Jacob Billikopf
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Jacob Billikopf, PhB, LLD, (b. 1883, Wilna, Russia - d. December 31, 1950) was a nationally known figure in social work, Jewish philanthropy and labor arbitration. Billikopf had a long and distinguished career in public service work. He served as superintendent of the United Jewish Charities in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Kansas City, Missouri, before becoming the executive director of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, chairman of the National Labor Board for the Philadelphia region during the New Deal, and chairman of the ladies' garment industry in Philadelphia. He was also a member of the boards of the Hew School for Social Research and Howard University.
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[edit] Early life and education
The son of Louis (Layzer or Lazarus) Bielikov and Glika Katzenellebogen, Billikopf emigrated to the United States in his youth and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where he attended the University of Richmond. Billikopf was featured in the November, 1897 American Chess Magazine, which praised him highly.[1] He earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago in 1903.
[edit] Social service career
In 1907, Billikopf moved on to Kansas City, Missouri, where he became superintendent of the United Jewish Charities, while agitating for public baths, night schools, a municipal loan agency and free public legal aid. During this period he befriended philanthropist William Volker, when Kansas City was gripped by high unemployment and crime rates, as well as overcrowded jails. Billikopf, Volker, and attorney Frank P. Walsh served on a volunteer, nonpolitical committee dedicated to undertaking action to resolve these social problems. Their proposal, to create a Board of Pardons and Paroles to supervise the correctional institutions and to handle the pardons and paroles of inmates, was adopted in 1908.
Out of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, in 1910, grew the Board of Public Welfare, the first of its kind in the country. Billikopf was a board member and Volker the president. The board oversaw provision of social services and family aid, free legal advice, a loan agency, and the inspection of factories and work places.
In 1914, the NAACP recruited Billikopf and other Jewish leaders for its board.
Billikopf directed the American Jewish Relief Committee that aided European Jews after World War I.
Billikopf left Kansas City in 1916 and later settled in Philadelphia, where he held positions with many public and private welfare agencies, most notably becoming the president of the National Conference of Jewish Social Service. He was the first full time administrator of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. He was also prominent in labor relations in Philadelphia, one year settling more than eighty major labor disputes.
[edit] Etc.
The Jacob Billikopf Scholarship is awarded annually, to a University of Richmond junior or senior history major, on the basis of merit and financial need.
Billikopf is the grandfather of Peter H. Schweitzer, a New York social worker and rabbi, and the grandfather of labor mediation expert Gregorio Billikopf.
[edit] External links
- Cornell.edu - 'Guide to the Jacob Billikopf Arbitration Awards, 1925-1927', Cornell University Library
- KCLibrary.org - 'Biography of Jacob Billikopf, 1883 - 1950. Social worker.' David Conrads (1999)
- Richmond.edu - 'Commemorative Plaques at Parsons Music Library', University of Richmond
