Sifton, Claire, 1897-1980

Biographical Note

Paul Field Sifton

• 1897, Oct. 17: Born, Rockford, Ill.
• 1915: Graduate, Benton Harbor, Mich., high school
• 1917 - 1919 : Private, first class, Headquarters Company, 6th Field Artillery, 1st Division, American Expeditionary Forces, invalided out with diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis
• 1919 - 1920 : Attended University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., on federal program for disabled veterans
• 1921: Attended London School of Economics, London, England
• 1922: Married Claire E. Ginsburg
• 1922 - 1923 : Reporter, Des Moines Register, Staten Island Advance, United Press syndicate, Chicago Journal, and the New Leader
• 1923 - 1931 : Assistant Sunday editor, feature writer, and reporter, New York World
• 1927: Play, The Belt, produced by the New Playwrights' Theatre, published by Macaulay, New York
• 1929: Veterans Administration ruled tuberculosis that his was arrested; awarded reduced disability pension
• 1930: Play written with Claire Sifton, Midnight, produced by the Theatre Guild; Universal motion picture (1934); and West German television play (1957)
• 1931: Play written with Claire Sifton, 1931---, produced by the Group Theatre and the Theatre Guild; published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York; and produced in London as The Age of Plenty (1933)
• 1933: Play written with Claire Sifton, Blood on the Moon, produced at the Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles, Calif; the London, England, production was halted by the Lord Chamberlain as an unfriendly act to a foreign country, Germany
• 1933 - 1934 : On editorial staff, New Yorker
• 1934 - 1938 : Labor publications editor, assistant industrial commissioner, deputy industrial commissioner and administrator, and executive director, Division of Placement and Unemployment Insurance, New York State Department of Labor
• 1938: One-act play written with Claire Sifton, Give All Thy Terrors to the Wind, published in the New Theatre an Film Magazine (January 1938), and in the anthology, Best Short Plays of the Social Theatre, edited by William Kozlenko (New York, Random House, 1938) One-act play written with Claire Sifton, Kate Larsen, published in the One Act Play Magazine (June-July 1938 issue)
• 1938 - 1939 : Deputy administrator, Wages and Hours Division, U.S. Department of Labor
• 1939: One-act play written with Claire Giinsburg Sifton, The Doctors, produced in Boston, Mass., and Baltimore, Md.
• 1939 - 1941 : Consumers' counsel, Bituminous Coal Administration, U.S. Department of the Interior
• 1942 - 1945 : Labor and public relations director, National Farmers' Union, Washington, D.C., office
• 1944 - 1945 : Director, Washington D. C., office, Union for Democratic Action [later Americans for Democratic Action], and editor with Claire Sifton of the U.D.A. Congressional Newsletter
• 1945 - 1947 : Worked on legislative and public relations for various causes, including Full Employment Bill (1945), protection of the Children's Bureau under Reorganization Bill No. 2 (1946), Labor Extension Service bill, National Council for a permanent Fair Employment Practices bill), National Consumers' League, and others
• 1948 - 1962 : National legislative representative, United Automobile Workers [later part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations]
• 1963: Diagnosed as having chronic bronchitis; Veterans Administration awarded higher disability pension; emphysema and bronchiectasis claims disallowed as not service-connected
• 1972, Apr. 4: Died, Oaxaca, Mexico

Claire Sifton

• 1897, Dec. 23: Born, Campos, Rio de Janiero State, Brazil
• 1911 - 1914 : Attended Greenville, S.C., Female Seminary, and Hyde Park School, Kansas City, Mo.
• 1915 - 1918 : Attended Stephens College, Columbia, Mo.
• 1920: B.A. in journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
• 1920 - 1922 : Worked in Chicago, Ill., as feature writer for Montgomery Ward and Co., and the Saturday Blade
• 1922: Married Paul Field Sifton
• 1923 - 31 : Worked as feature writer and freelance journalist for the Public Ledger, the Fifth Avenue Coach Co., and the New York Evening World syndicate, and others
• 1929: Published under the name of Claire Morton The Perfect Baby. New York: Vanguard Press
• 1930: Play written with Paul Field Sifton, Midnight, produced by the Theatre Guild; Universal motion picture (1934); and West German television play (1957)
• 1931: Play written with Paul Field Sifton, 1931---, produced by the Group Theatre and the Theatre Guild; published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York; and produced in London as The Age of Plenty (1933)
• 1933: Play written with Paul Field Sifton, Blood on the Moon, produced at the Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles, Calif.; London, England, production was halted by Lord Chamberlain as an unfriendly act to a foreign country, Germany
• 1938: One-act play written with Paul Field Sifton, Give All Thy Terrors to the Wind, published in the New Theatre and Film Magazine (January 1938), and in the anthology, Best Short Plays of the Social Theatre, edited by William Kozlenko. New York: Random House One-act play written with Paul Field Sifton, Kate Larsen, published in the One Act Play Magazine (June-July 1938)
• 1939: One-act play written with Paul Field Sifton, The Doctors, produced in Boston, Mass., and Baltimore, Md. theaters
• 1939 - 1942 : Freelance writer, Washington, D.C.
• 1940: One-act play, Ernie, published in the One Act Play Magazine and Theatre Review (January 1940)
• 1943 - 1945 : Coeditor with Paul Field Sifton of the U.D.A.Congressional Newsletter, for the Union for Democratic Action
• 1946 - 1948 : Editorial consultant for the National Education Association and for the U.S. Children's Bureau
• 1949 - 1962 : Freelance writer, Washington, D.C.
• 1980, Feb. 9: Died, Oaxaca, Mexico

From the guide to the Paul Field Sifton and Claire Sifton Papers, 1912-1980, (bulk 1925-1971), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)