Adler, Felix (1851-1933)

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Emily Greene Balch to William Jennings Bryan, September 7, 1916

John Dewey et al. to Andrew Carnegie et al. January 31, 1917

Jane Addams to Felix Adler, May 23, 1918

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Birth Date

1851-08-13

Death Date

1933-04-24

Birthplace

Alzey, Germany

Biographical Text

Felix Adler was a German-born professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, and social reformer. Adler was the chair of political and social ethics at Columbia University from 1902 until his death. He was deeply involved in social reform, and he was the founder of the Ethical Culture Movement, pressing for the use of ethical principles to improve oneself and bettering the world through good deeds. Adler established a free kindergarten, a school for working-class men, and an Ethical Culture School. He helped found and led the National Child Labor Committee in 1904 and was also a member of the Civil Liberties Bureau.He joined the first executive board of the National Urban League and worked for the New York State Tenement House Commission. Adler was a well-known writer on moral philosophy, with books such as Creed and Deed (1877) and Essentials of Spirituality (1905).

He married Helen Goldmark in 1880 and they had five children. Felix Adler died in 1933.