Maurice Block, Former president of District No. 1 of the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith, Democratic leader of the New York State Assembly and high in the councils of Tammany Hall, died suddenly yesterday in the Roosevelt Hospital following an appendicitis operation last week. Mr. Block was 38 years old. He is survived by his wife.
The career of Maurice Block reads like an Horatio Alger story. Self-supporting almost before he was out of short trousers he was for many years the support of his family and at the same time educated himself. He was elected to the assembly in 1915 and in 1924 he became minority leader.
Block was one of the few assemblymen who refused to vote for the ousting of the five Socialist assemblymen in 1920 at the height of the “Red” hysteria in this country. He was expected to be the Democratic candidate for the Supreme Court to take the place left vacant by the election of Thomas Crain as district attorney.
He was long prominently identified with Jewish affairs, especially the B’nai B’rith.
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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.
