David Himmelfarb was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1907 to Morris and Lena Himmelfarb. He attended the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (New York City) where he obtained a Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1929. In 1932, Himmelfarb graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a Master of Science degree. In 1936, Himmelfarb began working at the Boston Navy Yard's Ropewalk, where he eventually became master ropemaker in 1945 until his retirement in 1970. After the closing of the Ropewalk in 1971, Himmelfarb worked as a consultant to commercial cordage manufacturers and testified as an expert witness in civil litigation cases. Himmelfarb was a prolific contributor to cordage scholarship and was known as the Navy's last master ropewalker. Himmelfarb died of congestive heart failure in Newton in 2000. The Ropewalk was established in 1836 within the Boston Navy Yard as the only Navy ropewalk in the United States. The majority of all peacetime rope was manufactured at the Ropewalk as well as a large portion of wartime cordage materials. The operation received its name from the ropemaking process. Men with hemp tied around their waists would walk backwards and forwards to attach the hemp to a threading wheel. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described the workers as "human spiders" spinning their web. Though machines eventually automated ropemaking in later years, the process remained much the same. The Ropewalk was closed in December of 1971 in the face of private industry production.

"Committee will probe ropewalk closing plan." The Boston Globe, July 5, 1971. Desmond, Mary. "As Boston Navy Yard Nears 150th Birthday Historic Ropewalk Still Busy," 1950. Long, Tom. "D. Himmelfarb, master ropemaker." The Boston Globe, 2000.