Buttenwieser, Helen L.

Lawyer, civil libertarian, and children's rights advocate Helen (Lehman) Buttenwieser (1905-1989) was the first woman admitted to the City Bar Association in New York and the first chairwoman of the Legal Aid Society. The daughter of Arthur and Adele (Lewisohn) Lehman, she attended Connecticut College and the New York School of Social Work before being appointed commissioner of the Board of Child Welfare in New York City in 1930. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 1936, founded her own office, and practiced law in Manhattan for fifty years. The chair of the New York City Committee on Adoptions, Buttenwieser often served as a pro bono lawyer for children's aid organizations. She was a member of the Legal Aid Society for more than fifty years and was a trustee of the New York Civil Liberties Union. She married Benjamin Buttenwieser in 1929; they had four children.

From the description of Papers, 1909-1990 (inclusive), 1968-1990 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122576584

Helen (Lehman) Buttenwieser, lawyer, civil libertarian, children's rights advocate, social worker, and philanthropist, was born on October 8, 1905, in New York City. She was the second of three daughters of Adele (Lewisohn) and Arthur Lehman (AL), members of two of the leading German-Jewish families in the city. ALL's father, Adolph Lewisohn, made a fortune in copper and the shipping of mining products, and was a leader in prison reform. AL's father, Mayer Lehman, was a founder of the New York Cotton Exchange, a partner in Lehman Brothers bank, and the father of three prominent sons: AL, a banker; Herbert, elected governor of New York and later to the U.S. Senate; and Irving, chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.

After attending Horace Mann School in the city, HLB entered Connecticut College for Women (now Connecticut College) in 1923. Mathematics was her favorite subject, but she was neither challenged by nor interested in the rest of the curriculum and left during her junior year to accompany her parents on a trip around the world. Upon her return she went to work at the Hudson Guild in Hell's Kitchen, a poor, immigrant neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side. This was the beginning of a long, active and successful career in New York City, reflected in the following chronology:

• 1927 - 33 : -social worker -attended N.Y. School of Social Work -took courses at Columbia University School of General Studies -appointed to Wardwell Commission on Social Welfare -caseworker, Foster Home Bureau of Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society
• 1929: -Oct. 3, married Benjamin J. Buttenwieser (BJB)
• 1929 - ca.1945 : -served on board (president for a time) of Madison Settlement House
• 1930 - 35 : -Commissioner, N.Y.C. Board of Child Welfare
• 1932: -son, Lawrence B., born -representative of Jewish Big Sisters, Children's Court, Bronx County
• 1933: -daughter, Carol H., born -entered N.Y.U. Law School
• 1935: -son, Peter L., born
• 1936: -graduated from law school
• 1936 - 37 : -worked at Cravath, de Gersdorff, Swaine and Moore
• 1937: -admitted to New York Bar
• 1937 - 38 : -staff lawyer, Legal Aid Society (LAS)
• 1938: -son, Paul A., born
• 1939: -became a Trustee of LAS
• 1940 - 75 : -retained by Jewish Child Care Association
• 1942 - 62 : -Trustee, Dalton Schools
• 1947 - 50 : -first woman to head a standing committee (Domestic Relations) of Association of the Bar of the City of N.Y. (ABCNY)
• 1949: -first woman in N.Y.C. to be named a bank director: Title Guarantee and Trust Co.
• 1949 - 51 : -member Civil Rights Committee, N.Y. State Bar Association -BJB Deputy U.S. High Commissioner in Germany
• 1949 - 80s : -Trustee, Connecticut College
• 1950s: -became counsel to Leake and Watts Children's Home, Graham Home for Children, Abbott House
• 1951 - 1951 ? : -Board of Directors, N.Y. Civil Liberties Union
• 1955: -daughter, Carol, died
• 1959: -taught a course, Social Work and the Law, NYU School of Social Work
• 1960s: -filed Briefs Amici in U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving children
• 1962: -HLB's firm represented spy, Robert Soblen, and Alger Hiss in attempt to reopen his case
• 1965 - 73 : -Board of Directors, Volunteer Opportunities, Inc.
• 1968: -admitted to practice before U.S. Supreme Court
• 1969: -established Joint Foundation Support, Inc., coalition of small foundations
• 1970s - 80s : -volunteer Master in Federal Court, southern district of N.Y.
• -Board of Directors, Legal Defense and Education Fund of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• 1974?: -Board of Directors, Fortune Society
• 1979 - 83 : -first woman elected chairman of LAS Board
• 1980: -awarded Louis Dembitz Brandeis Medal for Distinguished Legal Service, Brandeis University
• 1983: -received LAS Servant of Justice award
• 1988: -"roasted" by ABCNY at annual Twelfth Night party
• 1989: -received Horace Mann Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Service

HLB was, in her own words, a "...specialist in matrimonial problems, custody disputes, and in representing child care agencies and the children under their care" (affidavit, Jan. 7, 1981: see #1 in the collection). She was chairman of the New York City Committee on Adoptions and was particularly concerned with handicapped and foster children; the Buttenwiesers acted as foster parents for many children.

In addition to the organizations noted above, HLB was also a member of the American Bar Association, New York Women's Bar Association, and New York County Lawyers' Association; she was an investor in The Nation, an occasional lecturer at the schools of social work of Fordham and Columbia universities, a labor arbitrator, and president of the N.Y. Federation of Jewish Charities. Connecticut College and Brandeis University conferred honorary degrees on HLB.

HLB died in New York City on November 22, 1989.

From the guide to the Papers, 1909, 1940, 1968-90, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)