Ephraim Lederer (January 24, 1862 – September 11, 1925) was a Jewish-American lawyer from Pennsylvania.

Life

Lederer was born on January 24, 1862, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the son of Leopold Lederer and Fannie Weyl. His father immigrated to America from Meseritz, the

Grand Duchy of Posen The Grand Duchy of Posen (; ) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from Prussian Partition, territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On 9 February 1 ...

, while his mother immigrated Petchau,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. Lederer attended Philadelphia public schools and graduated from the Central High School when he was sixteen. He then studied law in the office of Judge F. Amedee Bregy and took a two-year course in the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Carey Law, or Penn Law; previously University of Pennsylvania Law School) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Phi ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1883. In 1913, President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

appointed him Collector of Internal Revenue for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He resigned from the office in 1921 to resume his private law practice. A prominent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he became an assistant in the office of Sheriff Charles F. Krumbhaar in 1888 and served as first vice-president of the Democratic Club of Philadelphia. Lederer was vice-president and secretary of the

Young Men's Hebrew Association A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, ...

, director and assistant secretary of the

Jewish Publication Society of America The Jewish Publication Society (JPS), originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English. Founded in Philadelphia in 1888, by Reform Rabbi Joseph Krauskop ...

. He was associate editor of ''

The Jewish Exponent ''The Jewish Exponent'' is a weekly newspaper of the Jewish community of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the second-oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the United States. History ''The Jewish Exponent'' has been published continuo ...

'' from 1901 to 1904 and wrote a number of lectures and essays on Jewish subjects that were published in Jewish journals. He continued to write for ''The Jewish Exponent'' from 1905 to 1925. In 1911, he was appointed chairman of the education committee of the Philadelphia Kehillah. He was also a trustee of the Jewish Publication Society, president of the board of trustees of

Gratz College Gratz College is a private Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origins to 1856 when banker, philanthropist, and communal leader Hyman Gratz and the Hebrew Education Society of Philadelphia (es ...

, the Philadelphia secretary of the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism as well as a hub for academic scholarship in Jewish studies ...

for over thirty-five years, secretary and board of governors member of

Dropsie College Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...

, director and solicitor of the Jewish Hospital Association of Philadelphia for almost forty years, first committee chairman of the Lucien Moss Home for Incurables, a trustee of the Rothschild Memorial (Beth-El) Congregation, a director of the Philadelphia branch of the ''

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...

'', vice-president of the Hebrew Education Society, and a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

. He attended the Congregation Mikveh Israel. In 1901, Lederer married Grace Newhouse. Grace was teacher, principal, and president of the Hebrew Sunday School Society. She was also president of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, an honorary director of the Federation of Jewish Charities and the Jewish Aid Society, treasurer of the Women's Democratic Luncheon Club, and editor of the Pennsylvania Democratic women publication ''Survey''. Lederer died from a heart attack on September 11, 1925.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lederer, Ephraim 1862 births 1925 deaths Lawyers from Philadelphia American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Czech-Jewish descent Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American lawyers American Jews American lawyers 20th-century American newspaper editors Editors of Pennsylvania newspapers Pennsylvania Democrats Jews from Pennsylvania