Lipsky Family

Across two generations the Lipsky family participated in a wide variety of cultural, professional and political spheres: journalism, law, history, literature, insurance, theater, interior decorating and, most pivotally, the American Zionist movement. Louis Lipsky (1876-1963) stands as the most recognized figure in the family, given his status as a founder of the American Zionist movement and key figure in and witness to the conflict between Chaim Weizmann and Louis Brandeis. For more on Louis Lipsky see Guide to the Papers of Louis Lipsky (P-672) .

Louis Lipsky and Charlotte Schacht (1879-1959) married in 1906. Charlotte had immigrated to New York City in 1895 from Riga in modern-day Latvia and they met through the Yiddish literary and theater scene they were both a part of in their early years. Charlotte was active in the Jewish socialist movement and an admirer of Emma Goldman as well as a founding member of the Manhattan chapter of the Women’s American ORT and a member of Hadassah. She also sculpted and sang. Because Lipsky did not financially support his family until he started a life insurance company in 1930, Charlotte began her own business as an interior decorator and on her income alone bought a home for the family and put their three sons through college. 1

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