164 FROM THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BEST 



His work was carried on at a time when the trained 

 social worker was still occupying a new and indefinite 

 position among his professional brethren, when ethical 

 standards had not yet been developed and when the rela- 

 tions between paid workers and their volunteer boards of 

 trustees were not always either harmonious or dignified. 



Though his own position was a happy one as a result 

 of years of acquaintance and common work, he felt most 

 keenly the difficulties of some of his less fortunate col- 

 leagues and was foremost among those striving to dignify 

 the position of social worker and to improve the per- 

 sonnel of those engaged in these important tasks. As 

 a result he was among the first to urge the need and to 

 co-operate in the creation of special courses and schools 

 for Jewish social workers and was particularly inter- 

 ested in the establishment of a plan for retirement allow- 

 ances and pensions for Jewish social workers so that the 

 work might at least offer financial security and attractive- 

 ness equivalent to that in the field of education. As 

 President of the Jewish Social Workers of Greater New 

 York and as Chairman of a special committee for this 

 purpose appointed by the National Conference of Jewish 

 Social Work, he labored to the full extent of his strength 

 for this desired end. 



He was one of a small group of executives in New 

 York, most of whom have now been lost to the profes- 

 sion, by death or retirement, who for a number of years 

 met monthly at the homes of the members for the dis- 

 cussion of questions of common interest and for the 

 improvement of their own work, that of the organiza- 

 tions which they represented and of Jewish social service 

 in general. It is impossible to estimate the value of these 

 meetings in the progress of Jewish social service in New 

 York and particularly in the development of professional 



