Straus, Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926

Secretary of the Department of Labor and Commerce, 1906-1909.

From the description of Letter, 1906 Nov. 7, New York, to Lee M. Friedman, Boston. (Boston Athenaeum). WorldCat record id: 174212191

American ambassador and government official.

From the description of Papers, 1869-1947. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122589779

Attorney, businessman, public official, diplomat, U.S. secretary of commerce and labor, and author.

From the description of Oscar S. Straus papers, 1856-1955 (bulk 1856-1923). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71131237

Biographical Note

• 1850, Dec. 23: Born, Otterberg, Bavaria
• 1854: Came to America and lived in Talbotton, Ga.
• 1865: Moved to New York, N.Y.
• 1871: A.B., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
• 1873: LL.D., Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
• 1873 - 1881 : Practiced law, New York, N.Y.
• 1881 - 1906 : Member of the firm L. Straus & Sons, importers of pottery and glassware
• 1882: Married Sarah Lavenburg (died 1945)
• 1885: Published The Origin of Republican Form of Government in the United States of America. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• 1887 - 1889 : Minister to Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• 1894: Published Roger Williams, the Pioneer of Religious Liberty. New York: The Century Co.
• 1898 - 1899 : Minister to Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• 1902 - 1924 : Appointed member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Hague, Netherlands
• 1906 - 1909 : United States secretary of commerce and labor; first Jew appointed to a cabinet position
• 1909 - 1910 : Ambassador to Ottoman Empire (Turkey)
• 1912: Chairman, arbitration commission to decide wage dispute between eastern railways and their engineers
• 1913: Published The American Spirit. New York: The Century Co.
• 1915 - 1918 : Chairman, New York Public Service Commission, First District
• 1919: Chairman, Paris Committee of the League to Enforce Peace
• 1919 - 1920 : Member, President's Second Industrial Conference to establish a code of industrial relations
• 1922: Published autobiography Under Four Administrations, from Cleveland to Taft; Reflections of Oscar S. Straus. New York: Houghton Mifflin
• 1926, May 3: Died, New York, N.Y.

From the guide to the Oscar S. Straus Papers, 1856-1955, (bulk 1856-1923), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)