Alfred Fleishman (June 16, 1905 – May 28, 2002) was an American businessman and the co-founder of Fleishman-Hillard with his business partner Robert Hillard. Over the course of his career, Fleishman earned a reputation not only as one of the pioneers of

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

, but also as an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

, and champion of the

state of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Early life

Fleishman was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

on June 16, 1905. He went on to study at the

St. Louis College of Pharmacy The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis is a private university focused on the health sciences that is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in 1864 as the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. The university includes St. ...

before being inducted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

; as a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

, he spent

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

primarily as a

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

-based public information officer.

Jewish community work

Sent by the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The AJCongress was ...

as a special consultant to the Secretary of Defense, he traveled to war-torn

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in October 1945 to head a survey committee that studied the psychological, economic, and social needs of displaced people in Germany and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Fleishman was an early eyewitness to the horrors of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and his research and subsequent report alerted many organizations in the United States to the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

displaced by World War II. Upon completion of his report, he made a 60-city U.S. lecture tour, discussing the refugees’ relief and rehabilitation needs. The trip would result in him becoming involved in various Jewish causes and with minority affairs as a whole. A longtime member of the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

, Fleishman made 57 visits to Israel between 1955 and 1997, becoming a personal friend of many of the founders and leaders of the state. After completing his military duty, Fleishman was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

for his services in the rehabilitation of World War II combat casualties and amputees, with accomplishments including putting together a widely distributed publication called “Coming Home.” He also received the Americanism Medal from the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

. Fleishman was a former president of

Congregation B'nai Amoona Congregation B'nai Amoona is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue, located at 324 South Mason Road, Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the United States. It evolved from a small Orthodox congregation of primarily German-speaking members into an Engli ...

in Creve Coeur, a former president and campaign chairman of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, and a co-founder of the '' St. Louis Jewish Light'' newspaper.

Partnership with Hillard

Upon his return from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in 1946, Fleishman formed a business partnership with Robert Hillard. The two had known each other for more than a decade, dating back to when Fleishman had served as chief deputy to the city’s circuit clerk, and Hillard was a reporter for the ''St. Louis'' ''Star-Times''. Their firm began in a rented room above a Woolworth’s store and has since grown to become one of the world’s largest public relations agencies. Fleishman served as the firm’s chairman until his retirement in 1975 at the age of 70. In 1996, he and co-founder Hillard received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ''Inside PR'' (now known as ''The Holmes Report'').

General semantics

In addition to his prominence in the public relations arena, Fleishman gained distinction in the field of

general semantics General semantics is concerned with how events translate to perceptions, how they are further modified by the names and labels we apply to them, and how we might gain a measure of control over our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral respons ...

, writing three books on the subject – ''Sense and Nonsense: A Study in Human Communication'', ''Troubled Talk'', and ''Dialogue With Street Fighters''. Each was recognized as Book of the Year by the International Society of General Semantics. He was also the author of numerous articles on public relations and human communication and lectured extensively on those topics throughout the country.

Awards and honors

Fleishman received numerous awards and recognition over the course of his career. These included the Distinguished Service Medal for Civic Achievement by the

United States Junior Chamber of Commerce The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...

, the Community Service Award and the Humanitarian Award from the St. Louis Human Development Corporation, and the Community Service Award from the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

References

External links

Alfred Fleishman Papers Digital Collection
a
St. Louis Public LibraryAlfred Fleishman Papers
a
St. Louis Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleishman, Alfred 1905 births 2002 deaths Businesspeople from St. Louis American Jewish Congress American public relations people Recipients of the Legion of Merit 20th-century American businesspeople