Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949

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Sol Bloom (March 9, 1870 – March 7, 1949) was a songwriter, real estate investor, and American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served fourteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from the West Side of Manhattan representing the 19th (1923-1945) and 20th (1945-1949) congressional districts.

Born in Pekin, Illinois, he and his parents soon moved to San Francisco, California. Bloom first went to work in San Francisco at the age of seven and made his way up from the factory to the theater to the import business. As a young man, he moved to Chicago to manage the Midway amusements at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. His lucrative music publishing company (which issued songs that he wrote) led him to settle in New York in 1903. Seven years later, Bloom devoted himself to the real estate business, and made another fortune by building substantial apartment houses and some of Manhattan’s best known theaters (including the Apollo, Harris, and Music Box). When Representative-elect Samuel Marx of New York's 19th Congressional District died in 1922, Bloom was invited to run and won the usually Republican "silk stocking district" of Manhattan's Upper East Side by 145 votes.

Bloom was the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 1939 to 1947 and again in 1949, during a critical period of American foreign policy. In the run-up to World War II, he took charge of high-priority foreign-policy legislation for the Roosevelt Administration, including authorization for Lend Lease in 1940. He oversaw Congressional approval of the United Nations and of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) which worked to assist millions of displaced people in Europe. He was a member of the American delegation at the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945 and at the Rio Conference of 1947.

Bloom was especially concerned with the fate of European Jews but was unable to overcome very strong resistance to admitting Jews or any refugees before the war. He argued vigorously after the war that the United States needed to take in larger numbers of refugees. He adopted the Zionist position that mandated Palestine should become the refuge for Jewish victims of the Holocaust. He urgently lobbied President Harry Truman in 1948 to immediately recognize the Jewish state of Israel, which Truman did. When the Republicans took control of the Foreign Affairs Committee after the 1946 election, Bloom worked closely with the new chairman, Charles Eaton. They secured approval for the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

