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Leon Sachs interview

Description

Leon Sachs (1907-1992) was an Baltimore activist involved in the civil rights movement and the Jewish community's causes. Beginning his full-time work with the Baltimore Jewish Council in 1941, he retired in 1975 to focus on labor-management arbitrations. In this oral history interview, Sachs details his education, including his time at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, and his career with the Baltimore Jewish Council, highlighting his activism through landmark legislation such as the first fair employment practices legislation south of the Mason-Dixon line. Sachs recounts his relationships with Governor Theodore R. McKeldin (1900-1974) primarily through labor-management disputes and McKeldin’s interest in furthering Jewish causes. He describes McKeldin’s sincerity towards civil rights and religious rights and how his charismatic personality helped further these causes. Sachs also recounts his interactions with civil rights leaders Lillie May Carroll Jackson (1889-1975) and Juanita Jackson Mitchell (1913-1992), the NAACP, and their part in helping or hindering Jewish causes. Finally, he voices his opinions on the violence that CORE brought to Baltimore and how they sought to avoid it and instead emphasize legislation.

Date

1976-06-30

Contributor(s)

Contributor(s) Notes

Narrator: Leon Sachs
Interviewer: Richard Richardson

Production Note

The McKeldin-Jackson Project was an effort to examine the Maryland civil rights movement of the mid-20th century through the medium of oral history by focusing on the roles played by pioneering freedom fighter Lillie May Carroll Jackson and Theodore R. McKeldin, who was Mayor of Baltimore (1943-1947, 1963-1967), Governor of Maryland (1951-1959), and an advocate for civil rights. The project was sponsored by the Maryland Historical Society and was supported in part by a grant from the Maryland Committee for the Humanities and Public Policy.

Language(s)

Object ID

OH 8136

Extent

Audio: 180 minutes
Transcript: 88 pages

Catalog Number

OH 8136

Resource ID

13964

Digital Publisher

Digital resource provided by the Maryland Center for History and Culture

Rights

This digital material is made available here for private study, scholarship, and research. Commercial and other uses are prohibited without the permission of the Maryland Center for History and Culture. For more information, visit the MCHC’s Reproductions and Permissions web page.