Belle Moskowitz
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Belle Moskowitz (October 5, 1877 – January 2, 1933) was the political advisor to New York Governor and 1928 presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith.
Belle Lindner was born in Harlem in New York City, to Isidor Lindner, a watchmaker; and Esther Freyer. Both parents were immigrants from East Prussia in Germany. She was the sixth born of seven children. she attended the Horace Mann School of Columbia University and in 1894 she attended Teachers College, Columbia University, but only stayed for one year. In 1900 she became a social worker at the Educational Alliance. In 1903 she married Charles Henry Israels (1864-1911), an artist and architect. They had four children, three of whom lived to adulthood including: Carlos Lindner Israels. In 1911 Charles died of heart disease when he was 47 years old. As Belle Israels, her first effort at social reform was to work to close dance halls as places of prostitution. Dance halls served alcohol and had rooms for rental by the patrons for prostitution. She worked to have laws passed that regulated the use of dance halls. The New York Times stated, "These laws did more to improve the moral surroundings of young girls than any other single social reform of the period." In 1911 she met Henry Moskowitz, a physician, while working with him on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire Commission. In 1918, she suported Al Smith for Governor of New York. Smith was the Democratic Party candidate for President in 1928 and Belle worked as his campaign manager. She worked as his press agent during his attempt for renomination in 1932 [1]. On December 8, 1932 she fell down the front steps of her house at 147 West Ninety-fourth Street and, while recovering from the broken bones, died of an embolism on January 2, 1933 at age 55.
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- New York Times; January 3, 1933, Tuesday; Mrs. Moskowitz, Smith Aide, Dies; Adviser To Governors Wielded Wide Political Power Behind The Scenes. Pioneer In Social Work Never Held Public Office, But Molded Legislative Trends. Hurt In Fall December 8, 1932. Mrs. Moskowitz, Smith Aide, Dies. Mrs. Henry Moskowitz, who during former Governor Alfred E. Smith's ascendency in the Democratic party wielded more political power than any other woman in the United States, died yesterday of heart disease in her home, 147 West Ninety-fourth Street.
