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.