Abraham I. Shiplacoff Papers and Photographs
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Abstract
Abraham I. Shiplacoff (1877-1934) was born in Russia in 1877 and came to the United States in 1891. In 1914, he became secretary-treasurer of the United Hebrew Trades. Politically active in the Socialist Party, he was the first elected Socialist Assemblyman from New York City in 1915 (serving three terms) and led the Socialist delegation in the Legislature opposing intervention in World War I. He was also involved with the International Pocketbook Workers Union, the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, the Socialist Party and the National Labor Committee for Palestine. The collection includes materials pertaining to these affiliations, including: correspondence with Samuel Gompers that documents the conflict between the American Federation of Labor and the United Hebrew Trades.
Historical/Biographical Note
Abraham I. Shiplacoff (1877-1934), sometimes called the Jewish Eugene V. Debs, was born in Chernigov, Russia on December 13, 1877. He came to the United States with his parents at the age of 13 in 1891. For several years he worked long hours in a garment shop and studied at night. During this period he married Henrietta (Yetta) Zwickel, and they eventually had three children, Frederick Engels Shiplacoff, William Morris Shiplacoff, and Lydia Shiplacoff Greene. Beginning in 1905 he taught school at P.S. 84, Brooklyn, served as a clerk in the customs service, was briefly labor editor of the Jewish Daily Forward. In 1914 he became secretary-treasurer of the United Hebrew Trades. Politically active in the Socialist Party, he was elected as the first Socialist Assemblyman from New York City in 1915, re-elected in 1916 and 1917, and led the Socialist delegation in the Legislature in a campaign of strong opposition to World War I. He also supported the dissemination of birth control information, curbs on police power and other controversial causes.
When, as a street-corner orator, he denounced U.S. military intervention in Russia shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution, he was indicted under the wartime Espionage Act; the indictment was later quashed. He was elected to the Board of Aldermen from Brooklyn in 1920, managed the mayoral campaign of Norman Thomas in 1925, chaired the Sacco-Vanzetti Liberation Committee in 1927, and became a vigorous participant in Socialist battles with the Communist Party. During the twenties and early thirties he served as general manager of the Joint Board of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the International Pocketbook Workers Union. He had a longstanding interest in Palestine and Zionism, and became national chairmen of the National Labor Committee for Palestine in 1933. He was actively involved in many Jewish philanthropic and cultural organizations, and served as executive director of the Deborah Sanitarium, Browns Mills, NJ. After a long struggle with kidney disease, he died in Israel-Zion Hospital in Brooklyn on February 7, 1934.
Arrangement
The papers are organized in four series. Series I, III, and IV are arranged alphabetically, and Series II is arranged chronologically. The series arrangement of the records is as follows:
I. Biographical and Family Papers, 1895-1946
II. Correspondence, 1904-1934
III. Subject Files, 1915-1935
IV: Photographs, Artwork, and Ephemera
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of correspondence; printed materials including typescripts of articles, pamphlets and leaflets (some from elections), handwritten speeches, essays, and notes, course outlines, New York State Assembly documents, a New York State Assembly clippings scrapbook; family papers, biographical notes, obituaries, and condolence letters; and ephemera, memorabilia, and photographs.
Materials document Abraham I. Shiplacoff's personal and family life, and professional and political life as Secretary-Treasurer for the United Hebrew Trades in 1914, Socialist Assemblyman from New York City representing Brownsville, Brooklyn for three terms beginning in 1915, and his affiliations with the International Pocketbook Workers Union, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Socialist Party of America, and National Labor Committee for Palestine, among other political, labor and cultural groups and causes.
Correspondence includes exchanges with notable New York City labor and Progressive-era figures, including a long exchange with Samuel Gompers in 1915, as the representative of several dissident garment workers unions, that give a detailed account of the disputes between the local bodies and the United Hebrew Trades. Photographs document Shiplacoff's professional and political life and include notable labor and Socialist figures.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1895-1962, are expected to enter the public domain in 2083.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Abraham I. Shiplacoff Papers and Photographs; TAM 102; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Lydia Shiplacoff Greene, daughter of A. I. Shiplacoff, in 1981; an additional accession was donated in 2007 by A. I. Shiplacoff's grandson, David Shiplacoff. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1981.002 and 1981.004.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Due to the fragility of the original, researchers must use the electronic copy of a New State Assembly clippings scrapbook in Box 6.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Photographs, artwork and ephemera were separated from this collection during processing and were established as a separate collection, the Abraham Shiplacoff Photograph Collection (PHOTOS 141). In 2013, the photograph, artwork and ephemera collection was reincorporated into the Abraham I. Shiplacoff Papers (TAM 102).
