User:Maresenio/Max Amdur 1

Personal Life
Born May 2nd 1882 in Dwink, Russia. He came to the United States in 1901. He immigrated to America

Once he came to America he decided to settle down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His home address in 1925 was 1722 N. 69th St. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here he rented his home and would continue to be a renter for the rest of his life, suggesting that he lived a life of limited means. As many Jewish immigrants at this time he found work in the garment industry. For example, he worked as a cloak maker from 1903-1905. Max Amdur was of medium build and height. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His only physical impairment that is known is that he was missing his right index finger. He also had a family. He is married to Sarah Amdur who was the same age as Max. Together they had four children Rose, Jacob, Samuel, and Lillian. He died on November 22nd 1957. He was 77 years old. He lived almost his whole life in Pennsylvania and is buried at in the town of McKees Rocks, PA.

Political Involvement
Max Amdur became very active in garment unions beginning in 1903 joined the MemberCloak Makers Union. Then at the age of 25 he became the Vice-President of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) from 1907-1920. He was the President of the Cloak and Skirt Makers Union of Philadelphia. He also became a delegate for the American Federation of Labor in 1922. He also was involved in strikes in Chicago in 1915 and the 1909 New York shirtwaist strike.

Max Amdur was involved in a multiple strikes throughout his life, many taking place Philadelphia. He used his leadership at the helm of International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union in order to achieve a 50-hour workweek, legal holidays off, recognition of the union, and an increase for better pay. He was a very active member within labor unions. His presence was felt mostly in Philadelphia. However, the ILGWU had spread their influence from Philadelphia to Baltimore at this time.

Max Amdur was a worker and union leader in the garment industry. He worked in a predominantly female industry. For example, “young immigrant women composed 70 percent of the industry’s workforce.” Despite making up a majority of the workforce women typically were not union leaders. Instead, men such as Max Amdur were. Therefore, the workers he was representing as Vice-President of the ILGWU were mostly women workers. Max Amdur’s leadership of the ILGWU makes him a suspect of being socialist. The ILGWU had a significant amount of Jewish immigrants from Russia, but also a lot of socialists as well. The union actually falls under socialist leadership after Amdur’s membership as Vice-President. However, the union eventually eradicates all socialist membership before World War I.

End Notes
Evening public ledger., February 01, 1916, Night Extra, Page 5, Image 5. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1916-02-01/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Max+Amdur?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1922	&proxtext=MAx+Amdur&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=4

Wilma Pearl Mankiller. The Readers Companion To U.S. Women’s History. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York. 1998. p.308