Robert Szold

Robert Szold (1889–1977) was a 20th-century American lawyer, best known as a champion for the reform of child labor law and as a Zionist movement leader as well as a founding partner of Szold, Brandwen, Meyers and Altern (1918).[1][2]

Robert Szold
Born(1889-09-29)September 29, 1889
Streator, Illinois
DiedNovember 9, 1977(1977-11-09) (aged 88)
New York City
CitizenshipAmerican
EducationKnox College
Alma materHarvard Law School
OccupationLawyer, government legal counselor
Years active1915–1960
EmployerSzold, Brandwen, Meyers and Altman (AKA Lowenthal, Szold and Brandwen)
Known forZionist Organization of America chairman
MovementZionism
Spouse(s)Zip Szold
Parent(s)Adolph Szold, Rachel Esther Gumbiner
RelativesHenrietta Szold, Benjamin Szold

Background

Robert Szold was born on September 29, 1889, in Streator, Illinois. His parents were merchants: Adolph Szold of Berehove, Zakarpatska, Ukraine, and Rachel Esther Gumbiner of Poland. He had three siblings. In 1909, he received a BA from Knox College. In 1912, he received a law degree with honors from Harvard University.[1][2]

Career

In 1915, Szold was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Puerto Rico under United States Solicitor General John W. Davis until 1918. A brief that Szold wrote at that time led to the first-ever U.S. federal child labor law.[1][2]

In 1918, Szold returned to private practice and helped found the law firm of Szold, Brandwen, Meyers and Altman. (At some time during the early 1920s, the firm was known as Lowenthal, Szold and Brandwen of 43 Exchange Place, New York City.[3][4][5] Lowenthal (1888–1971) became a director of the Amalgamated Bank and, later, a close advisor to U.S. President Harry S. Truman.[6][7][8] Brandwen (1896–1986) became general counsel to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and a managing director of Amalgamated Bank.[9]) His clients included the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, led by Sidney Hillman. He also served as president of the United Housing Foundation.[1][2]

In 1919, Szold became friends with United States Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. That year, he also traveled to British Mandatory Palestine as a member of the Zionist Commission with his friend Harry Friedenwald.[1][2] In 1920, he traveled to London with Július Šimon and Nehemia de Lieme as a member of the Reorganization Committee. Around that time, he found himself ousted as part of the Brandies-Mack faction by Chaim Weizmann faction.[2]

In 1930, the Brandeis-Mack faction returned to power, and Szold became chairman of the Zionist Organization of America through 1932. In this position, he drafted the certificate of incorporation of the Palestine Endowment Funds, Inc., for the Hebrew University.[1][2]

In 1937, Szold opposed the partition of Palestine.[2]

In 1942, Szold became treasurer and chairman of the budget committee of the American Emergency Committee for Zionist Affairs.[2]

In 1943, Szold became the first American Zionist leader to visit the British Mandate of Palestine since the United States of America entered World War II.[10]

Robert Szold on visit to Ramat Hashofet 1943

In 1945, Szold began serving as chairman of the board of the Palestine Economics Corporation through 1960.

In 1946, at the 22nd World Zionist Congress, Szold supported Weizmann (against Abba Hillel Silver) to negotiate with the British.[2]

In addition to the above organizations, Szold served as a director for the Riverbay Corporation, East River Housing Corporation, and Edward A. Filene Good Will Fund. He was also an officer of the Hillman Housing Corporation and vice chairman of Council of Jewish Agency

Personal life and death

On September 4, 1917, Szold married Zip Falk. They had four daughters: Miriam, Ruth, Betty, and Joan.[1]

Szold was a third cousin of Henrietta Szold, whose father was Rabbi Benjamin Szold.[2]

Szold died age 88 on November 9, 1977 in New York City at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.[1]

Awards

Legacy

In April 1966, the Hebrew University opened the Robert Szold Institute of Applied Science in his name. The Palestine Endowment Funds, Inc., of which he was president, endowed the institute with $500,000. Louis Mintz, an Anglo-Jewish philanthropist, was believed to have donated more than $250,000 anonymously.[1][2][11]

Works
  • The Proposed Partition of Palestine (1937)
  • Zionism: Its Cardinal Principle (address at the joint session of the Convention of the Zionist Organization of America and of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America) (1942)
  • War time Palestine (1944)
  • The State of Israel in International Law: A Historical Survey (1958)
  • A Galaxy of American Zionist Rishonim: Dr. Harry Friedenwald (1962)
  • 77 Great Russell Street: Recollections of Robert Szold (1967)[12]

References
  1. "Robert Szold, 88, Zionist Leader". New York Times. 10 November 1977. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. "Szold, Robert". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. "Max Lowenthal papers, 1910-1971". University of Minnesota. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  4. Hearings regarding communism in the United States Government: Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-first Congress, second session. US Government Printing Office. 15 September 1950. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  5. Max H. Lowenthal, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 29 August 1947
  6. "Amalgamated Bank of New York (advertisement)" (PDF), The Liberator, May 1923, retrieved 20 August 2017
  7. "Max Lowenthal, Lawyer, Dies; Book on F.B.I. Stirred a Storm". New York Times. 19 May 1971. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  8. "Max Lowenthal. Papers, 1929-1931". Harvard Law School Library. February 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  9. "Adele D. Bramwen, Artist, 64, Is Dead". New York Times. 14 August 1964. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. "Robert Szold, American Zionist Representative, Arrives in Palestine". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 31 October 1943. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. "Robert Szold Center of Applied Science Dedicated at Hebrew U". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 18 April 1966. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. Szold, Robert (1967). 77 Great Russell Street: Recollections of Robert Szold. Retrieved 23 January 2018.

External sources
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