Joseph Aaron Weil (August 20, 1871 – May 15, 1952) was a Hungarian-born[1] Jewish-American newspaperman and politician. He designed the "arm and torch" emblem of the Social Democratic Party of America, which would later be used by the Socialist Party of New York.[2]

Weil (seated, far right) erroneously included amongst Socialists elected in New York City, 1917.
Standing (L-R): Abraham Beckerman, Barnet Wolff, Alexander Braunstein, Algernon Lee, Baruch Charney Vladeck, Adolph Held, and Maurice Calman.
Seated: August Claessens, William Feigenbaum, Elmer Rosenberg, Louis Waldman, Joseph Whitehorn, Jacob Panken, Abraham Shiplacoff, William Karlin, Samuel Orr, Charles B. Garfinkel, Benjamin Gitlow, and Joseph Weil.

Weil was a frequent candidate for public office, running no less than two dozen times over the course of his career.[3] The closest he came to victory was in 1917, when he ran for State Assembly in the 19th Kings County district; initial returns showed a tie with Democrat Benjamin Klingman,[4] but the final results including the overseas ballots of soldiers gave Klingman a winning margin of less than 100 votes out of over 7,000 cast.[5]

Outside of electoral politics, Weil was a co-founder of the New York Call,[2] and later worked in the advertising department of The Jewish Daily Forward. He died at his home in Brooklyn, New York on May 15, 1952.[6]

His daughter was Gertrude W. Klein, a Socialist politician in her own right, who was elected to the New York City Council in 1941 on the American Labor Party ticket.

References

  1. ↑ "New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 for Joseph A Weil". ancestry.com. Court of Common Pleas For the City and County of New York. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Joseph A. Weil Devised Arm and Torch Emblem for NY Socialist Party" (PDF). New York Call. New York. November 3, 1918. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Weil, Joseph A." ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Socialists carry 3 Assembly districts, possibly 4, in Kings". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. November 7, 1917. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Soldier vote beats Weil, Soc". Brooklyn Daily Times. Brooklyn. December 19, 1917. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Joseph A. Weil, 80, Advertising Man". Brooklyn Eagle. Brooklyn. May 16, 1952. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_A._Weil