Maxwell E. Seidman

Seidman was born in Philadelphia in 1898, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Isaac and Jennie Seidman.[1] By the time of Seidman's birth, his father was working as a real estate agent.[1] He attended South Philadelphia High School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[2] After Wharton, Seidman stayed at Penn for law school, graduating in the 1920s and starting his own practice.[2]

Initially a Republican, Seidman joined the Democratic Party in 1933 as a part of John B. Kelly, Sr.'s "independent Democratic" faction.[2] When Democrat George Howard Earle III was elected governor in 1934, he appointed Seidman as a special deputy attorney general, working with the state banking department and the state board of motion picture censors.[3]

Seidman became the Democratic leader of the 1st ward and, in 1949, was nominated for Philadelphia City Council in a special election to fill a vacancy created by the death of Republican councilman Frank X. O'Connor.[3] Seidman won, narrowly defeating his Republican opponent, Roman Catholic High School football coach Joseph A. Graham, Jr.[4] He joined Harry Norwitch as one of only two Democrats in the 22-member council.[4]

Seidman's tenure on City Council was brief. While visiting New York City on November 17, 1950, he suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 53.[2] He was buried in Mount Sharon Cemetery in Springfield, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.[2]