PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor Emeritus
When U.S. Had Socialist Congressmen
I
n a brief item about
obituaries in "Purely
Commentary" of July 6,
attention was called to the
following:
The obituary often
reveals a forgotten name.
This is the case with the
obituary of Ephraim Lon-
don in the New York Times
of June 14.
We read about the
achievements of this very
courageous lawyer and
find toward the end that he
was the nephew of Meyer
London who was elected to
the United States House of
Representatives as a
Socialist. It was an un-
forgetable time when the
ultra-conservatives tried to
expel Meyer London from
Congress and failed.
London was elected to
Congress in an East End
New York District in 1914.
He was re-elected in 1916,
defeated by a small margin
in 1918 and re-elected
again in 1920.
That's how we learn
history — from obituaries.
Ephraim London's remark-
able career was extensively
recalled in the New York
Times of June 14. It reads in
part:
Ephraim London, a
lawyer who specialized in
constitutional law and who
won landmark cases in-
volving the censorship of
films, died on Tuesday at
his home in Manhattan at
the age of 78.
During a long career, Mr.
London argued nine cases
before the United States
Supreme Court and won
all of them. The two that
aroused the greatest public
interest involved films that
were banned in New York
— The Miracle in 1950 and
Lady Chatterley's Lover in
1956.
The recollection that this
eminent lawyer was the uncle
of Congressman Meyer Lon-
don lends significance to a
chapter in American congres-
sional history. It deals with
social and economic aspects
that influence voters.
The Meyer London recollec-
tion brings to mind again the
career of another con-
gressman who was also
elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives, Victor
Berger of Milwaukee who
gained his congressional seat
as a socialist three years prior
to Meyer London.
Both socialists were Jews
and their backgrounds invite
study and research into the
accounts of the only socialists
ever to have had success in
American political
aspirations.
Both socialist congressmen
were Jewishly trained. Both
were bar mitzvah and knew
their heritage. Victor Berger
taught in a Jewish school.
Mr. Berger's legislative ca-
reer was much longer than
London's. It retains interest
as thus relayed in The Uni-
versal Jewish Encyclopedia:
BERGER VICTOR (1860-
1929), U.S. journalist, so-
cialist leader and congress-
man. Berger was born in
Nieder-Rehbach, Austria.
In 1880 he immigrated to
the United States and settl-
ed in Milwaukee, where he
taught German and also
taught Sunday School at
the Bnei Yeshuron
synagogue. In 1892 Berger
became editor of the
Milwaukee Daily Vor-
waerts ,
a German-
language socialist paper,
and in 1897 he helped to
found the American
Socialist Party. A conser-
vative socialist influenced
by the writings of Eduard
Bernstein, Berger joined
ranks with Morris Hillquit
in opposing the influence
of the communists and
such radicals as Daniel De
Leon in the socialist camp.
In 1908 he became editor
of the weekly Social
Democratic Herald, which
was later replaced by the
daily Milwaukee Leader, a
newspaper that he then
headed until his death. In
1911 Berger was elected to
Congress from Wisconsin,
thereby becoming the first
avowed socialist to serve in
the U.S. House of
Representatives, where he
was known for his ad-
vocacy of labor legislation
and social reform.
His opposition to
America's entry into World
War I led the postmaster
general to revoke the mail-
ing privileges of his
Milwaukee Leader on the
grounds of its being a
subversive journal, and
Berger himself was in-
dicted under the Es-
pionage Act. A court con-
viction led to a 20-year
sentence, as a result of
Meyer London
which the House refused to
seat him when he won the
off-year election in 1918
and again the following
year when he won in a
rerun. In 1921, however, the
Supreme Court reversed
his conviction, and a year
later, in consequence of
this ruling and the general
abatement of war hysteria,
the House allowed him his
seat which he continued to
hold until 1928.
At the time of his death
he was chairman of the Na-
tional Executive Board of
the American Socialist
Party.
