Lawrence E. Tapper, 60, prominent Jewish resident of Winnipeg Beach, north of this city, was elected Mayor of Winnipeg Beach, it was announced today. Mr. Tapper had one opponent, Patrick E. Irwin. He is the first Jew ever elected to that office.
Mr. Tapper has been active in Jewish and general community affairs for many years. He is a past president of B’nai B’rith Lodge 650, former international deputy for AZA, a B’nai B’rith youth organization, and a member of Shaarey Zedek Congregation. He is a member of an early pioneering family in this area, dating back to the 1870’s. The names of his parents, Elias and Yetta Tapper, were listed in Winnipeg’s first city directory.
In an interview with The Jewish Post here, Mr. Tapper declared; “I attribute my election not only to my election workers in Winnipeg Beach and the city, but to the entire non-Jewish element, by far the greatest majority of electors, who are very much ashamed and revolted by the recent defacing of the synagogue and the swastika contagion at the Beach.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
