GEORGE B. LEONARD:

An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Leonard, George B., 1872-1956, creator.
	Title:	George B. Leonard papers.
	Dates:	1876-1957.
	Abstract:	Personal and family correspondence (1880-1957), subject files (1888-1953), reminiscences ([1954-1955]), newspaper clippings and scrapbook (1896-1952), diaries (1887-1888, 1932), composition books (undated), and related papers kept by a prominent Minneapolis lawyer and liberal political activist who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1892.
	Quantity:	5.25 cubic feet (11 boxes and 1 oversize folder).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf location.

George Leonard was born in Shovlu, Lithuania (Feb. 9, 1872), the son of Victor Leonard and Tauve Melnick. After receiving a gymnasium education, he moved to Paris, in part to avoid Czarist persecution for his socialist views. He lived for a short while in Paris, where he took courses at the Sorbonne and other schools, and became involved in left wing political and labor movements. He immigrated to the United States in 1892, working briefly in both New York City and Philadelphia (where other family members had settled) before coming to Minneapolis in 1894. He graduated from the University of Minnesota law school in 1896, and practiced law in Minneapolis into the 1950s. He was a partner in the influential Minneapolis law firm of Leonard, Street and Deinard.

Leonard belonged to the Knights of Labor, was an organizer of the socialist party in Minnesota, and was actively involved in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and national politics until his death in 1956. He participated throughout his career in a number of political, legal, and social organizations including the League for Industrial Democracy, the American Civil Liberties Union, the International Juridical Association, county and state bar associations, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a number of civil rights and Jewish aid organizations. Leonard was also a regent (1937-1939) of the University of Minnesota.

Leonard married Elizabeth V. DeMerse in 1905 and the couple had two children: John D. and George D.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Although the papers do not document Leonard's law practice, they do reflect his leadership in bar associations like the National Lawyers Guild (1936-1942) and the Minneapolis and Hennepin County bar associations (1924-1953), as well as his participation in the American Civil Liberties Union (1921-1947). They also reveal his many philanthropic interests, especially Jewish relief and refugee organizations during and after World War II.

Leonard's political interests are the most intensively documented aspect of his life. They reveal his interest in socialism (1890s-1910s) and in the Farmer-Labor and Democratic-Farmer-Labor parties in Minnesota. His correspondents include many important state and national left wing and liberal political leaders including Osmond Fraenkel, Philip LaFollette, Hubert Humphrey, Max Lowenthal, Floyd B. Olson, Gunnar Nordbye, and Oswald Garrison Villard.

Other files document his service on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents (1937-1939) and his interest in the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis (1926-1953). Some materials from his boyhood are in Russian, including a diary (1887-1888), composition books, and a few printed items (1876-1931).

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ARRANGEMENT

These documents are organized into the following sections:


		Correspondence Files
		Subject Files
		Personal and Miscellaneous Papers

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. George B. Leonard Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 5345; 10,081; 14,180

Processing Information:

Processed by: Dennis Meissner, March 1991

Catalog ID number: 990017135590104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CORRESPONDENCE FILES

The papers in this chronologically arranged section are general in scope and relate to the many facets of Leonard's career as well as to family matters. The earliest papers (undated and 1880-1899) are few and consist largely of letters and documents in French and Russian. There are a few letters in English sent to Leonard in Minneapolis and they give some information on socialist activities. The last items in this section are printed copies of three sermons (1899) by the Rev. Marion D. Shutter of the Minneapolis Universalist Church.

Miscellaneous family letters comprise the 1920-1931 papers. After 1931 the correspondence becomes fuller and touches on many facets of Leonard's career. The papers contain information on legal organizations; liberal political groups like the League for Industrial Democracy; Jewish organizations, particularly those concerned with refugees from Nazi persecution; peace organizations; recommendations for various persons; farm groups; testimonial dinners; contributions to Mount Sinai Hospital (Minneapolis) and similar institutions; civil rights groups; World War II; Community Chest; war agencies and similar groups; and some family matters, mostly regarding family members' investments. Much of the correspondence contains Leonard's views on local and national politics. A letter (July 12, 1940) to Abraham Cahan recounts their first meeting in Paris, Leonard's arrival in America, and his early experiences in New York City and Minneapolis.