Prejudices prevailed when a
legislator was both socialist
and Jew. That's why in the in-
stances of Victor Berger and
Meyer London there were at-
tempts to expel them from the
U.S. House of Repre-
sentatives.
It is important to note that
Victor Berger emigrated from
Germany and lived in a large-
ly German populated district
in Milwaukee. The emigres
from Germany of the early
years of the 20th century
were socialist oriented. In the
case of Mr. London, his consti-
tuents were mainly East Side
New York Jews. They were
striving for strong civil rights
and for aid to impoverished
folk, seeking means to
alleviate want.
The Meyer London story in
The Universal Jewish En-
cyclopedia, therefore, is about
a noteworthy personality.
Algernon Lee, who wrote the
Meyer London experience,
was a popular Jewish writer
at that time. He relates the
following about Meyer
London:
LONDON, MEYER,
lawyer, labor leader, and
Socialist member of the
American Congress, b. pro-
vince of Suvalki, Russia,
1871; d. New York City,
1926. He was the eldest son
of Efraim London, a
talmudic scholar and small
trader imbued with revolu-
tionary ideas .. .
As a lawyer, London
rendered invaluable ser-
vice to trade unions,
especially in the needle in-
dustry, and to related
organizations, as well as to
individual victims of in-
justice. He had few well-to-
do clients and often served
without fee; being also
generous to a fault, with
money as well as time, he
died a poor man.
For the unions he was
not only legal adivser and
advocate; he took a large
Continued on Page 46
Biblical Archaeology From Michigan Zionist
S
ince 1969, almost
perennially, an upper
Michigan Zionist was
on pilgrimages to Israel
devoting himself to Bible ar-
chaeology. Willard Cohodas
always travelled with his wife
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
(US PS 275-520) is published every
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in February, March, May, August,
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Michigan.
Second class postage paid at
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Postmaster Send changes to:
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Vol. XCVII No. 26 August 24, 1990
2
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 1990
Lois, seeking facts, recording
and photographing. The
result is their recorded
history of studies that have
attained value for students of
the areas. Their values will be
constantly appreciated.
Specific information about
these attainments just came
to light with the current
report.
The 1990 pilgrimage, a
38-page account, gains
significance in nearly 100
photographs. Numerous
areas of historic significance
are emphasized.
The Carmel Caves are
described in detail. Areas sur-
rounding Jerusalem and the
Ibmple also receive attention.
Extraordinary attention is
given to the numerous
museums which are por-
trayed. Mr. Cohodas calls at-
tention to the recently corn-
pleted New Tower of David
Museum.
The 20 Cohodas pilgrim-
ages are like guidelines that
create fascination. The ex-
periences give attention to
historical excavations.
There is a devotion in these
experiences that is unmatch-
ed. There is a Zionist idealism
that inspires emulation. The
distribution of the records
compiled by Mr. Cohodas en-
courages historiography.
Bill Cohodas has the multi-
ple role of historian, com-
munal archivist and Zionist
in the accumulation of data
about Israel's archaeology. He
shared initial involvement
with his uncle, Sam Cohodas,
who acquired national fame
advancing the produce
business. Together they
became, under the elder's
leadership, deeply interested
in educational projects.
Sam Cohodas had active
roles in the Hebrew Universi-
ty of Jerusalem and Northern
Michigan University in Mar-
quette. Both uncle and
nephew were honored by both
universities and were
members of the board of
governors of the Hebrew
University.
Bill Cohodas combined
every pilgrimage with annual
meetings of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem.
Bill Cohodas could also be
considered a historian of nor-
thern Michigan Jewry. A half
century of association with
Jewish communities in those
areas includes him among
organizers of Jewish schools
and builders of synagogues.
Authors and historical resear-
chers of facts about our nor-
Bill Cohodas
thern peninsula will be
dependent on Willard
Cohodas.
❑