Biography of Saul Alinsky

Saul David Alinsky was born to Benjamin and Sarah (Tannenbaum) Alinsky on January 30, 1909 in Chicago. His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants. When Saul was 13 years of age, his parents were divorced. After his parents split up, Saul went to Los Angles with his father and lived there. Later, he came back to Chicago for pursuing his studies at the University of Chicago. He went on to acquire a doctorate in archeology from the university in 1930.

Saul Alinsky and Social Reforms

Alinsky's first reform activities began in different prisons where he worked as a juvenile delinquency researcher. In the latter part of the 1930s, his work was mainly confined to the crime-ridden neighborhoods of Chicago. He motivated the poor and the working-class people of different communities to work for their common interests. He provided all necessary assistance to several unions, churches and social groups, so that they could empower themselves and win their basic needs, starting from streetlights to jobs and everything. He took special efforts to resolve the differences among the various divided groups and unite them so that they could stand up for those causes that led to the betterment of the entire community. He obtained financial assistance from the Marshal Field Foundation to establish the Industrial Area Foundation that enabled him to spread his activities to many other cities around the United States.

Alinsky had a very tough, and at the same time pragmatic approach towards his work as a community organizer. Alinsky had zero tolerance towards militants. He never believed that the power that comes by the means of the barrels of guns have any worthiness. Instead, he considered stable local organizations with active participation of socially-aware ordinary citizens more important to bring about reforms in the society as a whole. He had a firm faith in the American democracy. At one point of time, his method of community organizing annoyed many leaders of the United States. As a result, in the latter part of the 1960s, he found himself alienated. In such a situation, it became quite tough for him to work with the local African-American groups, as they refused to work under any white leader. Then he began unifying the middle class citizens of the white communities.

Personal Life of Saul Alinsky

Saul Alinsky had married three times. First it was to Helen Simon, then to Jean Graham and his third wife was Irene McGinnis. During his first marriage, he had adopted two children: Kathryn and David. Alinsky's books Reveille for Radicals released in 1946 and Rules for Radicals: A Political Primer for Practical Radicals published in 1971 was based on neighborhood reforms. He also wrote a biography of the well-known labor leader John L. Lewis in 1949, whom Alinsky admired for his organization building skills. Saul Alinsky died on June 12, 1972 in Carmel, California, after he suffered a heart attack.

Saul Alinsky had committed his life for the ordinary citizens of America. He was always there to hear out their needs, troubles and tribulations, and found out ways and means to rectify them.