Oscar served on the board of ASCAP for many years, guarding the rights of songwriters who had often been taken advantage of in the past, particularly black composers and musicians.  In the thirties, when he heard about the treatment of the Jewish people in Germany, he helped create the Anti-Nazi League in California, trying to sound the alarm in this country and around the world.During World War II, he called attention to the unfairness of the internment of Japanese people living in America, fighting for the release of his wife's brother-in-law, Jerry Watanabe.  Oscar and Dorothy also worked with the writer and humanitarian, Pearl Buck, supporting her "Welcome House" orphanage, which cared for mixed-race babies who were "unadoptable" after the war.  Oscar and Dorothy asked his daughter, Alice, if she would like to adopt one of the babies and she did, adopting two Japanese/American children.  The Hammerstein family became joyfully integrated. Oscar publicly supported his friends who were blacklisted in the early fifties and contributed financially and publicly to the leaders of the NAACP.After the war, reacting to the dropping of the atomic bomb, he worked closely with the World Federation, an organization that urged the creation of a World Court to solve problems with Law instead of War.  The organization urged people of all countries to support the newly-formed United Nations, recognizing its weaknesses, but looking at it as the beginning of something critically needed and "the only road to take."Nearly all his life, Oscar spent a few hours a day writing letters and essays for publication about what he considered important causes.  Oscar didn't live to see the Civil Rights Movement put an end to segregation in America but he most assuredly was part of its beginning.  From Show Boat  to South Pacific, he revealed himself to be a believer in human rights by the stories he chose for his musical plays.  "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" became an anthem for the cause and still resonates with meaning as we address the issue of hate after 'September 11th' and other terrorist attacks worldwide.During the Presidential Election of 1956, Oscar helped Adlai Stevenson with a few of his speeches and Oscar's son, James Hammerstein, said in a 1995 interview that he thought that after The Sound of Music, Oscar was thinking of moving on from writing for the musical theater and considering more public service-inspired work.Sadly, Oscar died of stomach cancer in 1960, at age 65, robbing us of what should have been 20 more years of his standing at the tall desk, creating lyrics and libretti, or enthusiastically writing his reflections on social issues and political problems -- those beautiful and important ideas that came out of his dreams!Oscar served on the board of ASCAP for many years, guarding the rights of songwriters who had often been taken advantage of in the past, particularly black composers and musicians. In the thirties, when he heard about the treatment of the Jewish people in Germany, he helped create the Anti-Nazi League in California, trying to sound the alarm in this country and around the world.  During World War II, he called attention to the unfairness of the internment of Japanese people living in America, fighting for the release of his wife's brother-in-law, Jerry Watanabe. Oscar and Dorothy also worked with the writer and humanitarian, Pearl Buck, supporting her "Welcome House" orphanage, which cared for mixed-race babies who were "unadoptable" after the war. Oscar and Dorothy asked his daughter, Alice, if she would like to adopt one of the babies and she did, adopting two Japanese/American children. The Hammerstein family became joyfully integrated. Oscar publicly supported his friends who were blacklisted in the early fifties and contributed financially and publicly to the leaders of the NAACP.  After the war, reacting to the dropping of the atomic bomb, he worked closely with the World Federation, an organization that urged the creation of a World Court to solve problems with Law instead of War. The organization urged people of all countries to support the newly-formed United Nations, recognizing its weaknesses, but looking at it as the beginning of something critically needed and "the only road to take."  Nearly all his life, Oscar spent a few hours a day writing letters and essays for publication about what he considered important causes. Oscar didn't live to see the Civil Rights Movement put an end to segregation in America but he most assuredly was part of its beginning. From Show Boat to South Pacific, he revealed himself to be a believer in human rights by the stories he chose for his musical plays. "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" became an anthem for the cause and still resonates with meaning as we address the issue of hate after 'September 11th' and other terrorist attacks worldwide.  During the Presidential Election of 1956, Oscar helped Adlai Stevenson with a few of his speeches and Oscar's son, James Hammerstein, said in a 1995 interview that he thought that after The Sound of Music, Oscar was thinking of moving on from writing for the musical theater and considering more public service-inspired work.  Sadly, Oscar died of stomach cancer in 1960, at age 65, robbing us of what should have been 20 more years of his standing at the tall desk, creating lyrics and libretti, or enthusiastically writing his reflections on social issues and political problems -- those beautiful and important ideas that came out of his dreams!  JoAnn Young Filmmaker, OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II  Out Of My Dreams (liner notes from the CD)