Funeral services will be held this morning at eleven o’clock in Temple Emanu-el for Mrs. Henry Moskowitz, for fourteen years adviser to Alfred E. Smith, four times Governor of the State of New York and former Democratic candidate for President. Mrs. Moskowitz, who was considered the most powerful woman in politics in the years of her association with Mr. Smith, succumbed to a heart attack on Monday at the age of fifty-five.
Her passing came as a shock to her many friends and associates and cast a shadow over the inaugural ceremonies for Governor Herbert H. Lehman in Albany.
Former Governor Smith was apprised of Mrs. Moskowitz’s death in Albany. He immediately cancelled all his social engagements in connection with the inaugural and returned at once to New York.
Governor Lehman, with whom Mrs. Moskowitz had been associated
throughout his public life, sent a message of condolence to her family, stating, “I have lost a very dear friend.” In a public statement, Governor Lehman lauded her work, declaring: “I am inexpressibly shocked and grieved to hear of Mrs. Henry Moskowitz’s death. She was my friend of many years standing and I mourn her loss. Throughout her life, she was an outstanding constructive influence in the life and activities of the city and State.
“Her work was particularly important along lines of social betterment and in the amelioration of the condition of the less fortunate and underprivileged. She will be greatly missed by a wide circle of friends and admirers. I extend to her family my deepest and heartfelt sympathy.”
Mrs. Moskowitz’s death was sudden. She had been in good health until December 8th when she broke her right arm and left wrist in a fall down the steps of her home. She was apparently recovering, until she was stricken with a heart attack last Thursday. A recurrence of the attack on Monday caused her death.
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of the Free Synagogue and Rabbi Nathan Krass of Temple Emanu-el, will officiate at the services this morning. Interment will take place at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
Tributes to Mrs. Moskowitz were paid by leaders in the state. Former Governor Smith declared: “She had the greatest brain of anybody I ever knew. I consider her passing a disaster.” Others who lauded her services were Newton D. Baker, former Secretary of War; Mayor John P. O’Brien, Attorney General John J. Bennett, Jr., State Comptroller Morris S. Tremaine; Joseph A. McGinnies, Speaker of the Assembly; John F. Curry; Miss Elisabeth Marbury, Democratic national Committeewoman.
Mrs. Moskowitz had been active in social welfare work since the age of eighteen. All her life she endeavored to avoid public notice and at no time has held public office. She was active in the work of the Council of Jewish Women, the Association to Promote Better Housing for Girls and the Traveler’s Aid Society.
To Mrs. Moskowitz is credited much of the progressive legislation enacted by Mr. Smith during his career as Governor. Her association with Mr. Smith dated back to 1918.
Mrs. Moskowitz was a native of New York City, where she was born on October 8, 1877, the daughter of Isidor and Esther Lindner. She was educated at the Horace Mann School and at Teachers College. Her first position was as director of entertainments and exhibits at the Educational Alliance, where she met Charles H. Israels, a successful architect, and Henry Moskowitz. She married Mr. Israels in 1903. Upon the death of her husband, in 1911, she was forced to seek employment to support herself and her three children and through Dr. Henry Moskowitz, whom she married in 1914, was launched upon an active career as manager of the Labor Department of the Dress and Waist Manufacturer’s Association. Mrs. Moskowitz served as secretary of the Mayor’s Committee on National Defense; secretary of the Governor’s Labor Board; secretary of the Educational Council; Director of the Women’s City Club; special adviser to the State Department of Labor; director of publicity for the Democratic State Committee.
Mrs. Moskowitz is survived by her husband, Dr. Henry Moskowitz and by two sons and a daughter of her first marriage.
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