A. H. Raskin
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Abraham Henry Raskin (April 26, 1911 – December 22, 1993), known as A. H. Raskin, was a Canadian-born labor reporter, editorial writer, and assistant editor of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' from 1934 to 1977.Severo, Richard (December 23, 1993)
"A. H. Raskin, 82, Times Reporter and Editor, Dies"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.


Background

Abraham Henry Raskin was born in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, on April 26, 1911. His family was visiting
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
during the
hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...
; they settled in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He was educated at
Townsend Harris Hall Townsend Harris Hall Prep School was a public preparatory school located in Manhattan in New York City. History The school is named for Townsend Harris, who besides his many diplomatic accomplishments, had helped found the Free Academy of the ...
. He graduated from City College in education and government,
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, in 1931; he was president of the senior class. As a student at City College, Raskin wrote for the campus newspaper, '' The Campus'',Sandra Shoiock Roff, Anthony M. Cucchiara & Barbara J. Dunlap, ''From the Free Academy to CUNY: Illustrating Public Higher Education in New York City, 1847-1997'' (Fordham University Press, 2000), p. 73. becoming its editor. He also edited the yearbook and literary magazine.


Career

After graduating from college, Raskin was a campus correspondent for the ''New York Times'' for some time before joining the paper as a reporter in March 1934. At the paper, Raskin was a labor reporter who covered many significant episodes in American labor history. For example, at the death of
Sidney Hillman Sidney Hillman (March 23, 1887 – July 10, 1946) was an American labor leader. He was the head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor' ...
, founder and president of the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...
as well as head of the CIO-PAC and state chairman of the
American Labor Party The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...
(ALP), Raskin wrote, "Mr. Hillman's death was expected to make more difficult the maintenance of the uneasy political alliance between the regular Democratic party organization and the coalition of liberal and labor groups exemplified by the CIO-PAC." Further, he wrote, "Hillman was the balancing wheel, keeping in line the increasingly restive Communist minority in the CIO and its group in the ALP, as well as others who were demanding political action independent of the Democratic Party." In effect, when Raskin predicted that the "left would likely push harder for an independent party", he predicted the expulsion of the communist-affiliated Lee Pressman and Len De Caux from the CIO as they favored the
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of Henry A. Wallace in 1948 over the mainstream CIO's support for
Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
. During World War II, Raskin left the paper for a time to become chief of the War Department's industrial services division. During his tenure, he oversaw the temporary seizure of Montgomery Ward during a labor conflict between the company's workers and the company's president and CEO,
Sewell Avery Sewell Lee Avery (November 4, 1874 – October 31, 1960) was an American businessman who achieved early prominence in gypsum mining and became president of the United States Gypsum Company (1905–1936). At the beginning of the Depression, he ...
. Raskin was discharged from the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1946. After returning the ''New York Times'', Raskin became known for his reporting on the New York newspaper strike of 1962-63. He became a member of the newspaper's editorial board in 1961 and assistant editor of the editorial page in 1964. He retired from the ''New York Times'' in 1977 and later served as editor of the ''Journal of International Labor Affairs'', a publication of the
U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the United States federal executive departments, executive departments of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of fede ...
.


Personal life and death

Raskin suffered a stroke in 1990 and died on December 22, 1993, in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, aged 82. His grandson is an assistant United States attorney in Manhattan. His granddaughter is a writer, living in Manhattan.


Awards

* 1950
The Hillman Prize The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for noted American labor leader Sidney Hillman. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public poli ...
* 1963
George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
* Page One Award from
The Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practices ...
* Society of Silurians, award


Quotes

Of all the institutions in our inordinately complacent society, none is so addicted as the press to self-righteousness, self-satisfaction and self-congratulation.


Works

;Books, pamphlets written * ''Is Communism Un-American: Nine Questions about the Communist Party Answered'' (1947) * ''Walter Reuther's Great Big Union'' (1963) ;Books introduced * ''Toil and Trouble: A History of American Labor'' (1964) * ''David Dubinsky: a life with labor'' (1977) ;Books contributed * ''Our Fair City'' (1979)) * ''Views on employment statistics from the press, business, labor and Congress: reports'' (1979)) ;Articles (scholarly) * "Labor's Legislative Goals", ''
Labor History Labor history or labour history is a sub-discipline of social history which specialises on the history of the working classes and the labor movement. Labor historians may concern themselves with issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and other fac ...
'' (1963) * "Dubinsky: Herald of Change", ''
Labor History Labor history or labour history is a sub-discipline of social history which specialises on the history of the working classes and the labor movement. Labor historians may concern themselves with issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and other fac ...
'' (1968)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raskin, A. H. 1911 births 1993 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists City College of New York alumni George Polk Award recipients The New York Times editors The New York Times writers Writers from Edmonton 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army colonels Canadian emigrants to the United States