David Dubinsky (1892 — 1982)
"Yes, we were dreamers when we advocated legislation for Unemployment Insurance, for Social Security, for minimum wages. They laughed at our crazy ideas. Although we have not reached perfection, many of our ‘wild dreams' have now become realities of everyday life."
An immigrant who escaped Czarist oppression, David Dubinsky found a career in the U.S. as a cutter in the New York garment industry and as a leader in the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union. As president of the union, he pioneered efforts for social legislation, for labor education and for human rights worldwide. A founder of the American Labor Party, then the Liberal Party, and as a strong supporter of Franklin Roosevelt as well as an advisor and confidant of presidents, he helped to realize the dream of millions of immigrants who looked to America as the promised land.
