Ernest Angell (June 1, 1889, – January 11, 1973) was an American lawyer and author who served as President of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

for 19 years, from 1950 to 1969.

Early life

Angell was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on June 1, 1889, 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''. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, where he was elected

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, in 1911, and from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1913. He received an

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

degree from

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

in 1954.

Career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Angell served as an infantry Captain in the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

, a part of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, in Europe. 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 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

as a regional administrator for New York from April 1, 1936, to May 1, 1938, replacing Robert G. Page. 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. In 1941, he succeeded

Charles Douglas Jackson General Charles Douglas (C. D.) Jackson (March 16, 1902 – September 18, 1964) was a United States government propagandist and senior executive of Time Inc. As an expert on psychological warfare he served in the Office of Strategic Services in W ...

as the second president of the Council for Democracy, which had been formed in 1940. In 1948, he was selected by the

U.S. Civil Service Commission The United States Civil Service Commission was a government agency of the federal government of the United States and was created to select employees of federal government on merit rather than relationships. In 1979, it was dissolved as part of ...

to be chairman of the Loyalty Board for the second region, covering New York and New Jersey. From 1950 to 1969, Angell succeeded Dr.

John Haynes Holmes John Haynes Holmes (November 29, 1879 – April 3, 1964) was an American Unitarian minister, pacifist, and co-founder of the NAACP and the ACLU. He is noted for his anti-war activism. Early life Holmes was born in Philadelphia on November 2 ...

to serve as president of the

. After his retirement in 1969, he was succeeded by

Edward Ennis Edward J. Ennis (1908–1990) was an American civil rights lawyer. He worked for the Department of Justice in the 1930s and 1940s, where as director of the alien enemy control unit he oversaw the Japanese American internment. He contributed to the ...

, who had been the general counsel of the ACLU since 1955.

Personal life

In 1915, he married his first wife Katharine Sergeant (1892–1977) in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

. Katharine, a

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonis ...

, was a graduate of Miss Winsor's School and Bryn Mawr before becoming the fiction editor at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. Before their divorce in 1929, they were the parents of: *

Roger Angell Roger Angell (September 19, 1920 – May 20, 2022) was an American essayist known for his writing on sports, especially baseball. The only writer ever elected into both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Baseball Writers' Associa ...

(1920–2022), a writer. * Nancy Angell (1916–1996), the former head of the science department at Moravian Seminary for Girls, who married Louis T. Stableford. After their divorce, his ex-wife remarried to writer

E. B. White Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including ''Stuart Little'' (1945), ''Charlotte's Web'' (1952), and '' The Trumpet of the Swan'' ...

. In 1939, Angell remarried to Elizabeth Brosius (née Higgins) Chapin, the former wife of Vinton Chapin, the

United States Ambassador to Luxembourg The United States Ambassador to Luxembourg oversees the U.S. Embassy in that country. They supervise the embassy staff in the conduct of diplomatic relations with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and coordination of the activities of U.S. Governmen ...

. Before her death in 1970, they were the parents of two children together: * Christopher Curtis Angell, who married Margaret Blettner in 1971. * Abigail Brosius Angell, who married Cass Canfield Jr. (1923–2013), son of

Cass Canfield Augustus Cass Canfield (April 26, 1897 – March 27, 1986) was an American publishing executive who was the longtime president and chairman of Harper & Brothers, later Harper & Row. Early life Canfield was the son of Augustus Cass Canfield (185 ...

, in 1973. His younger brother Michael Canfield was the first husband of

Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Bouvier ( ), later Canfield, Radziwiłł (), and Ross (March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), usually known as Princess Lee Radziwill, was an American socialite, public-relations executive, and interior decorator. She was the y ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angell, Ernest 1889 births 1973 deaths American lawyers American writers Bard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from Cleveland Presidents of the American Civil Liberties Union