"Seeking to brand itself as a mainstream organization, America First struggled with the problem of anti-Semitism of some of its leaders and many of its members", according to the historian Dunn.[6] The group had some Jewish members at the outset: Sears heir and philanthropist Lessing J. Rosenwald was on the national committee; former California congresswoman Florence Prag Kahn was a member; and the first publicity director for the New York chapter was Jewish.[6] However, the automotive pioneer and infamous anti-Semite Henry Ford had joined the national committee at the same time as Rosenwald, which soon led to Rosenwald resigning.[36]