Louis Waldman
| Louis Waldman | |
|---|---|
Louis Waldman circa January 1920 (expulsion hearings before the New York State Assembly)
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| Born |
January 5, 1892 Yancherudnia, Ukraine |
| Died | September 12, 1982 (aged 90) New York City (?) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Politician, labor lawyer |
| Years active | 1909–1980s |
| Era | Great Depression/New Deal |
| Employer | Vladeck, Waldman, Elias and Engelhardt, PC |
| Known for | Social Democratic Federation co-founder, New York labor lawyer |
| Political party | Socialist Party of America, Social Democratic Federation, American Labor Party |
| Movement | Socialist |
| Spouse(s) | Bella B. Waldman |
Louis Waldman (January 5, 1892 – September 12, 1982) was a leading figure in the Socialist Party of America from the late 1910s and through the middle 1930s, a founding member of the Social Democratic Federation, and a prominent New York labor lawyer.
Louis Waldman was born on January 5, 1891, in Yancherudnia, Ukraine, not far from Kiev, the son of a Jewish innkeeper who was one of the few literate men of the village. Waldman emigrated to America in the summer 1909 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City to join his sisters on September 17. Waldman first worked in a metal shop before becoming an apprentice garment lining cutter in one of the sweatshops of the city. He joined a union and participated in the 11-week New York cloakmakers' strike of 1910, while attending high school in the evenings. Upon conclusion of the strike and resumption of his job, Waldman was fired and blacklisted for carrying out his function as a union representative in supervising the enforcement of the union contract in his shop. Barred from the garment industry, Waldman thereafter worked unsuccessfully as a door-to-door peddler of ribbon before taking a job in a cardboard box factory.
Waldman graduated from high school in the spring of 1911 and, owing to a lack of funds for college, enrolled in the Cooper Union to study engineering that fall.
Waldman was a shocked member of the crowd on the street that witnessed the catastrophic Triangle Waist Company fire of 1911, an event which clearly always remained with him and served as one of the landmarks of his life. Waldman described the grim scene in his 1944 memoirs:
One Saturday afternoon in March of that year — March 25, to be precise — I was sitting at one of the reading tables in the old Astor Library... It was a raw, unpleasant day and the comfortable reading room seemed a delightful place to spend the remaining few hours until the library closed. I was deeply engrossed in my book when I became aware of fire engines racing past the building. By this time I was sufficiently Americanized to be fascinated by the sound of fire engines. Along with several others in the library, I ran out to see what was happening, and followed crowds of people to the scene of the fire.
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