26th Infantry Division fighting for the United States. For them to see that, in spite of everything, they weren’t considered “good enough” in their own home town breaks my heart.

Another one proudly boasting the AAA logo. These organizations, just like the Germans and all the others who supported the Nazis as they rose to power, are what I call “willing participants in hate.”

Pompano Beach, Florida, 1964. What gets me on this postcard—and you’ll see it on many of them—is the AAA, American Hotel Association, and Quality Court logos. They’re boasting about meeting all these associations’ standards: no pets and no Jews. And you know these organizations had to know that their names were being associated with these hateful practices.

Imagine being a Jewish person in the military, during the height of the Vietnam war. You’re risking your life in combat, and you see this postcard advocating, “Pray for Peace,” in the same breath as it says, “Restricted clientele.” Despite your sacrifice, you’re not welcome here.

The Park Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It strikes me as painfully ironic to see the American flag flying so proudly over the hotel, whose discriminatory practices feel anything but American.

Hyannis, Massachusetts. This part of the country has never been known to be all that friendly to Jewish people. Mrs. Wagoner’s boarding house for “Restricted Clientele” was no different.

Gregory Beach, northern Michigan. This isn’t dated, but based on the picture I’m estimating the 1940s. “Positively no Jews.”

Gregg's presentation on anti-Jewish hotels and resorts in the United States, from the 1800s through the 1970s.

An exploration of hotels and resorts in the United States that openly rejected Jewish guests—as late as the 1970s.

Same caption/data as KolnerHof1