Letters and Correspondence

Correspondence

(Not all correspondence is described; rather letters are highlighted based on contents of note or well-known autographs. If there is only one letter representing an individual, it is described. All letters are to Fred Rodell unless otherwise indicated. Square brackets indicate contents as described in-house.

Allen, Edith. 1956 6/5. [Wm. O Douglas will be at Haverford to give a talk.]

Arnold, Thurman. 1959 12/23. [congratulates Rodell on his review of a book about William O. Douglas.]

Black, Elizabeth. 1961 2/17. [overwhelmed by Rodell's tribute to her husband (Hugo Black) in American Law Rev. J.]

Black, Elizabeth. 1966 3/15. [recounts events for Justice Black's 80th birthday, including a White house dinner; also poem she has written.]

Black, Hugo. 1937 10/13. [thanks for congratulations on appointment to the Supreme Court.]

Black, Hugo. 1939 2/1. [used Rodell's information in his dissent on the Washington Tax Case.]

Black, Hugo. 1947 10/8. [as a member of the Court, it is difficult for him to express legal views with the freedom he did when in the Senate.]

Black, Hugo. 1950 2/23. [can't find it in himself to hate anybody.]

Black. Hugo. 1955 12/7. [comments favorably on Rodell's book on the Supreme Court.]

Black, Hugo. 1960 3/29. [Black has been injudiciously criticized by a professor of law in The New Republic; a copy of Rodell's letter to The New Republic scorning the method of criticism is enclosed.]

Black, Hugo. 1960 6/27. [appreciates Rodell's article about him.]

Black, Hugo. 1960 10/20. [has refused to participate in a symposium on Justice Cardozo - one of the reasons being Cardozo's exaltation of judge-made laws.]

Rodell, Fred to Hugo Black. 1962 9/21. [article he has written was intended to set Felix Frankfurter up for a "harder shot; he and his pretensions were my real target."]

Rodell, Fred to Hugo Black. 1965 6/24. [will be working on a book on the Warren Court.]

Rodell, Fred. to Hugo Black. 1970 5/6. [hopes Black will encourage William Douglas who is under Gerald Ford's attack.]

Rodell, Fred to Hugo Black. 1970 6/1. [Gerald Ford was a student of Rodell's; doesn't think impeachment proceedings against William Douglas will succeed, regardless of attempts by "executive branch."]

Blackmun, Harry to George Hoke. photocopy.

[Blackmun], Harry. 1941 6/6. [much inside information on Felix Frankfurter.]

Brennan, William. 1957 12/16. [notes that Supreme Court justices are neither all-knowing nor always positive.]

Brennan, William. 1962 10/4. [will be a Philips visitor at Haverford College.]

Cassidy, Lewis. 1946 6/22. [thinks very highly of Rodell's article on Fred Vinson.]

Clark, Charles E. 1943 10/5. [explains his criticisms of Rodell's stand on progressives, F.D.R., Congress, etc.]

Clark, Charles E. Thursday [n.d.] [covers many political topics.]

Clark, Charles E. [n.y. 2/17] [Reed's involvement with an insurance company; political topics.]

Clark, Charles E. [n.y. 3/15] [response to Rodell's criticism of Walter Lippman; variety of legal cases.]

Douglas, William O. 1939 6/6. [thanks Rodell for the letter upon his nomination to the Court.]

Douglas, William O. 1941 6/30. [doesn't believe majority of people think he will stay on the Court, so hopes Rodell won't write an article about him, -- ought to write about L.B.J. instead.]

Douglas, William O. 1943 1/16. [will recommend Norman Williams to Wiley Rutledge.; doesn't known if James Byrnes "is going to expand."]

Douglas, William O. 1943 2/4. [an Ass't Gen. Counsel position available; Douglas will keep after Jimmie Byrnes?]

Douglas, William O. 1943 3/30. [Intends to stay on the Court if he has his way.]

Douglas, William O. 1943 4/24. [Liked Beyer (for clerk's position?) but the hitch is in the type of work which comes in the summer.]

Douglas, William O. 1943 9/22. [sarcastic note about Felix Frankfurter.]

Douglas, William O. 1944 6/10. [Hopes Rodell will join a hiking group; thinks Abe Fortas may come.]

Douglas, William O. 1944 6. [Wonders if Rodell might not take the position on the Securities Exchange Commission that was vacated by Bob McC.]

Douglas William O. 194[4] 6/15. [saw Truman and suggested Rodell for S.E.C.]

Douglas, William O. 1945 1/10. [encloses text of a talk he gave at Lawyers' Guild.]

Douglas, William O. 1945 5/10. [has heard that J(ames) B(yrnes?) will become Secretary of State and that he may be made Secretary of War.]

Douglas, William O. 1946 3/25. [discusses possible placement for a law clerk.]

Douglas, William O. 1946 6/7. [tells Rodell his "namesake" (Fred Vinson?) was the only politically competent man in the cabinet. Frictions on the Court are not between personalities but rather the stands of liberal vs. conservative.]

