Gertz, Elmer, 1906-2000

Variant names
Dates:
Birth 1906-09-14
Death 2000-04-27
English,

Biographical notes:

Elmer Gertz (September 14, 1906 - April 27, 2000) was an American lawyer, writer and civil rights activist. During his lengthy legal career he won some high-profile cases, most notably parole for notorious killer Nathan Leopold and the obscenity trial of Henry Miller's novel Tropic of Cancer (novel). In addition to accounts of his cases and career, he also reviewed books and edited a collection of works by Frank Harris, whom he represented as literary agent.

From the description of Elmer Gertz collection, 1962-1991. (Southern Illinois University). WorldCat record id: 263033438

Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), often referred to as "Leopold and Loeb", were privileged and wealthy teenage University of Chicago students who murdered 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks in 1924 in a desire to commit the “perfect crime,” and were sentenced to prison for 99 years plus a life term. Leopold was paroled in 1958 and spent the rest of his life in Puerto Rico, dying of heart failure in 1971.

From the guide to the Leopold and Loeb Collection, 1894-1990, 1952-1971, (Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections)

Lawyer, author, and manuscript collector. Died 2000.

From the description of Elmer Gertz papers, 1789-1997 (bulk 1926-1988). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70982328

Biographical Note

1906, Sept. 14 Born, Chicago, Ill. 1928 Ph.B., University of Chicago,Chicago, Ill. 1930 J.D., University of Chicago,Chicago, Ill. 1930 1941 Associate in law firm of McInerney, Epstein & Arvey,Chicago, Ill. 1931 Married Ceretta Samuels (died 1958) Published with A. I. TobinFrank Harris: A Study in Black and White (Chicago: Madelaine Mendelsohn. 293 pp.) 1934 Director of public relations, Illinois Police Association 1941 1973 Attorney in private practice, Chicago, Ill. 1944 Member, Executive Committee, Illinois Committee for Equal Job Opportunity Member, national and Chicago Advisory Board Commission on Law and Social Action, American Jewish Congress 1945 1947 Chairman, Veterans Housing Committee,Chicago, Ill. 1946 1948 Legislative chairman of Mayor's Emergency Housing Committee,Chicago, Ill. 1949 1951 Member, Mayor's Housing Action Committee,Chicago, Ill. 1959 Married Mamie L. Friedman 1959 1963 President, Greater Chicago Council of the American Jewish Congress 1965 Published A Handful of Clients (Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. 379 pp.) 1965 1969 President, Adult Education Council of Greater Chicago 1968 Member, Chicago Citizens Commission to Study the Disorders of Convention Week Published Moment of Madness: The People vs. Jack Ruby (Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. 564 pp.) 1969 1970 Delegate to the sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention; chairman of its Committee on Bill of Rights 1970 circa 1997 Professor, John Marshall Law School,Chicago, Ill. 1972 Israel's State of Israel Awarded the state of Israel's Prime Minister's Medal Published For the First Hours of Tomorrow: The New Illinois Bill of Rights (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 178 pp. 1973 Became partner in law firm of Gertz and Giampietro,Chicago, Ill. 1974 Successful plaintiff in landmark libel suit Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. Published To Life: The Story of a Chicago Lawyer (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 308 pp.) 1975 Editor, The Short Stories of Frank Harris: A Selection (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 299 pp.) 1978 Editor, Henry Miller: Years of Trial and Triumph, 1962-1964: The Correspondence of Henry Miller and Elmer Gertz (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 345 pp.) 1978 1980 First Amendment Lawyers Association; president, 1978-1979; chairman, 1979-1980 1979 Published Odyssey of a Barbarian: The Biography of George Sylvester Viereck (Buffalo: Prometheus Books. 305 pp.) 1980 Published Charter for a New Age: An Inside View of the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 378 pp.) 1983 Published A Guide to Estate Planning (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 179 pp.) 1984 Published Quest for a Constitution: A Man Who Wouldn't Quit: A Political Biography of Samuel Witwer of Illinois (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. 231 pp.) 1992 Published Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.: The Story of a Landmark Libel Case (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 295 pp.) 2000, Apr. 27 Died, Chicago, Ill.

From the guide to the Elmer Gertz Papers, 1789-1997, (bulk 1926-1988), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

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Subjects:

  • American literature
  • Capital punishment
  • Censorship
  • Copyright
  • Crime
  • Housing
  • Libel and slander
  • Trials (Murder)
  • Obscenity (Law)
  • Practice of law
  • Practice of law

Occupations:

  • Authors
  • Collector
  • Lawyers

Places:

  • Illinois--Chicago (as recorded)
  • Illinois--Chicago (as recorded)

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