Finding aid for the Jewish Painters Social Club Records

History of the Jewish Painters Social Club

The Jewish Painters Social Club (1916-1978) was an organization of Jewish house painters, all of whom were members of Painters Union, Local 867, District Council 6, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Jewish Painters Social Club was one of many ethnic clubs within the American labor movement that were formed for fellowship and mutual support. A great number of the club's early members were immigrants from the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire. A number of members were left-wing political radicals, some of whom were active both within the labor movement and within the general society where they attempted to promote social justice in the areas of economics, race, and religion.

Some of the club's membership played active roles in Local 867. In the 1930s and 1940s members worked to end job discrimination in the painting trade and fought union corruption in District Council 6. Members also provided leadership in establishing the union's welfare fund, unemployment insurance and pension plans, and in supplying officers and leadership to Local 867 and District Council 6. Among the club's leaders through the years were Sam Bossin, who was the business agent of Local 867 for many years; Ben Weinstein, who also served as the business agent; Hyman Weinberg, the philosophical leader of the club; Ed Likover, who served several times as Local 867 president; Al Horowitz, the president of the club in the 1960s; and Jack Newman, the club's last president.

The club first met in the 55th Street and Woodland Avenue area which, in the club's early years, was a neighborhood with a large immigrant Jewish population. As Cleveland's Jewish population moved eastward, the club's meeting place moved also. In the 1930s and 1940s it met at 14101 Kinsman Avenue, and in the 1950s and early 1960s at 15206 Kinsman and 15211 Kinsman. From 1965 until its dissolution, the Jewish Painters Social Club met in Cleveland Heights at 2174 Lee Road. During the late 1960s and early 1970s many of the club's members retired, and few Jewish youth entered the painting trade. As a consequence, attrition continued until club members voted to dissolve in 1978.

Scope and Content

The Jewish Painters Social Club Records, 1963-1976, consist primarily of financial ledgers. It also contains a membership roll book and a few photocopies of pages from the club's 49th and 50th Dinner Programs.

This collection is of value to researchers studying labor history in the United States and, specifically, Jewish involvement in trade unions in Cleveland, Ohio.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 3746 Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Local 867 Ledgers; and MS 4275 Brotherhood of Painters, Decorators and Paperhangers of America, Locals 128, 129, 219, and 867 Records.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4699 Jewish Painters Social Club Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Belle and Edward Likover, 1989.

Processing Information

Processed by Stanley Lasky in 1994

Detailed Description of The Collection