Robert E. Segal
American nonprofit executive (1903-1995)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Ephraim Segal[1][2] (December 11, 1903 – November 18, 1995) was the longtime executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Boston[3] and an activist against discrimination and for human rights.
Community leader
Columnist
Robert Ephraim Segal | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 11, 1903 |
| Died | November 18, 1995 (aged 91) |
| Occupations | Civil rights activist Community leader Columnist |
| Years active | 1940–1990s |
| Known for | Executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Boston Activism against discrimination and for human rights |
Career and activism
Segal spent much of his life dealing with fair practices regarding race, religion, education, labor and housing.[4]
Beginning in 1940, Segal was a consultant on human relations and lectured and wrote on the field. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Boston University Human Relations Center and a member of the Executive Board of the Boston Mayor's Committee.[3] As a close correspondent with Archbishop Richard Cushing, Segal played a key role in Jewish-Catholic relations in Boston.[5]
Segal was a long-time columnist for the World News Service/Seven Arts Feature Syndicate.[6] He had a column entitled "As We Were Saying"; he wrote on issues such as bigotry,[7] Israel and the Arabs, ex-Nazis, neo-Nazism and its backers,[8] and the civil rights movement.[9]
Segal was a leader of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Boston[10][11] and was its executive director from 1943 to 1972,[12][13][14][15] a period that included the Council presidency of David A. Rose.[16][17][18][19][2] In 1954 Segal explained to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency that the Council was established in part due to juvenile delinquency and anti-Jewish violent acts.[20]
In 1947, Segal endorsed the Temporary Displaced Persons Admission Act, a federal law to assist displaced persons in post-World War II Europe and permit the admission of 400,000 of them to the U.S.[21]
Segal's activism against discrimination has been recorded at least since the 1940s.[22][23] He was involved with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination[24] and was an activist for fair housing.[25][26] He was a member of the Newton Fair Housing Federation[27] and a co-ordinator of the 1962 "Housing For All of Our People" Conference[28] In 1966, he was vice chairman of the Massachusetts State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.[29] In 1972, advocating for housing for Puerto Ricans, he chaired the same committee and continued in that position for several years.[30][31]
Segal was executive director of the Aid to the Blind-Jewish Guild, serving the Boston area.[32][33][4] In 1990, in his 80s, he helped in uplifting the spirits of seniors.[4]
Personal life and death
His brother was Henry C. Segal (1900-1985), of the American Israelite.[34][6] His wife, Jane Segal, whom he married in 1932,[4] died in 2004.[35]
Robert E. Segal died on November 18, 1995,[36] in Lexington, Massachusetts.[37]