John Martin Vorys (June 16, 1896 – August 25, 1968) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Early life

Born in

Lancaster, Ohio Lancaster ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, and its county seat. The population was 40,552 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Ohio, Ohio's 30th largest city, having surpassed Warren, Ohio, Warren and Fin ...

, Vorys attended the public schools in Lancaster and Columbus, Ohio. During the

First World War 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 ...

served overseas as a pilot in the famous "Yale Unit" of the United States Naval Air Service, retiring to inactive service in 1919 with rank of lieutenant. He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1918, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...

, and from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

Law School at

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

in 1923. He was a teacher in the College of Yale,

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, in 1919 and 1920. He served as assistant secretary, American delegation, Conference on Limitation of Armaments,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1921 and 1922. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1923 and commenced practice in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, at the firm founded by his grandfather,

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is an international law firm based in Columbus, Ohio. With approximately 375 attorneys working out of offices in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, D.C., London, and Berlin, the firm is among th ...

Political career

He served as member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

in 1923 and 1924, and in the Ohio Senate in 1925 and 1926. He served as director of aeronautics of Ohio in 1929 and 1930. Vorys was elected as a Republican to the Seventy-sixth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959). He did not seek reelection in 1958. Vorys voted in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights law passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. E ...

. A confidential 1943 analysis of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

for the British

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

described Vorys as In 1947–8, he served on the

Herter Committee The House Select Committee on Foreign Aid, or Herter Committee, was established to study the proposal that had been launched by General George Marshall in his speech at Harvard on June 5, 1947, for a Marshall Plan, in part as Cold War anticommunis ...

. Vorys served as delegate to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

in 1951, and as Regent of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

1949–1959, before resuming the practice of law. He died in

, August 25, 1968, and was interred in Green Lawn Cemetery.

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

On April 11, 1945, US forces liberated the

Buchenwald Concentration Camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

which was established in 1937 and caused the death of a least 56,545 people. General

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

left rotting corpses unburied so a visiting group of US legislators could truly understand the horror of the atrocities. This group was visiting Buchenwald to inspect the camp and learn firsthand about the enormity of the Nazi

Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...

and treatment of other prisoners. The legislators who visited included Alben W. Barkley, Ed Izac, John M. Vorys,

Dewey Short Dewey Jackson Short (April 7, 1898 – November 19, 1979) was an American politician from Missouri. He was US Representative for 12 terms (1929–1931, 1935–1957). A member of the Republican Party, he was a staunch opponent of President Frank ...

C. Wayland Brooks Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1940 to 1949. Early life Born in West Bureau, Illinois, Brooks served in t ...

, and Kenneth S. Wherry along with General Omar N. Bradley and journalists

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...

Norman Chandler Norman Chandler (September 14, 1899 – October 20, 1973) was the publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1945 to 1960. Personal Norman Chandler was born in Los Angeles on September 14, 1899, one of eight children of Harry Chandler and M ...

, William I. Nichols and

Julius Ochs Adler Julius Ochs Adler (December 3, 1892 – October 3, 1955) was an American publisher, journalist, and highly decorated United States Army officer with the rank of major general. He distinguished himself during World War I as Major and battalion co ...

References

Retrieved on 2009-02-22 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vorys, John M. 1896 births 1968 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio People from Lancaster, Ohio Politicians from Columbus, Ohio Ohio lawyers Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) Yale University alumni American military personnel of World War I Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio State University Moritz College of Law alumni Republican Party Ohio state senators Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly