Harold Rosenwald

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Harold Rosenwald
Born(1907-07-23)July 23, 1907
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMarch 9, 1990(1990-03-09) (aged 82)
Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma materHarvard University
Harvard Law School
OccupationLawyer
Known forDefense of Alger Hiss
Prosecution of Huey Long
Spouse
Betty Booth
​
(m. 1943)​
Children3

Harold Rosenwald (July 23, 1907 – March 9, 1990)[1] was an American lawyer, best known for working on the defense team of Alger Hiss during 1949 and in the prosecution of Louisiana governor Huey Long.[2][3]

Background[edit]

Harold Rosenwald was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His sisters were Clare Rosenwald Schein (later an arbitrator for Family Court, died 1972), Leah Rosenwald Modest, and Charlotte Rosenwald Rosenberg.[2][4]

He graduated from Cambridge Latin School (now Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) in 1923. He graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1927. In 1930, he graduated from Harvard Law School, where he also served as editor of the Harvard Law Review (1928–1930) and class secretary. It was during this time he came to know Alger Hiss.[2]

Career[edit]

Rosenwald was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1930 (and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar in 1936).[2]

Government service[edit]

According to Whittaker Chambers, Rosenwald had worked in the U.S. Department of Justice during the 1930s under O. John Rogge:

He had worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he had been the assistant to O. John Rogge, an assistant to the Attorney General. The peculiar vehemence of Mr. Rogge's lefts views finally caused him [Rosenwald] to leave the Justice Department.[5]

Rosenwald supported Justice in its case against U.S. General Charles G. Dawes to recover monies of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) on a $90,000,000 "Dawes Loan." On May 15, 1936, Rosenwald filed a brief on behalf of John L. Hopkins, O. John Rogge, and others for the RFC.[6] Later in May, Justice recovered $2,225,000 for RFC, for which Rosenwald received credit.[7] Justice continued to pursue more repayment, and the case went to court in October 1938.[8] He received credit for his efforts in November 1936 when a court ordered 3,500 Illinois stockholders of a defunct Central Republic Bank to pay $12,500,000 as part of repayment on that loan.[9]

In 1939, Rosenwald again support Rogge, this time going after income tax cases in Louisiana related to Governor Huey Long's "Share Our Wealth" program. Rogge planned to move to the state due to the anticipated length of the case. He cited Rosenwald (and Albert B. Teton) as an expert whose presence he sought to join him because of Rosenwald's "experience in preparing income tax cases for trial."[10]

Private practice[edit]

In April 1948, Rosenwald and John J. O'Niel were attorneys for a naval captain before the U.S. Supreme Court in "United States of America ex. rel. Harold E. Hirschberg v. Captain M. J. Malanaphy, United States Navy, Commanding Officer, United States Naval Receiving Station, Brooklyn, New York."[11]

Hiss Case[edit]

During the Hiss Case, Rosenwald was an attorney first in 1948 with Oseas, Pepper & Segal[12] and by 1950 with Beer, Richards, Lane and Haller[13] (also known as Oseas, Pepper & Siegel with offices in Washington and on Liberty Street, New York[14]) (from 1949 to 1957 called "Beer, Richards, Lane, Haller & Buttenwieser"[15][16]). He was one of the chief lawyers in the Hiss Case who defended Alger Hiss, along with William L. Marbury, Jr. and Edward Cochrane McLean. He was the chief architect of argument for a "psychologically disturbed state of Whittaker Chambers."[3]

On December 12, 1948, Rosenwald, "an associate of Edward C. McLean, Mr. Hiss' attorney," issued a statement by Hiss which said: "...I repeat the denial... I did not at any time deliver any official documents to Mr. Chambers or any unauthorized person."[17]

While Lloyd Paul Stryker led during Hiss's first trial, Rosenberg's name remained among his legal defense.[18][19] Again, when Claude B. Cross led during Hiss's second trial later in 1949, Rosenwald's name appears on his defense team along with McLean and Robert von Mehren.[20]

Later years[edit]

By 1952, Rosenwald was "the legal representative to the Tito Government."[5]

In 1958, Rosenwald represented Lovander Ladner in a Federal case against (in which Ladner was convicted for assaulting police officers).[21]

In 1959–1960, Rosenwald represented defendants Goldfine and Paperman in an appeal case before the U.S. District Court with Judge Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr. presiding (in which Goldfine and Paperman lost).[22][23]

In 1972, he represented Harvard student agencies in their pursuit of contraceptive sales at the university.[24]

When Allen Weinstein's Perjury: The Hiss-Chambers Case came out in 1978, it quoted Rosenwald about the psychological argument:

The psychiatric theory has been criticized because it may be regarded as an unjustified smear of Chambers as a homosexual. Surely we intend to smear Chambers in any event. I have no objection to such smearing .... I see little difference between smearing Chambers as a homosexual and smearing him as a liar, a thief and a scoundrel.[25]

