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Bishop urges Mont Vernon to part with Jew Pond name
MANCHESTER — The newly named Roman Catholic bishop of New Hampshire is urging Mont Vernon residents to vote to change the name of Jew Pond, saying the name was meant to convey contempt.
A vote is scheduled for town meeting on March 13, when Mont Vernon residents will decide whether to ask the U.S. Geological Survey to change the name.
“It is a small pond, but anti-Semitism is a big deal,” Bishop Peter Libasci wrote to the Milford Cabinet. The newspaper is running the letter in today's edition.
The tiny fishing hole is just beyond the town center.
The pond's name has stirred controversy since last summer, when an algae bloom forced its closure. Town Health Officer Rich Masters was unpleasantly surprised to learn that Jew Pond was the name listed in the official U.S.G.S. database. Masters began the process of petitioning the U.S.G.S. to change the name.
That rankled the town's three-member board of selectmen, who saw no reason to change a name that had been used for generations without protest. In October they voted to express support for keeping the name.
Libasci said he “involuntarily bristled” when leadership of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire mentioned it recently to him.
Reporters and local historians believe the name was a snide joke or insult aimed at the Jewish owners and clientele of a nearby hotel, he wrote.
He noted that Jeff Fladen of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire objects to the use of the word “Jew” as an adjective.
“It is different than the use of the word “Jewish” or “Christian” because it is added as a stinging barb, the way that a bigot in private company would mention a “Jew lawyer” or “Jew doctor.” You just absolutely know it's meant to convey some measure of contempt,” Libasci wrote.
A vote is scheduled for town meeting on March 13, when Mont Vernon residents will decide whether to ask the U.S. Geological Survey to change the name.
“It is a small pond, but anti-Semitism is a big deal,” Bishop Peter Libasci wrote to the Milford Cabinet. The newspaper is running the letter in today's edition.
The tiny fishing hole is just beyond the town center.
The pond's name has stirred controversy since last summer, when an algae bloom forced its closure. Town Health Officer Rich Masters was unpleasantly surprised to learn that Jew Pond was the name listed in the official U.S.G.S. database. Masters began the process of petitioning the U.S.G.S. to change the name.
That rankled the town's three-member board of selectmen, who saw no reason to change a name that had been used for generations without protest. In October they voted to express support for keeping the name.
Libasci said he “involuntarily bristled” when leadership of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire mentioned it recently to him.
Reporters and local historians believe the name was a snide joke or insult aimed at the Jewish owners and clientele of a nearby hotel, he wrote.
He noted that Jeff Fladen of the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire objects to the use of the word “Jew” as an adjective.
“It is different than the use of the word “Jewish” or “Christian” because it is added as a stinging barb, the way that a bigot in private company would mention a “Jew lawyer” or “Jew doctor.” You just absolutely know it's meant to convey some measure of contempt,” Libasci wrote.