Bloom died in Washington, D.C. His body was interred in Mount Eden Cemetery in Westchester Hills, New York. He was succeeded in Congress by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Bankhead, William Brockman, 1874-1940. Papers, 1875-1952 and n.d. Alabama Department of Archives and History
referencedIn Edison Sheet Music Collection, 1830-1958, (bulk 1890-1940) Library of Congress. Music Division
creatorOf Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949. [Letter] 1932, June 30, Washington, D.C. to Mr. Edwin Markham, Staten Island / Sol Bloom. Wagner College, Horrmann Library
creatorOf Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949. [Letter] 1934, Jan. 2, Washington, D.C. to Mr. Edwin Markham, Staten Island / Sol Bloom. Wagner College, Horrmann Library
referencedIn Quillen, Robert, 1887-1948. Robert Quillen papers, 1904-1985; (bulk, 1906-1949) University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn Colegrove, Kenneth Wallace, 1886-1975. Kenneth W. Colegrove Papers, 1912-1954. Northwestern University
referencedIn Records, 1929-1932. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Yale in World War II collection, 1938-1946 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn McNutt, Paul V. (Paul Vories), 1891-1955. Mss., 1899-1955 Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
referencedIn Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964. New York Public Library collection, 1917-1964. Herbert Hoover Library
referencedIn Bloom, Evelyn. Letter 1920-1930, Washington, D.C. to Mrs. Edwin Markham, Staten Island / Evelyn Bloom. Wagner College, Horrmann Library
creatorOf Michelet, Simon Thenistrup, 1871-1956. Simon T. Michelet and family papers, 1879, 1908-1943. Minnesota Historical Society Library
referencedIn Letters and documents. Hollins University, Wyndham Robertson Library
referencedIn Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947. Nicholas Murray Butler letter, 1942 Mar. 16. The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
creatorOf Sol Bloom papers, 1898-1949, 1935-1949 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Papers, 1920-1966. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn George W. Goethals Papers, 1890-1954, (bulk 1907-1927) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
creatorOf Shackelford, Virginius Randolph, 1885-1949. Additional correspondence of Virginius Randolph Shackelford [manuscript], ca.1930-1948. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949. Typewritten letter signed : Washington, D.C., to Charles Schwager, 1936 Dec. 24. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Yale in World War II collection, 1938-1946 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn Marton, Bernard Dov, 1909-1990. Bernard Dov Marton Papers, 1914-1991, 1998 1932-1970. Yeshiva University
referencedIn John Clement Fitzpatrick papers Library of Congress
referencedIn Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961, Papers, 1822, 1831, 1845, 1903-2007 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Papers, [ca. 1920]-1968. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Arthur Bliss Lane papers, 1904-1957 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn William R. and Louise Fielder Sheet Music Collection Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf New York World's Fair (1939-1940). New York World's Fair 1939-1940 records, 1935-1945, bulk (1939-1940). New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Chang, Ann. Collection of misc. articles and pieces concerning anniversary celebrations in Concord, Mass., of the Battle of Concord (1775), <1896-1983>. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn John Clement Fitzpatrick papers Library of Congress
referencedIn Pirie MacDonald Portrait Photograph Collection, [1885]-1942 (bulk 1900-1942) New-York Historical Society
referencedIn Julius Bisno Collection, undated, 1780, 1801-1980 American Jewish Historical Society
referencedIn Ellis Parker Butler papers, 1899-1936 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf George Washington Bicentennial Committee Records Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
creatorOf Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949. Political pamphlet collection, 1916-1944. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Bloom, Evelyn. Letter 1920-1930, Washington, D.C. to Mr. Edwin Markham, Staten Island / Evelyn Bloom. Wagner College, Horrmann Library
referencedIn Bloom, Evelyn. Letter 1920-1930, Washington, D.C. to Mr. Edwin Markham, Staten Island / Evelyn Bloom. Wagner College, Horrmann Library
referencedIn William Ernest Hocking papers Houghton Library
referencedIn American and English literary and historical papers collected by Atcheson L. Hench, 1782-1966 University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Bloom, Sol, 1870-1949. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1907-1931. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Vaad Hatzala (New York, N.Y.). Records, 1940-1963, 1942-1949 (bulk) Yeshiva University
referencedIn George S. Messersmith papers University of Delaware Library - Special Collections
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Acheson, Dean, 1893-1971. person
associatedWith Asch, Sholem, 1880-1957. person
associatedWith Bankhead, Tallulah, 1902-1968. person
associatedWith Bankhead, William Brockman, 1874-1940. person
associatedWith Bisno, Julius, 1911- person
spouseOf Bloom, Evelyn. person
associatedWith Butler, Ellis Parker, 1869-1937 person
associatedWith Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947. person
associatedWith Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965. person
associatedWith Colegrove, Kenneth Wallace, 1886-1975. person
associatedWith Fielder, William R. Fielder, Louise person
associatedWith Fitzpatrick, John Clement, 1876-1940. person
associatedWith George Washington Bicentennial Committee (Cleveland, Ohio) corporateBody
correspondedWith Goethals, George W. (George Washington), 1858-1928 person
associatedWith Halifax, Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, Earl of, 1881-1959. person
correspondedWith Hocking, William Ernest, 1873-1966 person
correspondedWith Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964. person
associatedWith Howard, Roy Wilson, 1883-1964. person
associatedWith Hull, Cordell, 1871-1955. person
associatedWith Kennedy, Joseph P. (Joseph Patrick), 1888-1969. person
associatedWith Lane, Arthur Bliss, 1894-1956. person
associatedWith Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus), 1902-1974. person
associatedWith Markham, Edwin, 1852-1940, person
associatedWith Marton, Bernard Dov, 1909-1990. person
associatedWith McNutt, Paul V. (Paul Vories), 1891-1955 person
associatedWith Messersmith, George S., (George Strausser), 1883-1960 person
associatedWith Michelet, Simon Thenistrup, 1871-1956. person
associatedWith New York (State). Governor (1929-1932 : Roosevelt) corporateBody
associatedWith New York World's Fair (1939-1940) corporateBody
associatedWith Quillen, Robert, 1887-1948. person
associatedWith Rayburn, Sam, 1882-1961 person
associatedWith Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979. person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945. person
associatedWith Schwager, Charles, person
associatedWith Shackelford, Virginius Randolph, 1885-1949. person
associatedWith Stettinius, Edward R. (Edward Reilly), 1900-1949. person
associatedWith Stimson, Henry L. (Henry Lewis), 1867-1950. person
associatedWith Thomas A. Edison, Inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972. person
memberOf United States. Congress. House. corporateBody
associatedWith United States Military Academy. corporateBody
associatedWith United States Naval Academy. corporateBody
associatedWith Vaad Hatzala (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Washington, George, 1732-1799. person
associatedWith Young, Charles. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
District of Columbia DC US
New York City NY US
Pekin (Illinois) IL US
San Francisco CA US
Subject
Civil service
Civil service
Jews
Jews
Legislation
Legislation
Lend-lease operations (1941-1945)
World War, 1939-1945
Occupation
Music publishers
Real estate investors
Representatives, U.S. Congress
Songwriters
Theater managers
Activity

Person

Birth 1870-03-09

Death 1949-03-07

Male

Americans

Hebrew,

English

Information

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SNAC ID: 86605645