Robert Ephraim Segal
[ ''...who have contributed ably to the thinking of the field... professional colleagues from national and local community relations... Robert Ephraim Segal...''] (December 11, 1903 – November 18, 1995) was the longtime executive director of the
Jewish Community Relations Council
A Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is a locally based Jewish public affairs organization that carries out "action agendas on behalf of and in the name of the local Jewish communities." Councils may aim "to represent the consensus of the or ...
of Metropolitan
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and an activist against discrimination and for human rights.
Career and activism
Segal spent much of his life dealing with fair practices regarding race, religion, education, labor and housing.
[
Beginning in 1940, Segal was a consultant on ]human relations
In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which ar ...
and lectured and wrote on the field. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
Human Relations Center and a member of the Executive Board of the Boston Mayor
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a may ...
's Committee.[AJC, 1956, Review of Books]
/ref> As a close correspondent with Archbishop Richard Cushing
Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder ...
, Segal played a key role in Jewish-Catholic relations in Boston.
Segal was a long-time columnist for the World News Service/Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. He had a column entitled "As We Were Saying"; he wrote on issues such as bigotry, Israel and the Arabs, ex-Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
, neo-Nazism and its backers, and the civil rights movement.
Segal was a leader of the Jewish Community Relations Council
A Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is a locally based Jewish public affairs organization that carries out "action agendas on behalf of and in the name of the local Jewish communities." Councils may aim "to represent the consensus of the or ...
of Metropolitan Boston and was its executive director from 1943 to 1972, a period that included the Council presidency of David A. Rose.[ In 1954 Segal explained to the ]United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...
's Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term ...
that the Council was established in part due to juvenile delinquency and anti-Jewish violent acts.
In 1947, Segal endorsed the Temporary Displaced Persons Admission Act, a federal law to assist displaced persons in post-World War II Europe and permit the admission of 400,000 of them to the U.S.
Segal's activism against discrimination has been recorded at least since the 1940s. He was involved with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and was an activist for fair housing. He was a member of the Newton Fair Housing Federation and a co-ordinator of the 1962 "Housing For All of Our People" Conference In 1966, he was vice chairman of the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility f ...
. In 1972, advocating for housing for Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...
, he chaired the same committee and continued in that position for several years.
Segal was executive director of the Aid to the Blind-Jewish Guild, serving the Boston area.[ In 1990, in his 80s, he helped in uplifting the spirits of seniors.][ "Finding 'bliss' in a continuing-care retirement community." ''Interim council member Robert E. Segal spent his working life dealing with thorny issues and fair practices regarding race, religion, education, labor and housing. Segal - who at various times was a journalist, director of the Jewish Community Council in Boston and director of Boston Aid for the Blind - chose "Brookhaven Rhapsody" for the title of a report on his new environment he was asked to write for a publication of the Boston Society for Gerontologic Psychiatry...'']
Personal life and death
His brother was Henry C. Segal (1900-1985), of the ''American Israelite
''The American Israelite'' is an English-language Jewish newspaper published weekly in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1854 as ''The Israelite'' and assuming its present name in 1874, it is the longest-running English-language Jewish newspaper sti ...
''.[ His wife, Jane Segal, whom he married in 1932,][ died in 2004.]
Robert E. Segal died on November 18, 1995, in Lexington, Massachusetts.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Robert
Activists from Boston
Housing rights activists from Boston
American columnists
Housing in the United States
1903 births
1995 deaths