William C. Woolfson Papers, 1934–1988

William (“Bill”) C. Woolfson was born on August 31, 1903 in Malden, Massachusetts. Bill’s father was an organizer in the Cigar Makers’ International Union before entering local politics in 1912. His mother was extremely well educated and, like her husband, had deep roots in the labor movement: her grand-uncle was Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor. Bill lived with his family in Suffolk Square, a predominately Jewish district of Malden, until his graduation from Boston University in 1928. (Max Grossman, another individual whose papers are included in The Bronx County Archives, also lived in Suffolk Square and was a close childhood friend of William C. Woolfson.)

After graduating from Boston University, Bill moved to New York City and began working in journalism, first as financial writer for The Herald Tribune and then as news editor at The American Banker. As the Great Depression wore on, however, Bill had an increasingly difficult time finding journalistic work. Thus, in 1937, he began teaching in the New York City public school system with his wife, Edith. Over the next three decades Bill taught English, Literature, and Communication at various institutions, including Christopher Columbus High School, Rutgers, Bronx Community College, and others. He was a founding member of the United Federation of Teachers and was firmly committed to the labor movement throughout his life. He also held leadership positions in a variety of Bronx cultural organizations and institutions, including the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences (later known as the Bronx Society of Science and Letters), the Bronx Council on the Arts, the Bronx Museum of Art, and the Poe Center at Bronx Community College. At age 70, Bill earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Sarasota University. Bill and Edith lived for many years at 3980 Orloff Avenue, one of the buildings of The Amalgamated Housing Cooperative, though they gradually spent more time in Deerfield Beach, Florida, after retirement. Bill died in 1988 at the age of 84.

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