Douglas, William O. 1947 2/3. [encloses recommendation for Rodell for Dean of a proposed law school at U. of N. Mex.]

Douglas, William O. 1947 2/22. [cannot give a talk at a convention because there may be a conflict of interest with his position on the Court.]

Douglas, William O. 1947 4/7. [encloses reply to his letter of recommendation for Rodell.]

Douglas, William O. 1948 4/9. [is desired to run with Eisenhower on a Democratic ticket; he has turned down the offer.] (Here filed also are other letters and promotional material on Douglas for President).

Douglas, William O. 1940s. [rough texts of three speeches.]

Douglas, William O. 1950 3/25. [spent 3 days in a row at 12 hours each day on horseback; also mountain climbing.]

Douglas, William O. 1950 3/28. [sends photographs of a portrait of him with the artist.]

Douglas, William O. 1950 4/20. [will not accept portrait of himself from artist as he told Joe Kennedy.]

Douglas, William O. [1953] 6/25. [a special team of Court Justices was convened without the knowledge of Douglas on the Rosenberg spy case with a vote of 5 to overrule Douglas' stay of execution vote.]

Douglas, William O. 1954 5/28. [cannot write the foreword to Rodell's book on the Supreme Court.]

Douglas, William O. 1955 10/21. [thinks highly of Rodell's book Nine Men.]

Douglas, William O. 1956 3/26. [his book, We the Judges was meant for the Indian, not American, public.]

Douglas, William O. 1956 4/19. [won't do a foreword on Rodell's book Woe Unto Ye Lawyers, but has written a foreword on Hugo Black for the Yale Law Journal.]

Douglas, William O. 1957 12/23. [encloses letter from Archibald Macintosh on Mike Rodell's application to Haverford.]

Douglas, William O. 1958 11/19. [is honored by Rodell's article about him in Saturday Review.]

Douglas, William O. 1958 12/4. [Rodell has written a piece on a selection of the all-time Supreme Court which has been criticized by Max Lerner.]

Douglas, William O. 1960 1/13. [enjoyed Rodell's review of Vern Countryman's book.]

Rodell, Fred to William Douglas. 1960 2/23. [gave a talk about the Holmes history of the Court to the New England Librarians Assoc.]

Douglas, William O. 1960 3/7. [inquires about Rodell's colleague, who "apparently is not a F(elix) F(rankfurter) stooge".]

Douglas, William O. [1960 3/29]. [The New Republic turned down a piece by Rodell -- "it shows what a tight hold F(elix) F(rankfurter)'s regime has on that sheet".]

Rodell, Fred to William Douglas. 1960 9/24. [describes birds he saw on their trip in Colorado.]

Douglas, William O. 1961 12/14. [is to m.c. a dinner honoring Charles Clark.]

Rodell, Fred to William Douglas. 1962 2/17. [describes rare birds he has seen.]

Rodell, Fred to William Douglas. 1963 3/12. [will gladly do an article on Wesley Sturges.]

Douglas, William O. 1963 3/20. [encloses editorial on his book Freedom of the Mind criticizing his ideas of freedom.]

Douglas, William O. to Ladybird Johnson. 1965 10/15. [sends piece of driftwood which resembles L.B.J.]

Douglas, William O. 1968 7/25. [Abe Fortas, architect of the Court's veterans' policy, sat on the hearing of the question of constitutionality of the Vietnam war.]

Douglas, William O. 1968 7/27. [Abe Fortas, in his confirmation hearings, rejects Douglas, who was his mentor, as being too leftist. While Fortas relies on "reason & history, ... Douglas relies on what he thinks should be the result in a case." Douglas thinks Fortas will come to regret these words.]

Rodell, Fred to William Douglas. 1968 8/16. [has been writing pieces so F(elix) F(rankfurter)'s allies would not get the assignments; Court only part of tri-partite system still to be counted on for humanity; refers to Douglas' 23 broken ribs suffered when a horse fell on him and his saying he may leave the Court as a result; Rodell fears for the Court without Douglas.]

Douglas, William O. 1969 6/19. [feels campaign against him is mounting and impeachment proceedings likely.]

Douglas, William O. 1969 6/25 [was in Washington, D.C.; J. Edgar Hoover was in the front row grinning. "And there is a reason for it, of course."]

Douglas, William O. 1969 9/15. [Abe Fortas has been turned down by his old law firm and Wayne Morse; Ethics Committee returned the charges against him with no report.]

Engel, Alan S. to William Douglas. 1970 5/5. [encloses his article on impeachment proceedings against Douglas.]

Douglas, William O. 1970 7/18. [notes that final decision on his impeachment will be made in the Senate.]