Correspondents include Roy G. Blakey (1935-1937), August Claessens (1935-1937), Charles L. Horn (1936-1948), Philip and Robert LaFollette (1936-1939), Max Lowenthal (1933-1950), Maude C. Stockwell (1936-1938), Oswald Garrison Villard (1935), and Sidney Wallach (1935-1936).

Location

Box

P24

Personal correspondence and related papers, undated, 1880-May 1938.

Location

Box

P24

Personal correspondence and related papers, June 1938-December 1946.

Location

Box

P24

Personal correspondence and related papers, 1947-1957.

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SUBJECT FILES

Location

Box

P24

American Civil Liberties Union, 1921-1935. 3 folders.

Includes correspondence between Leonard and ACLU officials, form letters, press releases, minutes, policy statements, newspaper clippings, and similar materials documenting Leonard's close involvement with the organization. Among the topics discussed are anti-communist and anti-socialist legislation, union organizing, strikes, religion and public schools, aliens, racial and religious intolerance, and wiretapping. There is also information on differences within the organization over ACLU support for Nazi and fascist sympathizers in the U.S., especially after America entered the war. A number of letters (1935) discuss Walter Liggett's trial for a statutory offense and his subsequent murder.

Correspondents include Roger Baldwin, Osmond Fraenkel, Arthur Garfield Hays, B. W. Huebsch, and Oswald Garrison Villard.

Location

Box

P24

American Civil Liberties Union, 1936-1947. 7 folders.

Bar associations, 1924-1933. 4 folders.

Location

Box

P24

Bar associations, 1934-1953. 3 folders.

Miscellaneous papers relating to the Hennepin County Bar Association, the Minneapolis Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Included are copies of the articles of incorporation of the Hennepin County group, bylaws of the Minneapolis association, and correspondence and other papers regarding the formation of the Minnesota Bar Association; financial statements of the Minneapolis association; and miscellaneous correspondence relating to meetings, election of officers, salaries of judges, lawyers' fees, and memorials to deceased lawyers Abbott Washburn, James Paige, and Simon Meyers. A letter to Josiah E. Brill (Nov. 6, 1933) critiques Brill's speech on the role of law in American life (copy attached) and summarizes Leonard's interpretation of the law as it applies to social, economic, and political affairs.

Edward F. Waite Publication Fund, 1944-1949.

Correspondence and clippings relating to a fund set up by Leonard to honor Judge Waite and administered by the University of Minnesota. Two books published under the fund's auspices were Alice Sickels, Around the World in St. Paul, and Albert I. Gordon, Jews in Transition. There is correspondence with Edward F. Waite, Walter Coffey, and Malcolm Wiley of the University of Minnesota, Margaret Harding of the University of Minnesota Press (which published the two titles noted above), Gustavus Loevinger, and Einar Hoidale.

Foreign language publications, 1876-1931.

One item in French; the rest in Russian. None have been translated.

Foreign Policy Association, 1924-1944. 2 folders.

Information is found on officers of the organization, its tax status, finances, programs, and other subjects. Much of the correspondence relates to a lecture given by Judge Sonja Branting of Sweden in Minneapolis in 1935, which was sponsored by the association.

Investments, 1927-1938.

Information on companies in which Leonard may have invested.

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, 1933-1938.

The bulk of the correspondence relates to fund raising, with additional material on orchestra personnel and the group's hiring and firing procedures.

Miscellaneous organizations, 1931-1953.

Correspondence and other papers on additional organizations in which Leonard participated. There is a small amount of information on the Minnesota Statistical Association, the Minnesota United Nations Committee, the William S. Pattee Memorial Lectureship (established by Leonard at the University of Minnesota), and the Minnesota Economic Club.

National Lawyers Guild, 1936-February 1937.

