A memorial service for Edwin J. Lukas, a former director of national affairs for the American Jewish Committee, will be conducted at the Ethical Culture Society here on Sept. 19. An early exponent of the involvement of Jews in the civil rights movement and a leading participant in the struggle for minority rights, Mr. Lukas died Wednesday at the age of 71 in Kentfield near San Francisco. He came to the Bay Area after retiring from the AJ Committee in 1968 after being with the organization since 1950.
He was born in Jersey City and attended the University of Pittsburgh. During his early professional career Mr. Lukas was a successful criminal lawyer in New York and was the author of several books on criminology. While with the AJ Committee he served as general counsel and director of its civil rights and social action department. He filed numerous briefs for the AJ Committee in civil rights cases all over the country. Mr. Lukas personally participated in many of the historic civil rights demonstrations during the 1960s.
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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.
