Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca

Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca (August 10, 1894 – August 16, 1946) was an American labor activist who particularly represented women workers in the garment industry. She was an early organizer for Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) after its split from the more conservative United Garment Workers of America in 1914. She became a board member in 1916 and in 1917 became its first full-time female organizer.

She was born in Zemel, Latvia, to Harry Jacobs, a tailor, and Bernice Edith Levinson. She emigrated to the United States in 1900, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland.

During the Great Depression, Bellanca was a vocal activist on behalf of unemployed garment workers. She was also active politically on the municipal, state, and federal level. She was a member of the New York City Mayor's Commission on Unity, and served on several state commissions to end racial discrimination in the workplace. A supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped to organize New York State's branch of the American Labor Party.

Bellanca became vice president of the ACWA in 1934, and held that position until her death in 1946.

Further reading

• Jensen, Joan M. and Sue Davidson (1984). A needle, a bobbin, a strike: women needleworkers in America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

"Dorothy Jacobs Bellanca." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 05 May. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/59742/Dorothy-Jacobs-Bellanca>.

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Name	Bellanca, Dorothy Jacobs
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Date of birth	August 10, 1894
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Date of death	August 16, 1946
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