Correspondence, minutes (1937-1942), financial statements, membership lists, printed materials, press releases, newsletters, clippings, and other materials relating to an association organized by liberal lawyers to counteract the more conservative American Bar Association. Leonard was an early member, served as vice president, and chaired various guild committees (1936-1939). The papers contain data on early organizing efforts, conventions, fund raising, internal problems, and factionalism (mainly caused by allegations of communist influence). A copy of a letter (Feb. 21, 1939) from Osmond Fraenkel to Morris Ernst gives the guild's position on communism and fascism.

Correspondents include Louis Boudin, Felix Cohen, John P. Devaney, Abe Fortas, Osmond Fraenkel, Robert H. Jackson, Alex G. McKnight, Justine Wise Tulin, and James H. Wolfe.

Location

Box

P24

National Lawyers Guild, March 1937-December 1939. 11 folders.

Location

Box

P24

National Lawyers Guild, 1940-1942. 2 folders.

Politics, undated, 1888-September 1942. 7 folders.

Correspondence, press releases, financial papers, campaign literature, and other materials revealing Leonard's many political activities and interests: the Socialist Party (1888-1910); Minneapolis city elections, including information on the Minneapolis Street Railway franchise controversy (1916-1922); the LaFollette presidential campaign (1924); confirmation of Gunnar Nordbye's appointment to the U.S. district court (1931-1932); Franklin Roosevelt's 1936 presidential campaign; the 1942 Congressional campaigns in Minnesota, particularly that of Walter H. Judd; Roosevelt's 1944 presidential campaign; campaigns for Minnesota Supreme Court judges (1944, 1946); and the 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns of Adlai Stevenson. Correspondents include Daniel DeLury (1944-1952), Henry M. Gallagher (1944-1952), Einar Hoidale (1944-1946), Hubert Humphrey (1952, 1956), Algernon Lee (1895-1910), Max Lowenthal (1936-1952), and Gunnar Nordbye.

Early papers (undated and 1888-1910) give some information on Leonard's activities in the Socialist Party. The undated section contains fragments of notes that may have been used for speeches or articles on socialism. Throughout the section is campaign literature for socialist candidates, cards containing information on socialist lectures in Minneapolis (1890s), and membership cards and receipt cards issued to Leonard by the Socialist Party and the Knights of Labor. The correspondence is not substantial, but gives some information on hiring outside speakers, Keir Hardie's tour of America in 1895, campaign funds, requests for campaign literature, and the free silver controversy during the 1896 campaign. A 1901 article by Leonard discusses the split in the Socialist Party and his suggestions for its future policy.

The next large group of papers deals mainly with the 1942 Congressional campaign, during which Leonard headed a committee concerned with defeating isolationists. Special emphasis was placed on the defeat of several Minnesota Congressmen: Richard P. Gale (3rd district), Oscar Youngdahl (5th district), and Harold Knutson (6th district). The committee was nonpartisan, supporting known internationalists of the Democratic, Republican, and Farmer-Labor parties. Much of Leonard's time was devoted to supporting Walter H. Judd for the Republican nomination in the fifth district. Judd defeated incumbent Republican Oscar Youngdahl in the primary and went on to win the general election.

The 1944 presidential campaign also figures large, documenting Leonard's chairmanship of the All-Party Committee for Roosevelt. There is considerable material on the CIO's Political Action Committee and its support of Roosevelt, as well as information on other groups supporting the Democratic administration. At the same time Leonard served on a successful committee to reelect the three incumbent Minnesota Supreme Court justices: Harry H. Peterson, Charles Loring, and Clarence R. Magney. There are many letters from lawyers throughout the state giving information on raising campaign funds and on preparing newspaper and radio publicity. A 1944 report by Arthur Naftalin ("Over-all Resume of the Campaign Activities by the Headquarters of the DFL Party") analyzes the party's early work and outlines work to be done.

There are a few papers relating to the 1952 and 1956 presidential campaigns. The 1952 papers have information on the organization and work of Volunteers for Stevenson, composed of independents and others supporting the Democratic presidential candidate. In the 1952 presidential primary Leonard had supported the write-in candidacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Republican ballot, however, after the 1952 political conventions Leonard switched his support and became chairman and organizer of the Minnesota Volunteers for Stevenson. There is data on fund raising, selection of committee members, and Stevenson's visit to Minnesota in October.

