A. L. Feldman

(1896 - 1988)

Abrom Lewis (A. L.) Feldman dedicated his distinguished career in Atlanta to public education. He graduated from the Georgia Tech School of Commerce in 1915, and from 1914 to 1918 served as staff member at the Atlanta Journal. After World War I, Feldman founded the Puritan Chemical Company in 1919 and built it into the largest manufacturer and seller of sanitary chemicals for health and industrial institutions in the American South and one of the largest of its kind in the nation.

During and after World War II, Feldman served on several national boards relating to the chemical industry. In 1951, he was appointed southern representative on the twelve-member Advisory Committee for the Disinfectants and Sanitizers Industry by the National Production Authority (NPA). In this capacity, he advised the NPA on raw material supplies and regulations. Feldman’s influence stretched beyond the health industry, and during World War II, he served as president of the Federation of Jewish Social Services. Within this position, Feldman emphasized education, recreation, and “preventive services,” including efforts combating bigotry through the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the National Citizens Council for Better Schools, and the Jewish Labor Committee.

Throughout his life and career, Feldman presided over B’nai B’rith’s Gate City Lodge, the Jewish Welfare Fund, and the Jewish Community Center. He also served the Mayfair Club, Georgia State University, Clark College, the Southern College of Pharmacy, Miles College, St. Joseph Hospital, the Atlanta–Fulton County Vocational Education School, the Health Careers Council of Georgia, the state Science and Technology Commission, the Community Chest, the Governor’s Conference on Education, and the Fulton County Heart Fund. Three governors appointed Feldman to the state Nuclear Advisory Commission. Despite his numerous contributions to Atlanta and the Jewish community, Feldman insisted in a 1969 issue of the Southern Israelite that his only hobby was “better education.”