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Alsberg, Henry Garfield (1881 - 1970)

Alsberg, Henry Garfield (1881 - 1970)

Project Director

Alsberg headed the Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration from 1935 until he was fired in 1939. Hired initially by President Roosevelt’s lieutenant, Harry Hopkins, Alsberg lost his job under a cloud of communist infiltration. His Project responsibilities employed 6,500 writers and produced over 100 books and 200 publications by acclaimed authors. A New York native, Alsberg graduated from Columbia College in 1900 and, a few years later, from Columbia Law School. After studying literature at Harvard, he did some writing for several magazines and newspapers. In 1925, he wrote a Yiddish play, The Dybbuk, which had a successful off-Broadway run and was performed in Chicago and London. His sister was Elsa Alsberg.
40 West 94th Street (near Central Park West)
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