Biographical Note: Born in Fall River on December 30 of 1906 to a family of Russian immigrants, David Ralph Prokross learned about poverty and discrimination early in his life. He worked his way through Harvard College and Law School, practiced law for over 70 years, and played a very important role in many community organizations and social causes. He aided Jewish immigrants escaping Nazism and became president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, a director of the United Way of Massachusetts, and an overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his many charitable involvements and services, David Pokross left a fund for children growing up in need, as he himself had. David R. Pokross was one of the earliest benefactors of the Hanns Sachs Library. A lawyer and friend of Hanns Sachs and many other refugee analysts since 1932, he was a legal counsel for BPSI for many years. He and his family generously supported our library and archives for over half a century.
Summary: the small collection contains one box of correspondence, clippings, and documents related to Hanns Sachs Trust and Symposium reports. BPSI Audiovisual Archives holds an interview with David R. Pokross recorded, conducted and transcribed by Dr. Sanford Gifford in 1979. In addition, our library collection includes an autobiographical book Onward: Memoirs of David R. Pokross published in 1994.
Finding Aid for this collection is available here (viewing it requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Related BPSI Collections
Audiovisual Materials
Oral History Transcripts
Related Sites
In Memoriam: David R. Pokross, 96, Leading Lawyer, Philanthropist (from Nixon Peabody)
