Texan’s Anti-Nazi Warning Fell On Deaf Ears

Globe-trotting newspaper reporter Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker spoke in Dallas at Southern Methodist University on Nov. 20, 1941, but as usual his prowar message fell on deaf and hostile ears.

For years the awardwinning journalist had implored the public to take a hard look at Adolph Hitler and the threat fascism posed to democracy around the world. But he was drowned out by the greatest American hero of the century, who emphatically insisted that events in Europe did not concern this country.

Knickerbocker was a native of Yoakum and a graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown. A short tour of army duty along the Mexican border and a job delivering milk in Austin preceded his 1919 departure for New York City.