Brown, Herman LaRue, 1883-1969.

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Attorney in Boston, Assistant Attorney of the U.S.; Gen. Solicitor for U.S. Railroad Administration, 1919-1921; Special Counsel, 1921-1925; Consultant, Office of Defense Transportation, 1942; Special Ass't. to the U.S. Ambassador, London, England, 1942-1946.

From the description of Papers, 1890-1969. (Harvard Law School Library). WorldCat record id: 236047251

Brown, [Herman] LaRue, lawyer and public servant.

  • December 17, 1883: b. Louisville, Kentucky. s. George Herman and Nelly (LaRue) Brown
  • 1896 - 1900 : Phillips Exeter Academy
  • 1904: A.B. Harvard College; classmate and lifelong friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • 1906: LL.B. Harvard Law School, cum laude
  • November 23, 1915: m. Dorothy Browning Kirchwey; 1 daughter, Eleanor LaRue (dec.); Freda Kirchwey, sister of Dorothy, long-time editor of The Nation
  • 1906 - 1969 : Member, Brown, Field & McCarthy, Boston, [originally Brown, Field, & Murray]
  • 1908: Assistant reporter of decisions, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
  • 1912 - 1914 : Chairman, Massachusetts Minimum Wage Commission,
  • 1914 - 1922 : Special Counsel for the United States in Shoe Machinery and other Sherman Act and Clayton Act cases
  • 1917 - 1919 : Assistant Attorney General of the United States
  • 1919 - 1921 : General Solicitor, U.S. Railroad Administration
  • 1921 - 1925 : Special Counsel for U.S. Railroad Administration
  • 1926 - 1933 : Counsel, truck division, National Automobile Chamber of Commerce
  • 1932 - 1934 : Counsel to the federal and state authorities in prosecution of banking frauds
  • 1936: Chairman, Laundry and Retail stores Minimum Wage Boards
  • 1941: Jewelry Minimum Wage Boards
  • 1941: Member, Hotel and Restaurant Boards
  • 1940: Member, Jewelry Industry Commission, Wages and Hours Act
  • 1942: Consultant, Office of Defense Transportation
  • 1942 - 1946 : Special representative of the Attorney General of the United States and Special Assistant to the Ambassador, U.S. Embassy, London, England. LB worked out an agreement between the U.S. and Great Britain known as the "waiver," or "knock for knock" agreement.
  • ca. 1944 - 1948 : Member, Power Committee of the Power Survey of the Twentieth Century Fund
  • 1947 - 1953 : Vice-chairman, Regional Loyalty Boards
  • 1928: LB joined with other liberals in support of Al Smith's campaign for Presidency. Out of this campaign grew: (a) Jefferson Society; LB first president. Society disbanded.(b) Massachusetts Independent Voters Association, LB member.
  • 1947: Dorothy and LB attended organizing convention of the Americans for Democratic Action, in Washington, D.C. LB was influential in the decision of Massachusetts Independent Voters Association to affiliate with and become Massachusetts Chapter of A.D.A. Early Chairmen: Helen Rotsch, Arthur Schlesinger; LB wrote statement of Principles for Massachusetts A.D.A.
  • 1953: LB consented to become State Chairman of A.D.A., at height of McCarthyism. Also became member of national board of A.D.A., served until his death
  • 1961: A.D.A.'s first annual Roosevelt Day; award presented simultaneously to LB and the late Professor Arthur Schlesinger
  • April 3, 1969: Died
  • 1981: Dorothy Brown died

Membership:

LB member of American Civil Liberties Union and Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. President, Voluntary Defender's Committee, 1935-1969. Chairman, Massachusetts Defender's Committee, 1960-1962; 1965-1966. Chairman, Friends of Framingham Reformatory, 1948-1952. Member, Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Civil Rights, 1958-1962. Chairman, Boston Bar Association Bill of Rights Committee, 1956-1969.

Author:

Labor Injunctions in Massachusetts.Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, Labor Bulletin No. 70, 1909. "Massachusetts and the Minimum Wage," in The Cost of Living,ed. by the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 1913. (First published in The Annalsof the Academy, November, 1913.) "Bankers and Tankers" in The New Republic,25 November 1925. "Citizens and the Law:" The Wellesley Lectures of 1925. Also the author of other articles, speeches and editorials, most of which were published in local or national professional, political or general publications.

From the guide to the Papers, 1890-1969, (Harvard Law School Library, Harvard University)

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Birth 1883

Death 1969

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