There are very few papers from the 1956 campaign, during which the Stevenson-for-President Committee asked that Leonard be named honorary chairman of the Minnesota organization. Eugenie Anderson and M. J. Daley were co-chairs. There are a few items on the March primary, in which Senator Estes Kefauver defeated Stevenson.

Location

Box

P24

Politics, October 1942-October 1956. 12 folders.

Location

Box

P24

[First] Unitarian Society (Minneapolis), 1926-1953. 4 folders.

Includes articles of incorporation; financial papers, including expense sheets and budgets; programs, correspondence, and other items regarding the society's lecture series, including a letter (1928) from Clarence Darrow; membership lists of the Unitarian Laymen's League; agreements with radio stations for broadcasting Unitarian services; fund raising; the 60th anniversary celebration (1941); and some information on the plan to construct the new Unitarian church at 900 Mount Curve Boulevard.

University of Minnesota. Board of Regents, 1937-1939. 4 folders.

Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other papers documenting Leonard's service on the board of regents. Most of the correspondence consists of congratulatory letters from Leonard's friends and associates. There is also information on such topics as maintenance staff wages, dormitory management, faculty resignations (especially in the education department), and academic freedom.

War bonds, 1941-1944. 2 folders.

Papers relating to a Minneapolis committee (Leonard was a member) set up to promote the sale of bonds during World War II. There is information on the firms participating in the payroll deduction plan; copies of the newsletter Minnesota Defense Savings News (1941, 1942); form reports from the secretary of the treasury; a speech ("Can Inflation be Prevented?") by Leonard; and letters concerning the speech and war bond drives. Among the correspondents are Daniel DeLury, Benjamin DuBois, Herbert E. Gaston, and Frank and Henry Gallagher.

Wage Stabilization Board, 1951-1952. 2 folders.

Leonard was appointed to the Region VIII Wage Stabilization Board in 1951 and resigned in July, 1952. The board had been established under the Defense Production Act of 1950 to develop wage stabilization policies and plans, and to administer wage disputes in national defense industries. Included are minutes, bulletins and memoranda from the Washington office, newspaper clippings, and synopses of cases handled by the board.

Location

Box

P24

War Relief Committees, 1939-1947. 4 folders.

Correspondence, minutes, financial data, membership lists, printed matter, and clippings on several war relief and refugee assistance organizations: American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (ACPFB); Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies; Greek War Relief Association; International Relief Association; Russian War Relief, Inc.; and the International Rescue and Relief Committee. Most of the papers concern the first three organizations mentioned.

The Committee to Defend America materials include board minutes (1940-1941) documenting fund raising plans, its speakers bureau, news of national committee meetings, and policy problems. Papers relating to the ACPFB include pamphlets and publications, program from and report on its annual conference (March 1940), and records of individual cases handled by the committee. Greek War Relief Committee materials include the organization's bulletins, fund raising appeals, and financial reports.

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PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS

Location

Box

P24

Reminiscences, [1954-1955]. 40 pp., photocopies.

The typescript reminiscences (photocopy) are largely concerned with Leonard's early life and give a few interesting glimpses into his life before his law career. They relate many details of his gymnasium education in Lithuania under Russian administration, including his attitudes toward czarist censorship and control. He describes an "underground" library of banned books that the students maintained. He also relates trouble with the police in Kazan, because of his left wing politics, and his subsequent escape to Paris.

Leonard relates the immigration of his family to the United States and his early work experiences in Philadelphia (where his family settled) and New York. He describes his early (1890s-1910s) experiences in Minneapolis, including housing, socialist politics, and various social activities. Following this are a few anecdotes from his later career. He mentions a 1903 episode to attach the physical property of a travelling wild west show; the Cressy case (1907-1908), in which the city was cheated by a street construction contractor; the conflict on the university board of regents over the dismissal of a professor Van Schaper; and his humorous misadventures with Floyd B. Olson while on an automobile trip to Duluth (1927).

