Sigmund Livingston

Sigmund Livingston. Founder of the Anti-Defamation League. In 1913, Bloomington native Sigmund Livingston founded the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in Chicago. Livingston came to Bloomington in 1881 at the age of nine with his parents from Germany. After attending public schools, he graduated from law school at Illinois Wesleyan University and practiced here from 1894 to 1926., His office was in the Livingston Building which was built by his uncle in 1903. It was Bloomington's first skyscraper (steel framed with a brick and terra cotta curtain wall), and designed by George Miller. In 1926, Livingston moved to Chicago and continued to serve as ADL's Chairman until his death in 1946. , While still in Bloomington, he attended a vaudeville theater in Chicago and was offended by the portrayal of Jews. In 1908 he suggested to B'nai B'rith the formation of a group for the purpose of "eliminating the caricaturing and ridiculing of the Jew in literature, art, drama, and the press." This led to the founding of the ADL in 1913. Its charter reads: "The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens."