Ernest Angell

Ernest Angell (June 1, 1889 – January 11, 1973) was an American lawyer and author who served as President of the American Civil Liberties Union for 19 years,[1] from 1950 to 1969.[2]

Ernest Angell
President of the American Civil Liberties Union
In office
1950–1969
Preceded byJohn Haynes Holmes
Succeeded byEdward J. Ennis
Personal details
Born(1889-06-01)June 1, 1889
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 11, 1973(1973-01-11) (aged 83)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1915; div. 1929)​

Elizabeth Brosius Higgins Chapin
​
​
(m. 1939; died 1970)​
Alma materHarvard College
Harvard Law School
Bard College

Early life

Angell was born in Cleveland on June 1, 1889,[2] 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.[3]

He graduated from Harvard College, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa, in 1911 and from Harvard Law School in 1913. He received an LL.D. degree from Bard College in 1954.[2]

Career

During World War I, Angell served as an infantry Captain in the American Expeditionary Force, a part of the U.S. Army, in Europe.[2]

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 as a regional administrator for New York from April 1, 1936 to May 1, 1938, replacing Robert G. Page.[4] 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.[5]

In 1941, he succeeded Charles Douglas Jackson as the second president of the Council for Democracy, which had been formed in 1940.[6] In 1948, he was selected by the U.S. Civil Service Commission to be chairman of the Loyalty Board for the second region, covering New York and New Jersey.[7]

From 1950 to 1969, Agnell succeeded Dr. John Haynes Holmes to serve as president of the American Civil Liberties Union.[8] After his retirement in 1969, he was succeeded by Edward Ennis, who had been the general counsel of the ACLU since 1955.[1]

Personal life

In 1915, he married his first wife Katharine Sergeant (1892–1977) in Brookline, Massachusetts.[9] Katharine, a Boston Brahmin, was a graduate of Miss Winsor's School and Bryn Mawr before becoming the fiction editor at The New Yorker. Before their divorce in 1929,[10] they were the parents of:[11]

After their divorce, his ex-wife remarried to writer E. B. White. In 1939, Angell remarried to Elizabeth Brosius (née Higgins) Chapin, the former wife of Vinton Chapin, the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg.[5] Before her death in 1970,[13] they were the parents of two children together:[2]

  • Christopher Curtis Angell, who married Margaret Blettner in 1971.[14]
  • Abigail Brosius Angell, who married Cass Canfield Jr. (1923–2013),[15] son of Cass Canfield, in 1973. His younger brother Michael Canfield was the first husband of Lee Radziwill.[16]

Angell died at 156 East 66th Street, his home in Manhattan, on January 11, 1973 at age 83, after suffering heart problems.[2]

References
  1. "Lawyer Elected Head of A.C.L.U." (PDF). The New York Times. 1969-07-01.
  2. "Ernest Angell, Lawyer, Dead; Former Chairman of A. C. L. U." The New York Times. January 12, 1973. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. Angell, Roger (7 June 2004). "Hard Lines". New Yorker. Retrieved 6 May 2015. My father, Ernest Angell, lost his father at the age of nine, in a marine disaster, the 1898 sinking of the French liner La Bourgogne
  4. "NAMED TO SEC POST HERE; Ernest Angell Succeeds R.G. Page as Regional Administrator" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 March 1936. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  5. "MRS. E.B.H. CHAPIN WED TO ATTORNEY; Former Elizabeth Higgins Is Married to Ernest Angell by Dr. John L. Elliott" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 February 1939. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  6. "HEADS PATRIOTIC GROUP; Ernest Angell Named President of Council for Democracy" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 June 1941. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  7. "MEMBERS NAMED TO LOYALTY BOARD; Group for New York and Jersey Area Is Headed by Ernest Angell, Lawyer Here" (PDF). The New York Times. 19 August 1948. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  8. "Lawyer Named Chairman Of Civil Liberties Union" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 June 1950. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  9. Hess, John L. (22 July 1977). "Katherine White, Ex‐Fiction Editor Of The New Yorker, Is Dead at 84" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  10. "WIFE SUES ERNEST ANGELL; Files for Divorce From New York Lawyer at Reno" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 August 1929. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  11. Robertson, Nan (April 8, 1980). "Life Without Katharine: E. B. White and His Sense of Loss". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  12. "NANCY ANGELL STABLEFORD, DEPARTMENT HEAD AT MORAVIAN SEMINARY FOR GIRLS". The Morning Call. September 4, 1996. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  13. "Mrs. Ernest Angell" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 December 1970. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  14. "Miss Margaret Blettner Wed To Christopher Curtis Angell" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 January 1971. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  15. "CANFIELD--Cass Jr". The New York Times. December 1, 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  16. "Miss Abigail Brosius Angell Married to Cass Canfield Jr" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 December 1973. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
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