Abraham Shiplacoff

Born in Chernigov, Russian Empire (today Chernihiv, Ukraine), Abraham Shiplacoff immigrated to the United States in 1891. Settling in Brooklyn, he became a public school teacher and for a short time worked as an editor for the Forverts labor column. He joined the United Hebrew Trades and served as its treasurer in 1914. The following year, he ran a successful campaign on the Socialist Party ticket to represent parts of Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly, becoming the party’s second candidate to be elected. Reelected for two year-long terms, he led the contingent in the assembly opposed to U.S. intervention in World War I, and he introduced the first bill in the legislative body’s history supporting access to contraceptives. In 1918, Shiplacoff mounted an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. House of Representatives, and that same year, he was indicted for breach of the Espionage Act, although courts later voided those charges. Shiplacoff continued his work in labor union leadership after his career in public office, and he became involved with Zionist organizations as well, promoting Jewish settlement in Palestine.