Gorelick, Sol, 1916-2004

Sol Gorelick (1916-2004) was a social worker and union activist. He began his career with the City of New York in 1940 as a caseworker at the Brownsville Welfare Center. After an absence to serve in World War II, Gorelick returned to the Department of Welfare. He would work with the department and its successor, the Human Resources Administration, until his retirement in 1980. Gorelick worked at several welfare (also termed income maintenance) centers in Brooklyn including the Boro Hall Center and the Fulton Center, for which he was director.

Gorelick joined the United Public Workers union when he started with the city. Following the UPW's dissolution amid the CIO's anti-Communist purges, Gorelick would join the Welfare Local 371 (later the Social Service Employees Union Local 371) of AFSCME, District Council 37. During the 1960s Gorelick served as a vice president of DC 37.

Gorelick was also active in many other profession organizations and advocacy groups, including the National Association of Social Workers and the Brooklyn Tuberculosis and Lung Association.

From the guide to the Sol Gorelick Papers, Bulk, 1960-1980, circa 1940-1980, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)