H eadlines
History’s Lessons: Jewish Anarchist Doctors
Cared for Philadelphia’s Immigrants
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
FOR HISTORY BUFFS,
mentions of Jewish anarchists
often conjure images of polit-
ical activist Emma Goldman’s
fiery speeches or assassination
attempts. However, many influen-
tial members of Philadelphia’s
close-knit Jewish anarchist
community in the 19th century
have flown under the radar due
to their relatively quiet occupa-
tions: providing health care to
underserved communities.

“In Philadelphia in the late
19th and early 20th centu-
ries, there was a large group
of professionals who practiced
medicine or pharmacy as a
livelihood, while committing
great energies to the anarchist
movement,” labor activist
and historian Robert Helms
wrote in his Clamor Magazine
article “Doctors and Druggists
Among the Early Philadelphia
Anarchists.” These profes-
sionals, many of whom were
Jewish, treated patients,
provided public
health education and contributed
financially to political causes.

Anarchist health care was
rooted in immigration and labor
activism. In the late 19th century,
Russian Jews flocked to the United
States to escape deadly pogroms
and anti-Semitic laws. Many
settled in South Philadelphia,
which was also home to Italian
and Irish immigrants and African
Americans. The new immigrants, most
of whom were poor, took jobs
in the factories that grew during
the rapid industrialization of
American cities. The govern-
ment imposed little to no
regulations on these businesses,
which resulted in starvation
wages and hazardous condi-
tions for workers. In his memoir,
Philadelphia Jewish anarchist,
Yiddish orator and labor activist
Chaim Lein Weinberg recalled
seeing Jewish bakers at union
meetings who were so exhausted
after their 16-hour shifts they fell
asleep in their chairs.

Anarchism, or the political
theory that deems govern-
mental authority unnecessary
and advocates for a society
based on voluntary coopera-
tion, appealed to members of
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The Southern Dispensary for the Medical Relief of the Poor opened in
1816 on Shippen (Bainbridge) Street.
Photo by Steven Peitzman
this growing working class,
who saw no use for a govern-
ment that failed to protect
them. It also appealed to
members of the Jewish intellec-
tual elite, many of whom came
from immigrant backgrounds
themselves and wanted to help
their comrades.

Anarchism and health care
intersected in the dispensary
movement. Dr. Steven Peitzman, a
retired physician and part-time
professor of medicine at Drexel
University College of Medicine,
said while middle class and
wealthy Philadelphians could
afford to hire family physi-
cians for home visits, health
care options were limited for
residents of these immigrant
communities. The responsi-
bility of caring for the sick and
injured fell disproportionately
on women of the household.

“The first level of care would
usually be one’s home remedies,
or what we would call over-the-
counter remedies, many of which
during that period were probably
worthless and spiked with
alcohol, and some even cocaine,”
Peitzman said.

Rather than hiring a doctor or
going to a hospital, immigrants
often turned to dispensaries,
or free health care clinics.

These institutions emerged in
Philadelphia and other cities
during the 1800s and provided
outpatient medicine for coughs,
“rheumatism,” dyspepsia and
other ailments. Dispensaries
in industrial areas also treated
cuts and burns. Young doctors
fresh out of the city’s medical
schools often used them to
gain experience, and the clinics
reflected anarchist commit-
ment to individual cooperation.

According to Helms, a group
of Jewish anarchist physicians
founded Mt. Sinai Dispensary at
236 Pine St. in 1899. The founding
members included Max Staller,
Leo Gartman, Bernhard Segal
and Simon Dubin.

“It’s not unexpected that
some young Jewish physicians
See History, Page 22
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