Chicagoans, Jews and non-Jews alike, felt very proud this weekend of the fact that Joseph Leopold Block, prominent American industrial leader, who has been president of the Jewish Federation here, was the principal figure–as chairman of the board of the Inland Steel Company–whose resistance to raising the price on steel has brought about the capitulation of other steel companies to President Kennedy’s request that they rescind their increase in the price of steel which would have affected the entire economy of the country.
Mr. Block, who has been active in Jewish charitable work here for many years, is president of the Chicago Community Fund and vice-president of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce. He has been president of the Young Men’s Jewish Council and took an interest in Jewish communal affairs all his adult life. During World War II, he served as a “dollar-a-year-man” as a member of the War Production Board in Washington.
Inland Steel was founded in 1893 by a group of industrialists headed by Joseph D. Block grandfather of the company’s present head. Joseph Leopold Block, who is now 60, graduated from Cornell University and entered the family business, becoming president in 1953, later progressing to the board chairmanship.
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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.
