Born in Taunton, Mass. in 1892, O'Connor was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1912 and from Harvard Law School in 1915. He joined the law firm of Cravath and Henderson, New York City, in 1915, and the law firm of Streeter and Holmes, Boston, in 1916. In 1919 he established his own law practice in New York City; then in 1925 he became the partner of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the law firm of Roosevelt and O'Connor, New York City. In 1933 Roosevelt left the firm to become President of the United States, and O'Connor re-established his own practice. In 1934 he became senior partner in the law firm of O'Connor and Farber.
In 1927 O'Connor founded and became president of the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. He founded and became president of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Tuskegee Institute in 1942 and became Chairman of the Board in 1946. In 1944 he was appointed Chairman of the Central Committee of the American Red Cross by Pres. Roosevelt; he was elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the League of Red Cross Societies in 1946. He was also a member of the executive committee of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Human Engineering Laboratory, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and the Committee on Character and Fitness of the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department. He was a member of the Dartmouth College Alumni Council from 1923 to 1929 and also served the college in many other capacities.
From the description of Papers, 1916-1972. (Dartmouth College Library). WorldCat record id: 237245623
