2025-10-07 8:23 PM <br/> Tags: #AmericanJewry #people #KeyPeople ![[image-145.png|300x399]] # Louis Marshall (1856-1929) - Louis Marshall was an American Jewish lawyer and leader within organized Jewry. - Marshall was born to German Jewish immigrants. - Marshall's family were religious Orthodox Jews. - Marshall was highly active in organized Jewry from around 1900 until 1929. - Marshall took a law course at Columbia in New York City and went to work in the legal field. - Marshall joined Samuel Untermyer and Randolph Guggenheimer at their law firm. - Marshall became a partner in the firm *Guggenheimer, Untermyer, & Marshall* in 1894. - All three were Jews and all three were later Zionists. *Zionism was just beginning in the late 1890s.* - Marshall became a prominent constitutional lawyer, arguing on controversial cases before the Supreme Court. - Through his legal career, Marshall supported civil rights, fought segregation, fought immigration restrictions, opposed the KKK, etc. - Marshall was a top lawyer for the [[NAACP]], of which he was also a director. - Marshall was involved in leading the [[Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)]] from 1901 until his death in 1929. - Marshall became chairman of the JTS's board in 1905. - Marshall oversaw legal, administrative, and financial matters at the JTS. - During his time in organized American Jewry, Marshall worked with many of the era's biggest names: [[Felix Warburg]], [[Paul Baerwald]], [[Nathan Straus]], [[Jacob Schiff]], [[Julius Rosenwald]], [[Irving Lehman]], etc. #### AJC and JDC - In 1906, Marshall, [[Jacob Schiff]], and Cyrus Adler, founded the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]]. - The AJC was founded as a small group of German Jewish elite in New York City. - The members of the AJC used their combined influence on behalf of collective world Jewry to affect government and society in the US. - The AJC is still today among the most influential Jewish groups. - Marshall was not a Zionist, and was generally cautious of embracing Zionism. Nevertheless, Marshall got the AJC to endorse the [[Balfour Declaration]] in 1918. - During WWI Marshall was involved in founding the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]]. - [[Arthur Ruppin]], head of the [[World Zionist Organization]]'s Palestine office, sought the aid of U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.]]. - Ambassador [[Henry Morgenthau Sr.]], requested $50,000 from Marshall to aid the Jews in Palestine. - Marshall enlisted Jewish financier [[Jacob Schiff]] to secure the $50,000. - This aid marked the beginning of what soon became the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]]. - Marshall became the first chairman of the JDC. #### Leo Frank - Marshall served on the legal team for Jew Leo Frank from 1913-1915. - Marshall unsuccessfully argued Frank's case before the Supreme Court in 1915. - The [[ADL|Anti-Defamation League (ADL)]] was founded to defend Frank's image from "defamation." - Leo Frank was found guilty of the 1913 rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a 13 year old girl working at his Georgia pencil factory. - Leo Frank's guilt makes him a Jewish rapist murderer pedophile. - Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death. - Frank's many attempts at a retrial were rejected overwhelmingly and the verdict was upheld. - On June 21, 1915 Georgia Governor John Slaton commuted Frank's death sentence. - Slaton's former law firm had previously merged with the law firm of Frank's lead attorney Luther Rosser (Jew). This was an obvious conflict of interest. - A large mob lynched Frank on August 17th, 1915. - Most believed that proper justice had been carried out against a corrupt commutation. - To this day, the ADL and American Jewry more generally fight to defend Frank's image. #### Henry Ford - From 1924-1927, Marshall lead the legal campaign against Henry Ford for his publications supposed of libelous antisemitism. - Marshall, with the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] and the [[ADL]], launched a targeted campaign against Ford's company, his publication, and his character. - In 1927 Ford was forced to settle the case. - As part of the settlement, Ford issued a retraction and apology for his "antisemitism." - Louis Marshall dictated the text of his apology. --- - In the 1920s, Marshall negotiated with [[World Zionist Organization]] president [[Chaim Weizmann]] on the creation of the [[Jewish Agency]]. - Marshall became the chair of the Jewish Agency's executive upon its creation in 1929. - Marshall died a few weeks later. - Since 1989, the [[Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)]] has given out an annual "Louis Marshall Award" to notable Jewish donors and leaders. #### References - Wikipedia. “Louis Marshall.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Marshall - The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Louis Marshall.” _Encyclopedia Britannica._ [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Marshall](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Marshall) - American Jewish Archives. “MS-359: Louis Marshall Papers, 1870–1943.” Cincinnati: American Jewish Archives. https://collections.americanjewisharchives.org/ms/ms0359/ms0359.html - American Jewish Committee. _The Price of Liberty: A History of the American Jewish Committee._ New York: American Jewish Committee, 1948. PDF. [https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/the_/THE%20PRICE%20OF%20LIBERTY%20A%20HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20AMERICAN%20JEWISH%20COMMITTEE%201948.pdf](https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/the_/THE%20PRICE%20OF%20LIBERTY%20A%20HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20AMERICAN%20JEWISH%20COMMITTEE%201948.pdf) - Wikipedia. “American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee” (founding context with Marshall). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jewish_Joint_Distribution_Committee - YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. “American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.” https://encyclopedia.yivo.org/article.aspx/american_jewish_joint_distribution_committee - Berman Jewish Policy Archive (reprinting AJC materials). “Statement by Henry Ford … Together With an Explanatory Statement by Louis Marshall … and His Reply to Mr. Ford,” 1927. https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/ford/Ford%20Statement.pdf - Center for Israel Education. “Establishment of the Joint Distribution Committee (1914).” https://israeled.org/timeline/establishment-of-the-joint-distribution-committee/ - Center for Israel Education. “_The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann_, Vol. XIII–XIV (context on non-Zionists, Warburg, and Marshall).” https://israeled.org/volume-xiii-series-a-march-1926-july-1929/ and https://israeled.org/volume-xiv-series-a-july-1929-october-1930/ - Commentary Magazine. Konvitz, Milton R. “Louis Marshall: _Champion of Liberty_, edited by Charles Reznikoff.” _Commentary_ 5, no. 6 (1948). [https://www.commentary.org/articles/milton-konvitz/louis-marshall-champion-of-liberty-edited-by-charles-reznikoff/](https://www.commentary.org/articles/milton-konvitz/louis-marshall-champion-of-liberty-edited-by-charles-reznikoff/) - Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. “Henry Ford and Anti-Semitism: A Complex Story.” The Henry Ford (digital resources). https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-resources/popular-topics/henry-ford-and-anti-semitism - Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Louis Marshall Accepts Henry Ford’s Apology for Anti-Jewish Attacks; Replies to Statement,” July 10, 1927. https://www.jta.org/archive/louis-marshall-accepts-henry-fords-apology-for-anti-jewish-attacks-replies-to-statement - Jewish Encyclopedia. “Marshall, Louis.” _JewishEncyclopedia.com._ https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10439-marshall-louis - Jewish Virtual Library. “Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) (historical overview with note on Marshall’s death after founding meeting).” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-agency-for-israel-jafi - Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Louis Marshall, Leader of American Jewry, Dies in Zurich; World Jewry Mourns,” Sept. 12, 1929. https://www.jta.org/archive/louis-marshall-leader-of-american-jewry-dies-in-zurich-world-jewry-mourns - Jewish Theological Seminary. “Louis B. Marshall Award (biographical note).” JTS. https://www.jtsa.edu/hidden-page/louis-b-marshall-award/