Henry Alsberg
Henry Garfield Alsberg (September 21, 1881 – November 1, 1970) was an American journalist and writer who served as the founding director of the Federal Writers' Project.
Henry G. Alsberg | |
|---|---|
Alsberg testifying before HUAC, December 1938 | |
| Born | Henry Garfield Alsberg September 21, 1881 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 1, 1970 (aged 89) Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Education | Columbia University (AB, LLB) Harvard University |
| Known for | Federal Writers' Project |
| Relatives | Carl L. Alsberg (brother) |
A lawyer by training, he was a foreign correspondent during the Russian Revolution, secretary to the U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and an influential volunteer for refugee aid efforts. Alsberg was a producer at the Provincetown Playhouse. He spent years traveling through war-torn Europe on behalf of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. After publishing several magazines for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, he was appointed to head the Federal Writers' Project. Fired from the project in 1939 shortly after testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he worked for a short time for the Office of War Information, before joining Hastings House Publishers as an editor.