LOWENSTEIN, SOLOMON

LOWENSTEIN, SOLOMON (1877–1942), U.S. social work executive and Reform rabbi. Lowenstein, who was born in Philadelphia, was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1901. He was successively employed as superintendent of the United Jewish Charities in Cincinnati (1901–04); assistant manager of the United Jewish Charities in New York (1904); superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum (1905–18); deputy commissioner of the American Red Cross in Palestine (1918–19); and director of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies (1920–35). In 1935 he became the Federation's executive vice president and held this post until his death. During this period, coinciding with the depression of the 1930s, Jewish philanthropy greatly expanded and shifted and Lowenstein coordinated and systematized its operations. Lowenstein was president of the National Conference of Social Work (1938), and was also a trustee of both the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and a vice president of the American Friends of the Hebrew University.