Curry, James E., 1907-1972

James E. Curry (1907-1972) was an attorney during the 1930s up to the 1950s active in the legal affairs of Alaskan Natives, particularly the Tlingit and Haida. He was born in Chicago, IL and later entered Loyola University as a scholarship student and received his law degree in 1930. After a short employment term in the legal division of an insurance company, he opened his own law office. At the same time he was secretary of the Chicago branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and an attorney for the Consumers' Cooperatives. In the winter of 1936 came to Washington to accept employment in the Indian Service. His term as secretary was short, but his duties required him to travel widely. He gained first-hand knowledge of the problems of the Indian groups in many states. He also held government positions such as assistant chief legal advisor with the Consumers Council division of the Department of the Interior and counsel for the Reconstruction Administration in Puerto Rico. After his return to the USA, his clients included the National Congress of American Indians and a large number of Indian tribes. His efforts on behalf of the Indian tribes resulted in a long-standing dispute with the government officials of the Interior Department and the eventual dwindling of his Indian business. From 1955 to the time of his death in 1972, he acted in an advisory and consultative capacity on the Indian claims cases he had carried for so many years.

From the description of Curry-Weissbrodt Papers, 1930-1979. (Sealaska Heritage Institute). WorldCat record id: 317980175

James E. Curry was trained in law in Chicago and practiced in that city from 1930 until 1936, serving part of that time as secretary of the local branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. From 1936 to 1938, he was an attorney with the United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs, being largely involved with matters of credit affecting Indians. From 1938 to 1942, he continued service with the Interior Department but worked in several capacities involving the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration, the department's Consumers' Counsel Division, and the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.

In 1945, Curry returned to Washington and set up private practice, also maintaining for a time an office in Puerto Rico. In Washington, he became the attorney for the National Congress of American Indians and from that time until the 1950s his practice increasingly involved representation of American Indian tribes, mostly in claims against the federal government. In this work, for a time, he was involved in business relations with a New York Law firm that included Henry Cohen, Felix Cohen, and Jonathan Bingham.

He also often worked closely with lawyers who lived near the tribes he represented, William L. Paul, Jr., of Alaska, for example. This aspect of his practice--representing Indian tribes--was largely broken up during the early 1950s when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs began to use his powers to disapprove contracts between Curry and the tribes. In 1952 and 1953, his official relationship with the National Congress of American Indians was also ended. After this, while Curry continued until his death to act as a consultant in Indian claims with which he had earlier been involved, his career and life developed in a different direction.

From the guide to the James E. Curry papers, 1932-1958, (National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center)