Bernard Gerson Richards (BGR) (b. March 9, 1877 ''Dov-Gershon Rabinovich'' in Keidan,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

– d. June 25, 1971) was a Jewish author and a leader. His career spanned over 50 years. When he came to the United States (1886), he furthered his education through

self-study Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodida ...

. He supported himself as peddler, clerk in a dry goods store. He began his journalistic career as a reporter on the

Boston Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before its final shutdown in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Groz ...

, and wrote for several Boston and New York papers, as well as for Yiddish newspapers in New York, Denver, and Boston and other Jewish journals, including ''

the American Hebrew ''The American Hebrew'' was a weekly Jewish magazine published in New York City. History It began publication on November 21, 1879, in New York City. It was founded by Frederick de Sola Mendes and its publisher was Philip Cowen. The weekly's ...

'' and ''The New Palestine''. He also edited New Era Illustrated Magazine till 1911. Richards was very active in establishing educational networks., In 1915 helped in the founding of the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The idea for a ...

, first introduced on August 30, 1914. He's founded the ''Jewish Information Bureau of Greater New York'' (1932), as well as the ''American Jewish Institute'', New York (1942) to further adult education. In 1903 he married former Gertrude Gruzinski and had four children. Richards was an American delegate to the

Versailles Peace Conference The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines Department of Île-de-France region in France. The palace is owned by the government of F ...

after World War I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Bernard 1877 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American Jewish Congress members American male journalists American male non-fiction writers The Boston Post people Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers People from Kėdainiai