Charles Edward Wyzanski Jr. (May 27, 1906 – September 3, 1986) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

Education and career

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, Wyzanski attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

, and received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1927. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in 1930. He was in private practice of law in Boston in 1930. He was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Augustus Noble Hand Augustus Noble Hand (July 26, 1869 – October 28, 1954) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

from 1930 to 1931. He was in private practice of law in Boston from 1931 to 1932. He was a law clerk for Judge

Learned Hand Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...

of the Second Circuit in 1932. He was in private practice of law in Boston from 1932 to 1933. He was Solicitor of Labor for the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

in 1933. He was Solicitor of Labor for the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemp ...

from 1933 to 1935. He was a special assistant to the

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

in the Office of the Solicitor General from 1935 to 1937. He was in private practice of law in Boston from 1937 to 1941.

Federal judicial service

Wyzanski was recommended by Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and nominated by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

on December 1, 1941, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Hugh Dean McLellan. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on December 16, 1941, and received his commission on December 19, 1941. He served as Chief Judge from 1965 to 1971. He assumed senior status on September 1, 1971. His service was terminated on September 3, 1986, due to his death in Boston.

His case

Wyzanski was a friend of both

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official who was accused of espionage in 1948 for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. The statute of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjur ...

and William L. Marbury Jr. Before meeting with Hiss in September 1948 regarding a pending libel suit, Marbury met with Wyzanski, who apprised Marbury that Hiss was receiving advice not to sue

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

Other service

Wyzanski was a public member of the

National Defense Mediation Board The National Defense Mediation Board (NDMB) was a United States federal agency established by Executive Order 8716 on March 19, 1941, that settled disputes between labor and management during the prewar defense period.Atleson, 1998: 30 The exec ...

from 1941 to 1942. He was a lecturer in government for Harvard University from 1942 to 1943. He was a lecturer in law for the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

from 1949 to 1950. He was a lecturer in law for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

from 1949 to 1951. He was the Herman Phleger Visiting professor of law at Stanford Law School in 1974. He was the Pappas Distinguished Scholar at the

Boston University School of Law The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...

in 1986.

Bibliography

Wyzanski published the book ''Whereas--A Judge's Premises : Essays in Judgment, Ethics, and the Law'' with Little, Brown (1965). The book was republished by Bantam Books in 1966, and retitled ''The New Meaning of Justice : Essays in Judgment, Ethics, and the Law''

Legacy

Harvard Law School Library, Harvard University owns the ''Wyzanski, Charles E. (Charles Edward). Papers, 1930-1968.'' The collection is described in the online finding aid as: "The Papers of Charles E. Wyzanski Jr. span the years 1930 to 1968. The Papers consist mainly of correspondence; seventeen items are printed legal briefs, memoranda and other types of legal documents. Judge Wyzanski's correspondence is with friends and associates and is of a personal-professional nature. It includes both letters received and carbons of letters sent. Many of the people under whom Wyzanski worked, such as United States Court of Appeals Judges

and

, or his teachers at the Harvard Law School such as

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, advocating judicial restraint. Born in Vienna, Frankfurter im ...

, became close friends of his. Correspondence concerns Wyzanski's professional and personal life, national matters, and Harvard affairs. There are complete sequences of his correspondence with Charles Culp Burlingham, 1934–1959, and Learned Hand, 1932–1961. Originals of his letters to Burlingham and Hand are in the respective Papers of the two men in the Harvard Law School Library. Among other prominent correspondents were:

Bailey Aldrich Bailey Aldrich (April 23, 1907 – September 25, 2002) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and previously was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Di ...

; Hugo L. Black;

Kingman Brewster Kingman Brewster Jr. (June 17, 1919 – November 8, 1988) was an American educator, academic and diplomat. He served as the 17th president of Yale University and as United States ambassador to the United Kingdom. Early life Brewster was born i ...

;

Ralph Bunche Ralph Johnson Bunche ( ; August 7, 1904 – December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist, diplomat, and leading actor in the mid-20th-century decolonization process and US civil rights movement, who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Priz ...

;

McGeorge Bundy McGeorge "Mac" Bundy (March 30, 1919 – September 16, 1996) was an American academic who served as the U.S. National Security Advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 through 1966. He was president of the Ford Fou ...

; Arthur J. Goldberg; Edward M. Kennedy;

Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member o ...

;

Nathan M. Pusey Nathan Marsh Pusey (; April 4, 1907 – November 14, 2001) was an American academic. Originally from Council Bluffs, Iowa, Pusey won a scholarship to Harvard University out of high school and went on to earn bachelor's, master's, and doctora ...

;

Stanley Forman Reed Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. He also served as U.S. Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938. Born in Ma ...

;

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

;

Leverett Saltonstall Leverett Atholville Saltonstall (September 1, 1892June 17, 1979) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He served three two-year terms as the List of Governors of Massachusetts, 55th Governor of Massachusetts, and for more th ...

;

Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...

;

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

; and

Alfred North Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947) was an English mathematician and philosopher. He created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, inclu ...

. The seventeen printed items (1936–1940), some bound, some unbound, are from Judge Wyzanski's Washington years, particularly from his service as special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, and on the staff of the Solicitor General of the United States The group of papers given to the Harvard Law School Library in 1984 relate to the origin of the

National Labor Relations Act The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, an ...

of 1935; all materials are photocopies. The unprocessed collection ''Charles E. Wyzanski papers, ca. 1920-1986'' consisting of 34 cartons is now held by the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, MA and is currently closed to researchers pending processing. According to the MHS catalog record, the collection is described as "Papers of Judge Charles E. Wyzanski consist of both personal and professional materials. Personal papers include correspondence with family and friends, autobiographical writings, speeches and addresses, articles, and lectures; items pertaining to Harvard University, various foundations, and clubs to which he belonged; and some materials from his school days at

. Professional papers include legal opinion files, most related to his position as a U.S. Federal appeals judge; notes on cases; articles and clippings; professional correspondence; personnel files; and other administrative papers. Correspondents include

, and Henry W. Bragdon, among many others." Judge Wyzanski was interviewed for the Oral History Project of Columbia University by Harlan Phillips in 1954, entitled "The Reminiscences of Charles E. Wyzanski."

References

External sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyzanski, Charles Edward Jr. 1906 births 1986 deaths Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of Learned Hand Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt 20th-century American lawyers Harvard College alumni