In 1980, a review of John Lowenthal's documentary The Trials of Alger Hiss mentioned Rosenwald (along with Robert E. Stripling, Congressman F. Edward Hebert, the Rev. John F. Cronin, and journalist Ralph de Toledano) as among the "most informative" who helped counter "Lowenthal's own bias."[26]

Personal and death[edit]

In 1943, Rosenwald married Betty Booth. They had a son, Malcolm, a daughter Martha and son Stuart Harold. (Mrs. Rosenwald died in 2004.)[27][28]

Rosenwald died age 82 of Parkinson's disease in Lexington, Massachusetts.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Harold Rosenwald". Fold3. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Harold Rosenwald, 82; Attorney Involved in Hiss and Long Cases". Boston Globe. 12 March 1990.
  3. ^ a b White, G. Edward (2004). Alger Hiss's Looking-Glass War: The Covert Life of a Soviet Spy. Oxford University Press. pp. ix (role), 57 (firm), 175 (psychological). ISBN 0190288418. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. ^ "Mrs. Claire Schein". New York Times. 14 March 1972.
  5. ^ a b Chambers, Whittaker (May 1952). Witness. New York: Random House. pp. 635–637 (Oseas), 731, 734, 749. ISBN 9780895269157. LCCN 52005149. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Dawes Bank Decision Due: RFC Files Completed Brief in Suit to Collect $14,000,000". New York Times. 24 July 1936.
  7. ^ "Bank Assessments Paid: Central Republic Stockholders Remit $2,225,000 to RFC". New York Times. 16 May 1936.
  8. ^ "Dawes Bank Case Argued in Court: Attorneys for Stockholders and the RFC Denounce and Uphold $14,000,000 Levy". New York Times. 18 October 1938.
  9. ^ "$12,500,000 for RFC in Dawes Bank Suite". New York Times. 24 July 1936.
  10. ^ "Income Tax Cases Sped in Louisiana: Rogge, Aide to Murphy, Gets Treasury's Top Investigators to Help at New Orleans". New York Times. 27 July 1939.
  11. ^ "United States of America ex. rel. Harold E. Hirschberg v. Captain M. J. Malanaphy, United States Navy, Commanding Officer, United States Naval Receiving Station, Brooklyn, New York" (PDF). United States Supreme Court. 1948. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  12. ^ Hearings Regarding Communist Espionage in the United States Government - Part Two. US Government Printing Office. December 1948. p. 1083. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  13. ^ "United States v Alger Hiss". US Government Printing Office. 7 December 1950. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Taxation under the Auspices of the National Tax Association Vol. 44 (1951)". National Tax Association. 1951. JSTOR 23405419. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ "SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION v. ELECTRIC BOND & SHARE CO. et al. (POWER SECURITIES CORPORATION et al., Interveners)". Harvard University Library. 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  16. ^ "United States of America, Plaintiff-respondent, v. Eve B. Pahmer, Defendant-appellee, Eva Pahmer, Defendant-appellant, 238 F.2d 431 (2d Cir. 1956)". Justia. 1 November 1956. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Alger Hiss Denies Ever Turning Over Any State Papers: Statement Is Second Disavowal of Any Illicit Trafficking With Whittaker Chambers". New York Times. 13 December 1948.
  18. ^ "Hiss Jury Is Picked for Perjury Trial; He Asks for Dismissal: Stryker Holds Testimony Given Last Day Grand Jurors Sat Could Not Delay Justice". New York Times. 1 June 1949.
  19. ^ "Ex-Wife of Eisler Barred as Witness in the Trial of Hiss". New York Times. 2 July 1949.
  20. ^ "Jury Is Selected for 2d Hiss Trial: Eight Women, One of Whom Is Foreman, and Four Men to Hear Perjury Charges". New York Times. 18 November 1949.
  21. ^ Lewis, Anthony (7 January 1958). "Court Split Bard Jeopardy Ruling: 4-4 Division in High Bench Keeps Basic Issue Open -Similar Case Pending". New York Times.
  22. ^ "Decision is Unanimous". New York Times. 25 July 1959.
  23. ^ "Goldfine and Aide Lose Court Battle". New York Times. 1 July 1960.
  24. ^ "Contraceptives at Harvard". New York Times. 10 November 1972.
  25. ^ Howe, Irving (9 April 1979). "Alger Hiss Retried: Perjury". New York Times.
  26. ^ "Weekend at the Movies: The Trials of Alger Hiss". Washington Post. 5 December 1980.
  27. ^ "Betty B. Rosenwald". Boston Globe. 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  28. ^ "Betty B. Rosenwald". Boston Globe. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2017.

External links[edit]

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