\n<\/b>Read Introduction;<\/a>
\nPart 1 on Shad Polier<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
The daughter of AJC founder and prominent Justine Wise Polier (American Jewish Historical Society, Shad Polier Papers, Call #P-572)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Breaking barriers of In partnership with her husband and father, <\/p>\n Eleanor Roosevelt and Justine Wise Polier at (American Jewish Historical Society, American Jewish Congress records, undated, 1916-2006, Call #I-77, Box 761, Folder 23)<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n Polier\u2019s correspondences with Roosevelt, held in the \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0On May 6th<\/sup> Justine Wise Polier speaking at Women’s Division (American Jewish Historical Society, American Jewish Congress records, undated, 1916-2006, Call #I-77, Box 738, Folder 25)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n
\nrabbi Stephen S Wise, Justine Wise Polier rose to become one of the foremost
\nfighters for social justice and equality in legislation.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/b44a26dd061b8b4c844597673bf9fcab\/tumblr_inline_otpmd9CXmg1r0yq0k_540.png\")
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\nreligion and gender, Polier became the first female judge in New York State at
\nthe age of 32, and she served on the Domestic Relations Court under the mandate
\nof NYC mayor Fiorella H. La Guardia by 1935. Via her position of power as a
\njudge in the very legal system she sought to rectify, Polier worked throughout
\nher career to address systemic inequality and discrimination against
\ndisenfranchised populations. The public sector and the rampant de facto
\nsegregation it revealed led Polier to approach the issue of racial
\ndiscrimination with grassroots solutions. Recognizing the racialized narratives
\nof crime and poverty in urban New York, Polier helped to found the Wiltwyck
\nSchool for Boys, a school focused on admitting and providing shelter and
\nresources to delinquent black youth abandoned by the state. Polier was involved
\nin multiple cases involving segregation in education, including the Skipwith
\nattendance case (1958-1961) in which she found the Board of Education guilty of
\npracticing segregation in Harlem schools. Additionally in the class action suit
\nof Wilder vs. Sugarman (1971-78), Polier fought against welfare policies in
\nprivate and public foster care systems that marginalized black children. <\/p>\n
\nJustine Polier was a voice for marginalized youth in the American Jewish
\nCongress, and also became well known for her friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt. <\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/35577ad575cc83b4d868c4806b20be93\/tumblr_inline_otpmf18b3y1r0yq0k_540.png\")
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\nmembership event<\/p>\n
\ncollections of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS), range on a
\nvariety of topics, from Polier\u2019s advocacy for minorities to affectionate
\nexchanges between the friends and colleagues. The letters expose the sheer
\nnumber of different initiatives Polier was involved with as a part of her job
\nand her position as vice president of the AJC and president of the women\u2019s
\ndivision. Some examples of the initiatives Polier was involved with from the
\narchives include an initiative to set up clinics for refugees out of all convalescence
\nresorts in the US, an investigation of discrimination and treatment of Mexican
\nyouth in LA, a report on the Riis public housing project in Bedford-Stuyvesant
\n(a historically black neighborhood of New York City), and, in 1939, advocating
\non behalf of Jewish children refugees from Germany. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n1943, Polier wrote to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of the City Wide
\nCommittee on Harlem for the organization of a Harlem Week, to invite her to
\nparticipate in the event; \u201c"we all feel that if you would come as a guest
\nof honor and say a few words, it would mean a great deal to the work of the
\nCommittee. We are hoping during the following week to publish material each day
\non various aspects of Negro life in the city, which call for action by the
\ncommunity. Last year, as a result of this kind of program, we were able to make
\nsome real progress, particularly in the increased opportunities given to young
\nNegroes in such fields as nursing"[1]<\/a>.
\nPolier\u2019s involvement with the Black neighborhoods of New York was considerable,
\nas reflected by a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt on January 18th 1945[2]<\/a> referenced
\nthe Council House, an establishment to house under privileged children in the
\nBronx. An almost entirely black community, Polier writes of the House opening
\nup to black children and administration opening up to members of the
\nsurrounding community itself Polier\u2019s passion for and investment in Civil
\nrights is evident in this letter, as is her preoccupation with the grassroots
\napproach to economically empower disenfranchised communities.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/202987034a81214621ed8a2c3881dff9\/tumblr_inline_otpmhoK3zO1r0yq0k_540.png\")
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\nevent<\/p>\n