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 an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

for 19 years, from 1950 to 1969.

Early life

Angell was born in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

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 Robert Erastus McKisson (January 30, 1863 – October 14, 1915) was an American politician of the United States Republican Party, Republican party. He served as the 33rd Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1 ...

) was killed in the sinking of the SS ''La Bourgogne''. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, where he was elected

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, in 1911, and 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 1913. He received an

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

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 within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in 1954.

Career

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Angell served as an infantry Captain in the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

, a part of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, in Europe. Beginning in 1920, he practiced

corporation law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corporat ...

in New York with Hardin, Hess, Eder & Freschi and Spence, Windels, Walser, Hotchkiss & Angell before joining the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The United States 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. Its primary purpose is to enforce laws against market m ...

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

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. It 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 to serve as president of the

. After his retirement in 1969, he was succeeded by Edward Ennis, 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 an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

. Katharine, a

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

, 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 magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. 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. He was a regular contributor to ''The New Yorker'' and was its chief fiction editor for many years. He wrote nume ...

(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. Katherine had had an affair with 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'' ...

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 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. Governm ...

. 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 (1854� ...

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

Lee Radziwill Caroline Lee Radziwill (; March 3, 1933 – February 15, 2019), previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady of the ...

. 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 male non-fiction writers Bard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Lawyers from Cleveland Presidents of the American Civil Liberties Union