Diary, 1887-1888. 1 volume (Vol. 1).

In Russian, untranslated.

Trip journal, 1932. 1 volume (Vol. 5).

Kept by Leonard while on a trip to Europe. Contains brief entries describing his visits to Norway, Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Switzerland, and France. There is a rather detailed account of his visit to Salzburg during the music festival and his visit to Paris.

Gymnasium class books,

Composition book, undated. 1 volume (Vol. 2).

In Russian, untranslated.

Composition book, undated. 1 volume (Vol. 3).

In Russian, untranslated.

Vocabulary notebook, undated. 1 volume (Vol. 4).

In Russian, untranslated.

Scrapbook, 1897-1952. 1 volume (Vol. 6).

The clippings are not in chronological order. There is information on activities of Leonard and family members; the Minneapolis Gas Light Company controversy; the National Lawyers Guild; report of a speech by Leonard to the Minneapolis Socialist Party (1897); activities of various bar associations; debate on the bill to restructure the U.S. Supreme Court (1937); Leonard's appointment to the board of regents (1937); Americans for Democratic Action (1947); and miscellaneous clippings relating to Leonard's interests in politics and public affairs. One 1923 clipping (p. 58) gives a good deal of information on Leonard's life and career before he came to the United States.

Location

Box

P24

Newspaper clippings, 1896-1952. 3 folders.

There is information on the People's Party platform (1896); Minneapolis politics, including the controversy between the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Gas Light Company (1918), and the Street Railway Company franchise dispute (1922); the death of Keir Hardie (1915); and several election campaigns: 1938 gubernatorial, 1942 congressional, 1944 presidential and congressional, and 1952 presidential. Also included are clippings on the dismissal of education commissioner John G. Rockwell (1940) and aid to Britain (1941).

Location

Miscellaneous oversize items:

Broadsides and other politically-related ephemera collected by Leonard.

Newspaper article: "The Most Interesting Phenomenon of the 20th Century," undated.

Scroll of appreciation to Leonard for his support of labor, undated.

Broadside: "Labor's Voice," 1896.

Newspaper article: "Vote for the Candidate of the Social-Democratic Party," 1900.

Broadside: "The Insurance Grafters Are Still At It," 1905.

Newspaper article: "Kean Answers Meyer's Attack on Franchise," 1917.

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CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Bar associations.; Civil rights.; Jews -- Charities.; Jews -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Judges -- Minnesota -- Election.; Lawyers and politics -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Lithuanian Americans -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Peace -- Societies, etc.; Politics, Practical -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Socialism -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; World War, 1939-1945 -- Civilian relief.; World War, 1939-1945 -- War work -- Minnesota.; Labor and laboring classes.; Political campaigns -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Jewish lawyers -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Persons:: Blakey, Roy G. (Roy Gillispie), b. 1880.; DeLury, Daniel.; DuBois, Benjamin.; Fraenkel, Osmond Kessler, 1888-.; Gallagher, Henry M.; Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978.; Judd, Walter H., 1898-1994.; LaFollette, Philip Fox, 1897-1965.; Leonard family.; Lowenthal, Max.; Naftalin, Arthur.; Nordbye, Gunnar H. (Gunnar Hans), 1888-1977.; Olson, Floyd Björnstjerne, 1891-1936.; Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965.; Stockwell, Maude C.; Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949.; Wallach, Sidney.; Williams, Howard Y.

Organizations:: American Civil Liberties Union.; American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born.; Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies.; Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.; Farmer-Labor Party (Minn.).; First Unitarian Society (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Foreign Policy Association.; Greek War Relief Association.; Hennepin County Bar Association.; Leonard, Street and Deinard (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Minneapolis Bar Association.; National Lawyers Guild.; Socialist Party (U.S.).; University of Minnesota. Board of Regents.

Places:: Lithuania -- Education.; Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1858-1950.; Minneapolis (Minn.) -- Politics and government.

Document Types:: Reminiscences.

Occupations:: Lawyers.

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