Kennebunk mob burns Jehovah's Witnesses meeting place
Permanent ID:
301Date:
June 11 1940Image Description:
This photograph shows two police officers standing in front of Kingdom Hall in Kennebunk, Maine. Kingdom Hall was vandalized and set on fire on June 9, 1940 by a mob of people furious over the refusal of Jehovah's Witnesses to salute the American flag.The 1930s and 1940s saw a massive discrimination of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the United States. Stemming from U.S. Supreme Court cases contesting the mandatory flag salute, draft law, and literature distribution, the Jehovah’s Witness community was perceived as against the war effort during World War II and anti-American for neglecting to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance. Jehovah’s Witnesses were harassed and attacked across the United States, property was destroyed, and boycotts on both ends ensued. Following the end of World War II and the rulings on various Supreme Court cases, the Jehovah’s Witness community saw a decline in vigilante violence against them and was able to establish the right to refrain from acts that go against their beliefs.