Ernest Angell

Ernest Angell
President of the American Civil Liberties Union
In office
1950–1969
Preceded byJohn Haynes Holmes
Succeeded byEdward J. Ennis
Personal details
Born(1889-06-01)June 1, 1889
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 11, 1973(1973-01-11) (aged 83)
New York City, U.S.
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1915; div. 1929)​

Elizabeth Brosius Higgins Chapin
​
​
(m. 1939; died 1970)​
Alma materHarvard College
Harvard Law School
Bard College

Ernest Angell (June 1, 1889 – January 11, 1973) was an American lawyer and author who served as President of the American Civil Liberties Union for 19 years,[1] from 1950 to 1969.[2]

Early life

Angell was born in Cleveland on June 1, 1889,[2] the son of Elgin Angell and Lily (née Curtis) Angell. When he was 9 years old, his father (a lawyer who practiced with Robert E. McKisson) was killed in the sinking of the SS La Bourgogne.[3]

He graduated from Harvard College, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, in 1911, and from Harvard Law School in 1913. He received an LL.D. degree from Bard College in 1954.[2]

Career

During World War I, Angell served as an infantry Captain in the American Expeditionary Force, a part of the U.S. Army, in Europe.[2]

Beginning in 1920, he practiced corporation law in New York with Hardin, Hess, Eder & Freschi and Spence, Windels, Walser, Hotchkiss & Angell before joining the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a regional administrator for New York from April 1, 1936, to May 1, 1938, replacing Robert G. Page.[4] He served as chairman of the National Economy League. Angell wrote a "short book on the Supreme Court", entitled Supreme Court Primer, and was the author of various magazine articles.[5]

In 1941, he succeeded Charles Douglas Jackson as the second president of the Council for Democracy, which had been formed in 1940.[6] In 1948, he was selected by the U.S. Civil Service Commission to be chairman of the Loyalty Board for the second region, covering New York and New Jersey.[7]

From 1950 to 1969, Angell succeeded Dr. John Haynes Holmes to serve as president of the American Civil Liberties Union.[8] After his retirement in 1969, he was succeeded by Edward Ennis, who had been the general counsel of the ACLU since 1955.[1]

Personal life

In 1915, he married his first wife Katharine Sergeant (1892–1977) in Brookline, Massachusetts.[9] Katharine, a Boston Brahmin, was a graduate of Miss Winsor's School and Bryn Mawr before becoming the fiction editor at The New Yorker. Before their divorce in 1929,[10] they were the parents of:[11]

Katherine had had an affair with writer E. B. White and married him after her divorce from Angell. In 1939, Angell remarried to Elizabeth Brosius (née Higgins) Chapin, the former wife of Vinton Chapin, the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg.[5] Before her death in 1970,[13] they were the parents of two children together:[2]

  • Christopher Curtis Angell, who married Margaret Blettner in 1971.[14]
  • Abigail Brosius Angell, who married Cass Canfield Jr. (1923–2013),[15] son of Cass Canfield, in 1973. His younger brother Michael Canfield was the first husband of Lee Radziwill.[16]

Angell died at 156 East 66th Street, his home in Manhattan, on January 11, 1973, at age 83, after suffering heart problems.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lawyer Elected Head of A.C.L.U." (PDF). The New York Times. July 1, 1969.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ernest Angell, Lawyer, Dead; Former Chairman of A. C. L. U." The New York Times. January 12, 1973. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Angell, Roger (June 7, 2004). "Hard Lines". New Yorker. Retrieved May 6, 2015. My father, Ernest Angell, lost his father at the age of nine, in a marine disaster, the 1898 sinking of the French liner La Bourgogne
  4. ^ "NAMED TO SEC POST HERE; Ernest Angell Succeeds R.G. Page as Regional Administrator" (PDF). The New York Times. March 15, 1936. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "MRS. E.B.H. CHAPIN WED TO ATTORNEY; Former Elizabeth Higgins Is Married to Ernest Angell by Dr. John L. Elliott" (PDF). The New York Times. February 11, 1939. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  6. ^ "HEADS PATRIOTIC GROUP; Ernest Angell Named President of Council for Democracy" (PDF). The New York Times. June 29, 1941. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "MEMBERS NAMED TO LOYALTY BOARD; Group for New York and Jersey Area Is Headed by Ernest Angell, Lawyer Here" (PDF). The New York Times. August 19, 1948. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Lawyer Named Chairman Of Civil Liberties Union" (PDF). The New York Times. June 14, 1950. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  9. ^ Hess, John L. (July 22, 1977). "Katherine White, Ex-Fiction Editor Of The New Yorker, Is Dead at 84" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  10. ^ "WIFE SUES ERNEST ANGELL; Files for Divorce From New York Lawyer at Reno" (PDF). The New York Times. August 18, 1929. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  11. ^ Robertson, Nan (April 8, 1980). "Life Without Katharine: E. B. White and His Sense of Loss". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  12. ^ "NANCY ANGELL STABLEFORD, DEPARTMENT HEAD AT MORAVIAN SEMINARY FOR GIRLS". The Morning Call. September 4, 1996. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  13. ^ "Mrs. Ernest Angell" (PDF). The New York Times. December 24, 1970. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  14. ^ "Miss Margaret Blettner Wed To Christopher Curtis Angell" (PDF). The New York Times. January 17, 1971. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  15. ^ "CANFIELD—Cass Jr". The New York Times. December 1, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  16. ^ "Miss Abigail Brosius Angell Married to Cass Canfield Jr" (PDF). The New York Times. December 14, 1973. Retrieved August 26, 2019.