Douglas, William. 1970 10/12. [thinks impeachment matter will continue brewing.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 11/20] [someone printing lies saying he took money in a case.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 5/25] [thoughts on a variety of challenging positions for Rodell.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 10/16] [read a jingle to F(elix) F(rankfurter) who said, "you don't have to retire. All I suggest is that you reform."]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 11/23] [another jibe at F(elix) F(rankfurter).]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 10/20] [allegation by someone that a member of the Court is a member of America First.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 2/5] [Gene Rostow seeking to attain a federal job, though Douglas doesn't know which it is - Rostow not sufficiently in Frankfurter's favor to get a Court appointment.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 4/25] [In 1948, 4 out of 9 Justices thought the Bill of Rights applicable in toto to the states.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 7/11] [(Christian?) Herter nixed his Red China trip for National Geographic.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 6/25] [Going to Persia for two months.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 7/1] [Going to Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Pakistan and India and Indonesia; has finished galley on a new book.]

Douglas, William O. [n.y. 5/26] [Tom C(lark?) thinks Rodell should tie in with Leo Crowley's group.]

Fortas, Abe. 1965 8/20. [thanks Rodell for his letter to the Times criticizing reporter Anthony Lewis for his hatchet job on Fortas (enclosed); as an aside, Fortas notes Lewis congratulated him on his appointment to the Court.]

Fortas, Abe. 1966 6/20. [discusses Lewis' article and members of the Court.]

Goldberg, Arthur. 1964 12/18.

Green, Leon. 1966 2/9. [congratulates him on his memorial article on Judge Charles E. Clark.]

Harlan, John. 1958 3/17 and 1967 4/11.

Harris, Robert. 1966 3/16. [congratulates him on his memorial article on Judge Charles E. Clark.]

Huston, Luther A. 1966 7/15. [sends a copy of his book about Chief Justice Earl Warren.]

Jaffe, Louis. 1960 8/2.

Knopf, Alfred, Jr. 1969 5/5. [thanks Rodell for his Douglas piece and can't wait for the book.]

Lewis Anthony. 1966 3/18-1966 6/17. 6 letters. [correspondence concerning Rodell's article on Chief Justice (Earl Warren) and Lewis' article on Abe Fortas for the New York Times.]

[Lipez, Kermit] 1974 10/2. [sends copy of his book on Gov. Kenneth Curtis; is starting a new law firm.]

McNulty, Jack. 1959 3/6. [thanks him profusely for his aid in getting the Black clerkship.]

Morley, Christopher. 1932 5/6. [Glad Rodell liked his piece Toulemonde. Also [n.y.] 2/17

Northrop, F.S.C. 1960 5/20. [discusses Natural Law theory in rebuttal to Rodell's criticism of the work of Northrop's graduate student.]

Reed, [Stanley]. Printed invitation to attend a reception noting Justice Reed's 80th birthday.

Richette, Lisa. 1969 3/24-1969 6/12. 5 letters. [correspondence concerning her book The Throwaway Children.]

Rodell, Fred to George Leighton (of Harper's Magazine). 1943 11/20. [Proposes to write an "inside" piece on the Supreme Court personalities and their influence on Court decisions.]

Rodell, Fred to Saturday Evening Post. 1965 10/14. [discusses lack of objectivity of reporter Anthony Lewis.]

Rodell, Fred to Newsweek. 1967 8/3. [annoyed with the shoddy review of a book accepted by Newsweek.]

Rodell, Fred. [panning review of The Lawyers by Martin Mayer.]

Rodell, Fred. [fragment of memorial article on Judge Charles E. Clark, ca. 1966.]

Rodell, Fred. [jingle about writing for the Harvard Law Review.]

Rodell, Fred. [information concerning the Black-Jackson feud about a hearing which Black's former law partner argued and on which Black sat.]

Sawyer, Roland to Editor, New York Times. 1962 9/1. [Sawyer reviews his work in having the Sacco-Vanzetti case reviewed and retried.]

Stewart, Potter. 1961 3/28. [encloses a paper, possibly written by himself or a relative, on conviction in the courts based on evidence gained from wiretapping.]

Walsh, Richard J. 1948 6/18. [would like to publish a book of Rodell's sketches of notable Americans.] 1948 7/2. [Rodell replies he is interested.]

Warren, Earl. 1960 5/5. (signature cut out). [hopes Rodell is better after an operation.]

White, Byron. 1961 4/13. [Written while White was Deputy Attorney General.]

Wright, Charles A. 1960 12/6. [Dean of Harvard Law School has praised a Rodell article.]

Wright, Charles A. 1960 3/16.[Saw Felix Frankfurter, who commented about Rodell.]

Wright, Charles A. 1967 4/13. [has been offered lucrative position at U. of Ga. Law School.]

Wright, Charles A. 1968 6/19. [will be coming to Yale as a visiting professor; is working on a treatise on criminal procedure.]

Wright, Charles A. to Eric Sevareid. 1969 5/16. [grateful for his compassionate statement on the Fortas resignation.]

Wright, Charles A. to Kingman Brewster. 1969 12/2. [defense of Yale Law School faculty against Brewster's remarks of "clique" and "cynics".]

? (signature cut). 1931 1/20. Harvard Law School. [Gov. Pinchot wants "young brains" to deal with politico-economic-socio-legal problems. Thinks Rodell should take job if offered (which he does)].

Miscellaneous

In addition to correspondence, this box also contains 25 pages of indexed bawdy limericks.