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Benjamin Gold (1898–1985) was an American labor leader who used his Communist party base to control the International Fur Workers Union. He was president of the International Fur and Leather Workers Union (IFLWU) from 1937 to 1955. ==Early life== Ben Gold was born September 8, 1898 to Israel and Sarah (Droll) Gold, Jews living in Bessarabia, a province of the Russian Empire.〔Fink, Gary M., ed. ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.'' Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1984.〕 His father was a jeweler, active in the revolutionary movement and a member of the local Jewish self-defense corps, institutions which existed in many towns as a precaution against pogroms launched by anti-semitic Black Hundreds groups.〔Philip Sterling, "Ben Gold, Red Candidate for President of Board of Aldermen Has Record of Over Fifteen Years of Ceaseless Struggle for the Needle Workers: Part 1," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 10, no. 238 (October 4, 1933), pg. 5.〕 The Golds emigrated to the United States in 1910, where 12-year-old Ben took a variety of jobs to help support his family, working in box factories, making pocketbooks, and working in millinery shops.〔 He eventually became an operator〔An "operator" removes the coarse long outer hair with a knife, leaving only the soft under-fur, applies steam heat to the skin to soften it, and then shaves it in preparation for curing and tanning. The process is both tedious and delicate. See: "The Fur Trade," in Depew, Chauncey Mitchell. ''1795-1895: One Hundred Years of American Commerce.'' New York: D.O. Haynes, 1895.〕 in a fur shop.〔 In 1912, the 14-year-old joined the Furriers Union of the United States and Canada,〔 which changed its name a year later to the International Fur Workers Union of the United States and Canada (IFWU).〔Foner, Philip S. ''The Fur and Leather Workers Union: A Story of Dramatic Struggles and Achievements.'' Newark, N.J.: Nordan Press, 1950.〕 He attended Manhattan Preparatory School at night to complete his education, intending to go to law school.〔 The same year he joined the Furriers Union, the 14-year-old Gold was elected assistant shop chairman by his local union during the first furriers' strike in the United States.〔〔〔"Ben Gold." ''New York Times.'' July 25, 1985.〕〔His election at such a young age was not uncommon in the American labor movement. He was probably the only individual in his workplace who could read and write, or had any education whatsoever.〕 Politically active, Gold joined the Socialist Party of America in 1916.〔 In 1919, at the age of 21, Gold was elected to the New York Furriers' Joint Board, a council of furriers' unions whose jurisdiction covered all of New York City.〔 In September of that year, he joined a group which broke away from the Socialist Party to form the Communist Labor Party of America.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ben Gold」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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