Nathan Perlmutter
Nathan Perlmutter was the executive director of the Anti-defamation League from 1979 to 1987. Perlmutter began work with the ADL in 1949, serving in Detroit, Miami, and New York as regional director in each of those territories until 1964. He worked as associate national director of the American Jewish Committee from 1965 to 1969. After that, he worked as assistant national director of the ADL from 1973 to 1979, at which point he became national director. He served in that role at the ADL until his death in 1987.[1] From 1969 to 1973 Perlmutter was vice president of Brandeis University.[2]
Perlmutter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan.[2]
ADL presidency (1973-1987)
In 1973, Nathan Perlmutter took the role of national director, serving until his death in 1987.[1]
Through the 1970s, Perlmutter opposed affirmative action in colleges as part of a movement within the Jewish community that compared such programs to the quota system that limited Jewish involvement in American and European higher education in the 1920s. Perlmutter promoted a ban on all race-based admissions criteria. This opposition caused friction with black groups the ADL had allied with through the 1960s.[3]
In 1983, Perlmutter criticized the movie Women Under Siege, arguring that it "glorifies the PLO".[4]
In 1984, The Boston Globe reported that then-ADL national director Nathan Perlmutter said that Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. was antisemitic after Jackson referred to New York City as "Hymietown".[5][6] Perlmutter felt that such a statement would have sparked harsher criticism from Jewish community leaders in the past.[7]
Publications
Perlmutter's first book, How to Win at the Races, published in 1964, was about horse racing.[2] He later wrote the 1972 book A Bias of Reflections and co-authored the 1982 book The Real Anti-Semitism in America with his wife Ruth Ann Perlmutter.[1][2]
Childhood
Perlmutter grew up in Williamsburg, a neighborhood in New York City. At age 19 he began work at the Pentagon as a typist.[1] He studied at Georgetown University School of Diplomatic and Consular Practice and Villanova College. He received a law degree from New York University Law School.[1] During World War II Perlmutter served in China for the States Marine Corps.[2]
Family
Perlmutter's father, Hyman, was a tailor who worked for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression, while his mother, Bell Perlmutter of the Finkelstein family, tended a pushcart that sold ices. Perlmutter's wife was Ruthann Perlmutter of the Osofsky family. His children are Dean, Azez, and Ninah.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Nathan Perlmutter, Author and ADL Director, Dead at 64". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 14, 1987.
- ^ a b c d e f Pace, Eric (July 14, 1987). "Nathan Perlmutter, Top Executive Of Anti-Defamation League, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ^ Kintisch, Eli (January 29, 2003). "Jews temper views on affirmative action". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- ^ Rosenwein, Rifka (July 15, 1983). "'Political tract'". Jewish Press. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "Post Reaffirms Report On Jackson Comment". The New York Times: 13. February 23, 1984.
- ^ "Jackson Admits Saying 'Hymie' And Apologizes At A Synagogue". The New York Times: 16. February 27, 1984.
- ^ American Jewish Year Book, 1986 (PDF). American Jewish Committee. 1986. p. 66. ISBN 9780827602694.