Harry Levine, papers

Harry Levine was born in New York, New York on August 1, 1895. He was educated in New York public schools and at the College of the City of New York. After serving in the U.S. Navy mine force from 1917 to 1919, he worked at the Commonwealth Plastic Company and the New England Plastic Company in Leominster, MA, and later served as President and Chairman of the Board of the U.S. Plastic and Chemical Company.

In 1919, Levine married Hannah (maiden name unknown, died 1941). They had three children: Irwin (killed in WWII), Morton, and Barbara. In 1942, Levine married Leona Edelstein.

Levine was introduced to Zionism by Elihu D. Stone and influenced by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis. He was largely responsible for overseeing the construction and import of Uzi submachine guns into British-Mandated Palestine for the purpose of establishing the State of Israel. Levine was a friend of Israeli President Dr. Chaim Weizmann and a charter member of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, as well as the major contributor (with Leona Levine) of the Harry and Leona Levine Institute of Applied Science of the Weizmann Institute. Harry Levine died on May 1, 1977.