The memory of Meyer London, first Socialist Congressman in the United States and defender of the immigrant, will be perpetuated in the Meyer London Memorial Library of the Rand School of Social Science, which was dedicated last night at an open air meeting in East Fifteenth street, opposite the Rand School, where the library will be permanently housed.
The library is based on the Rand School collection, which was started about ten years ago with funds provided by the Meyer London Memorial Foundation. Interest from the fund will now be used to augment the library and to make it the most important collection on the social science anywhere in New York. The Forward Association, Workmen’s Circle and various labor organizations contributed generously to the fund when it was begun after Meyer London’s tragic death in an East Side automobile accident. The volumes will be housed on the second floor of the Rand School, which occupies the old People’s House.
Among Jewish Socialists Meyer London was for a number of years an outstanding figure. He was born in Suwalki, Poland, in 1871 and studied at the gymnasium in Poltawa. Later he came to the United States, where his father had for several years been a Hebrew teacher.
In this country Meyer London studied and practiced law. At the same time, as one who in his early youth had become a member of the Social Democratic Party in Russia, he threw himself into the Socialist cause here with such energy that many consider him one of the most important figures in the development of the movement.
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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.
