A Public Relations Woman of Valor: Belle Moskowitz, Social Justice Pioneer and Indefatigable Political Strategist for the Public Good

Belle Moskowitz (1877-1933) was a social worker, educator, reformer, and political strategist. A daughter of immigrant parents, she began her career on the Lower East Side of New York, in a diverse “melting pot” quite different from her own uptown roots. She advocated for safe and humane conditions for workers and the rights of other vulnerable groups. These included spearheading public relations efforts for social welfare legislation, notably for social and economic relief for poverty-stricken immigrant girls, some of whom had turned to prostitution, were unwed mothers, and were stigmatized and social outcasts. Her skills were recognized by unions, Democratic party leaders, politicians, and others. Moskowitz’ history and legacy is missing in the public relations literature, yet her contributions to the profession, and to the alleviation of human suffering, industrial mediation, and public affairs were extraordinary for a woman in that era.

After her husband Charles Israel’s sudden death, she was a self-supporting young mother who tirelessly campaigned for progressive reform. By the time she ran Al Smith’s high-profile presidential campaign, and propelled him onto the national stage, Moskowitz was well situated within the progressive wing of the Democratic party’s social and her professional milieu. She had, with Henry Moskowitz, her second husband, a largely egalitarian relationship, and he supported her professional work.  

Moskowitz, who never “hung out a shingle” as a PR practitioner, was nevertheless remarkable in what she achieved for the socially and economically downtrodden and for women’s empowerment. She advocated for the poor and marginalized, and for those whom religion, ethnic background, and skin color were almost insurmountable barriers for entry into economic and social mobility and social life. For several decades, through the time when new U.S. immigration laws set quotas to close all doors to persecuted refugees, and people of color were banned from participation in even some of the most liberal political organizations, Belle Moskowitz forged what is now a beaten path for pro-social change by women in public relations and public life.