Donald Silberman ’56

Don suffered a massive heart attack and died Mar. 29, 2004.

A longtime unionist and social activist whose progressive roots extended back to the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, he played a major role in the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, NJ Citizen Action, and a host of Hudson County labor and community organizations. He was past president of the Council of NJ State College Locals, longtime president and leader of Local 1839 AFT, and professor of English at NJ City U. As council president, Don was primarily responsible for organizing the adjunct faculty and dedicated himself to improving the status of the most disadvantaged group among college faculty.

Son of Robert Silberman'25, Don maintained a strong loyalty to Princeton. For our 40th, he wrote: "Today, the University in the nation's service is educating its students to prize diversity that is the strength of our society."

A member of Orange Key and production director for WPRB, Don roomed senior year with Jules Moskowitz, Richard Malsan, and Robert Hut, and wrote his thesis on "The Artist as Rebel — Byron, Brontë, Blake."

We express our deepest sympathy to his wife, Leslie, daughter Hillary, and son Steve.

The Class of 1956