Marie Stuart Klooz (December 29, 1901 – December 29, 2002) was an American settlement worker, lawyer, law librarian, and pacifist.

Early life and education

Klooz was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

and raised in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, the daughter of L. Fred Klooz and Sankie Hudson Klooz. Her father was a hotelkeeper. She graduated from Peabody High School in 1919, and completed a bachelor's degree at

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in ...

in Virginia in 1923. She earned a teaching certificate at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, and a master's degree in International Law and International Relations at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. In 1960 she finished law school at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

.Farquhar, Elizabeth
"Memorial: Marie S. Klooz"
''The Bar Association of Montgomery County, Maryland''.

Career

After college Klooz moved to Chicago, where she worked at the University of Chicago settlement house, teaching English. She was a sports writer for a Philadelphia newspaper in the 1920s, and a reporter for the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

''. In 1933, while working for

Herbert Yardley Herbert Osborn Yardley (April 13, 1889 – August 7, 1958) was an American cryptologist. He founded and led the cryptographic organization the Black Chamber. Under Yardley, the cryptanalysts of The American Black Chamber broke Japanese diplomat ...

, she assembled a report on "Japanese Diplomatic Secrets", considered so hazardous that the manuscript was seized by the United States government as a violation of the

Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...

. In 1941, she was part of discussion on defense policy at the

Academy of Political Science The Academy of Political Science is an American non-profit organization and publisher devoted to cultivating non-partisan, objective analysis of political, social, and economic issues. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she worked in Washington, D.C. in various federal government departments. Klooz became a pacifist and a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

during World War II. She published an academic article on the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in 1949. She worked as a researcher for the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

and the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

(WILPF) in the 1950s. She represented the WILPF at a 1960

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

hearing on the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

. Klooz passed the bar in 1961, and was a law librarian for the

American Society of International Law American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

. In 1963, she filed an amicus brief in the case of '' Linus C. Pauling v.

Robert S. McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

,'' on behalf of several pacifist and

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

organizations. From 1965 she was staff attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services. In 1965 she spoke at a memorial service for fellow Quaker

Norman Morrison Norman R. Morrison (December 29, 1933 – November 2, 1965) was an American anti-war activist. On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below the office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at the Pent ...

, who died in an act of protest by self-immolation near the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

. She was active in the

ACLU 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. ...

, and in supporting

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. She had a private law practice in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

until she retired in 1976.

Personal life

Klooz lived in

Sandy Spring, Maryland Sandy Spring is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Geography Sandy Spring's boundaries are roughly defined as Brooke Road and Dr. Bird Road to the north and west, Ednor Road to the ...

in her later years. She died in 2002, on her 101st birthday, at a Friends nursing home. Her 1933 report on Japanese diplomatic secrets was retrieved from government files and published as a CD in 2001.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klooz, Marie S. 1901 births 2002 deaths Lawyers from Louisville, Kentucky Sweet Briar College alumni Columbia University alumni University of Pittsburgh alumni George Washington University Law School alumni American women lawyers American pacifists American Quakers American women centenarians Settlement workers