Jacob Samuel Potofsky (November 26, 1894 – August 5, 1979) was a Russian-born American trade unionist, best known as second president of the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
, succeeding founder
Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor ...
.
Background
Jacob Samual Potofsky was born on November 26, 1894, in the
Teteriv
The Teteriv () is a right tributary of the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It has a length of and a drainage basin of .
The Teteriv flows generally in northeastern direction through geographic regions of Podolian Upland, Dnieper Upland, and Polesia. T ...
River town of Radomisl, Russian Empire (now
Radomyshl
Radomyshl (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. Before 2020, it was the administrative center of the former Radomyshl Raion. It is located on the left bank of the Teteriv River, a right tributary of ...
, Ukraine).
[
] At age eleven, Potofsky immigrated with his family to Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, USA.[
]
Career
Potofsky started working when he was 14 years old[ as a pocket maker.][ ] In 1910, by then a "floor boy" in a clothing factory for Hart, Schaffner & Marx, as a member of Pantsmakers Local 144 he partook in a strike called by Sidney Hillman
Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor ...
against the clothing manufacturer.[ Soon after, Potofsky joined what became the ]Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
. In 1913, he became secretary-treasurer of the union's joint board in Chicago. In 1916, Hillman moved him to New York, where he became assistant general secretary of the union. In 1934, Potofsky became assistant president. In 1940, he became general secretary-treasurer when Joseph Schlossberg
Joseph Schlossberg (in Yiddish: יוסף שלאסבערג; May 1, 1875 – January 15, 1971) was a Belarusian-born Jewish-American garment worker, newspaper editor, labor leader, and politician who served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Amalgamat ...
retired. In 1941, he strongly opposed the isolationist policy of John L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers, United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. ...
, president of the CIO and also the United Mine Workers
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing work ...
(UMW).[
In 1946, after 36 years of association, Potofsky succeeded Hillman as president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, when the union had 350,000 members and 96% of the men's clothing industry under union contract.][ He was active in the ]American Labor Party
The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of ...
of New York State.[
Potofsky was an influential figure in the ]Labor history of the United States
The nature and power of organized labor in the United States is the outcome of historical tensions among counter-acting forces involving workplace rights, wages, working hours, political expression, US labor law, labor laws, and other working co ...
in his own right. In 1960, he supported John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
for president; in 1968, he supported Hubert H. Humphrey for president.[ He held the post until 1972.]
Potofsky was noted for his ability to reconcile differences within a union or between union and employer. He was, however, staunchly pro-labor, warning workers that "What you earn at the bargaining tables can be taken away in the legislative halls." His work landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents
The master list of Nixon's political opponents was a secret list compiled by US President Richard Nixon's Presidential Counselor Charles Colson. It was an expansion of the original Nixon's Enemies List of 20 key people considered opponents of ...
.
Personal life and death
Potofsky married twice, first to Callie Taylor (who died in 1946) and then to widow Blance Lydia Zetland; they had two daughters and a son.[ Daughter Delia married noted photographer and newspaper columnist William P. Gottlieb.][ Their son Bruce died of leukemia.
Jacob Samuel Potofsky died age 84 on August 5, 1979, in New York City of cancer.]
Legacy
Following his death, President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
issued a statement recognizing Potofsky as "one of the giants of the labor movement". The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
hailed Potofsky, saying in a release that "The life and times of Mr. Potofsky are inextricably interwoven with the growth and stability of the American labor movement." ACW president Murray Finley and secretary-treasurer Jack Sheinkman
Jacob Sheinkman (December 6, 1926 – January 29, 2004) was an American labor union leader.
Sheinkman was born in the Bronx, to parents who had recently emigrated from Kyiv. In his youth, Sheinkman attended Evander Childs High School and was ...
stated, "Jack Potosfky's genius was motivating workers to face their own destinies. In his case, it was organizing workers to form unions, to bargain collectively, and to make group decisions for the common good."[
]
Works
* Autobiographical essay in ''American Spiritual Autobiographies: Fifteen Self-Portraits'' (1948)
* "The Pioneering of Workers' Banks" (1963)
References
External links
* Staff report (June 28, 1973). Lists of White House 'Enemies' and Memorandums Relating to Those Named. ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
* Letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet
* Letterform, the g ...
to Mrs. Morton Baum on the occasion of the death of her husband, August 1963
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potofsky, Jacob
1892 births
1979 deaths
Trade unionists from Illinois
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America people
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
American trade unionists of Ukrainian descent
Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO