David Kaplan Papers, 1941-1965

Biography/History

Chronology:

March 3, 1905 David Kaplan was born in Russia.
1919 The Kaplan Family having immigrated to the United States, David worked as a migrant farm worker in the West, then on a signal gang for the South Pacific Railroad, and on a freighter.
date unknown Received an undergraduate degree from Commonwealth College, Arkansas.
1933 Received an M.A. in economics from the University of Wisconsin.
circa 1933 Hired as an economist for the American Federation of Labor.
1934 Organized the Research Department of the International Association of Machinists.
1941 Organized the Research Department of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America. As chief economist of the Teamsters, his responsibilities included preparing wage analyses and arbitrating contract disputes and jurisdictional problems.
date unknown Trustee of Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees, Teamsters Local #584, New York City.
date unknown Served as administrative secretary for the Teamsters Retirement and Family Protection Plan.
1955 Appointed president of newly organized Economics of Distribution Foundation, jointly financed by the Teamsters and by private banking companies. The foundation prepared studies of the efficiency of economic distribution and developed ways in which labor and management could apply these studies to their specific needs. Kaplan believes that he can serve unions and industry by “attacking the cost problem which threatens to strangle both.”
1961 Served as teller in Grand Lodge Election for the Machinists.

Kaplan has also lectured extensively on economic topics to audiences at The Brookings Institution; Cornell, Rutgers, Princeton, and Harvard Universities; the 1961 meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association; and the 1963 Agribusiness Cruise sponsored by Garden State Publishing Company.