Bernard J. Newman, 1877 to 1941

Biography, correspondence and summaries of professional materials of Bernard Joseph Newman. Raised in Hoosick Falls NY, Newman learned the machinist trade. He graduated from Meadville Theological School in 1901 and served briefly as Unitarian minister. He became head of the Willow Place Chapel, a settlement program in Brooklyn, before becoming executive of the Philadelphia Housing Commission in 1911. From 1918-1920 he served as "sanitary expert" for the U.S. government in the area of war production factory safety. He returned to the Philadelphia Housing Association for the rest of his career, working indefatigably on improving housing standards.