Arnold Aronson (March 11, 1911 – February 17, 1998) was a founder of theLeadership Conference on Civil Rights and served as its executive secretary from 1950 to 1980. In 1941 he worked withA. Philip Randolph to pressure PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt to issueExecutive Order 8802, opening jobs in the federal bureaucracy and in the defense industries to minorities. A close associate of Randolph andRoy Wilkins, Aronson played an important role planning the1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. He was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.[1]
Aronson was born in Boston in 1911. He received a B.A. degree fromHarvard in 1933 and an M.S.W. from theUniversity of Chicago.[2]
In 1945 he became executive director of the National Community Relations Advisory Council, now known as theJewish Council for Public Affairs, a position he retained until 1976. With Randolph and Wilkins, Aronson was a founder of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights in 1950.[5] As secretary of the Leadership Conference, he helped coordinate lobbying efforts for theCivil Rights Act of 1957, theCivil Rights Act of 1964, theVoting Rights Act of 1965, and theFair Housing Act of 1968.[6] Although one of the few white leaders involved in planning the 1963 March on Washington, Aronson downplayed his participation. After he retired, he founded The Leadership Conference Education Fund and served as its director until his death.
PresidentBill Clinton awarded him thePresidential Medal of Freedom on January 15, 1998.
He and his wife Annette had two sons,Simon Aronson of Chicago andBernard Aronson of Takoma Park, Maryland. His nephew, singer-songwriter and organizerSi Kahn, credits his uncle with helping inspire and shape his own work.[7]
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