PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Lamport Saga lilustrious Family And Localized Episode
the Detroit News, and Bernard Isaacs.
Continuity in family traditions was
There was a serious debate. Jake Albert
registered recently at Yeshivah Univer-
led the opposition to the idea. He could
sity. It served to call attention to one of
not trust the Polish government, accused
the most illustrious American Jewish
of anti-Semitism, to deal with anything
families — the Lamports.
positive for Jews. The Lamport rescue
Joseph Lamport was among those
idea for Polish Jewry ended as a dream.
being awarded a law degree at the law
• It is well to recall the glories of a
school of Yeshiva University. He is the
famous family and to pay honor to the
great-grandson of Nathan Lamport, who
name Lamport.
60 years ago contributed the sum of
$200,000 to the law school.
It is not often that family loyalties
Marshall Family Legacy
are linked so closely in Jewish identifi-
Exemplifies Generations
cations. Therefore, Yeshivah University
can feel great pride in cementing the
generations into communal response.
Therefore, many other available
facts about the Lamports are worth re-
calling.
Attention thus -drawn to the Lam-
port role in American Jewish identifica-
tions commands the wider recapitulation
of that eminent family's share in the
glories of their Jewish fellow citizens.
Samuel and Sol Lamport have left
their indelible marks in our historical
records. There were others. There is one
in our midst: Anna Landau. With her
husband, the late Maurice Landau, she
shared in many services to the commu-
nity. She was an early Hadassah
-president. With her husband, they lent
strength to the United Hebrew Schools
and to Shaarey Zedek. Their home was
among the most hospitable to Zionist
and other leaderships. There was seldom
a Zionist assembly without Anna and
Maurice Landau hosting the social
events.
Sol and Samuel Lamport invite spe-
cial consideration.
Louis Marshall
As national treasurer of the Jewish
Family legacies, properly chronicled,
National Fund of America — Keren
respectfully treated and preserved, con-
Kayemet le Israel — he gave his pri-
tribute to the enrichment of historical
mary attention to the land redemption
records. This becomes evident in the
movement of the Zionist cause. He was
recognition accorded to James Marshall,
also an artist and a lover of art. He
who died Aug. 11 at the age of 90 in
achieved a goal of producing an unusu-
New York.
ally artistic ketubah. The pity is that
Historiographers often turn to
only a limited number were produced
cemeteries in search of data about per-
and at that time, in the mid-1930s, it
sonalities and family groupings who aid
would have cost a veritable fortune to
in tracing the material they are re-
reproduce it. Therefore it remained a
searching. Obituaries often provide facts
memorial to a dedicated Zionist.
otherwise unknown. That is why the
Few couples have the privilege of
London Times, before its acquisition by
possessing such a ketubah. Anna Landau
the present ownership, became famous
surely has one, with pride for her uncle's
as "The Obituary Newspaper." Its
accomplishments. Sharron and Carmi
obituary notices, often a page or more in
Slomovitz are among the fortunate ones.
length, helped in the making of biog-
To have had Sol Lamport as a friend and
raphical histories.
JNF and Zionist co-worker is among my
This is the case now with James
wife Anna's and my recollections of the
Marshall. His passing serves the recon-
most charming people we have known.
structing of memories about his illustri-.
Samuel Lamport also had a role of
ous father, Louis Marshall. He gained
glory in Jewish life. He was among the
recognition in his own right. In a sense
aristocrats who was never seen in public
he followed in the footsteps of his father,
without a rose in his lapel. He was one
as an activist in Jewish and civic mat-
of the most distinguished leaders of the
ters. He was an associate of his father,
American Jewish Joint Distribution
the great leader of the American Jewish
Committee.
Committee, as a member for more than
It was in the late 1920s. Conditions
30 years of the national board of the
were horrible for Polish Jewry. Samuel
AJCommittee.
Lamport dreamed of means to help them.
There was something especially fas-
He came forth with this idea: that
cinating
about James Marshall. He was
American Jews establish factories in Po-
known to have desired early in life to be
land to make children's toys, thus creat-
a "Forester." From very childhood he
ing working opportunities for Polish
had a love of nature. He was intrigued
Jews; that the counterpart, American
by the wilderness, dating from his child-
Jewry as a partner in the project, be re-
hood summers in the Adirondacks. He
sponsible for creating a market for the
became a founder and a vice president of
toys; that both the Polish and U.S. gov-
the National Resources Defense Council.
ernments be silent partners in the un-
He served on the Adirondack Council
dertaking.
board of directors and for many years a
The idealist Samuel Lamport asked
member of the Council of the Wilderness
a group of us here to assist him in his
Society.
dream. Fred Butzel invited several of us
Like his father, James Marshall was
to a social evening in his home in the
interested in Zionist-oriented activities
early 1920s to discuss the proposal. Mil-
in pre-Israel Palestine. In 1937 he
ton Alexander was there, one of the
undertook a mission to Palestine to com-
Rubiners — I believe Judge Charles —
plete facts for his father on Jewish set-
Jake Albert the promotion manager of
tlements. It was used in the research
conducted by his father in negotiations
with Chaim Weizmann leading to the
formation of the Jewish Agency.
As lawyer, educator, philanthropist,
James Marshall, who seemed to perform
his duties without public fanfare, was a
personality to be admired. While he was
active in the practice of law, he was on
the board of the New York Board of
Education for 17 years and its president
from 1938 to 1942. He was also an
authority on political science and
authored books on the subject and on
legal psychology. He also wrote a novel
and children's stories. Only last fall, at
the age of 89, he wrote and published
The Devil in the Classroom: Hostilities in
American Education, in which he argued
against "autocratic" schools that did not
afford children "the opportunity to err
without condemnation."
Such was the man of many qualities,
a giant in his generation who was sel-
dom publicized. His death provides
opportunity also to recall, with respect
and admiration, the eminence of his il-
lustrious father, Louis Marshall, whose
record for services to world Jewry is
among the most distinguished in our
people's experience.
Louis Marshall was among the most
eminent in Jewish history. Let it be re-
membered that he was the contemporary
of other giants — Stephen Wise and
Abba Hillel Silver. To have met and had
a few words with him was among the
many privileges I enjoyed with our great
leaders. It was at a meeting of the na-
tional leadership of the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee here in the
early 1930s at the Hotel Statler. Julius
Rosenwald was among the other notables
I crossed words with at that time.
Louis Marshall (1856-1929) was the
guiding spirit of the American Jewish
Committee from 1903 when the AJ-
Committee was organized as a means of
fighting anti-Semitism worldwide after
the atrocious Kishinev pogrom, until his
death.
Marshall has a share in the efforts
that were exerted in behalf of Leo
Frank, the young innocent Jew in an At-
lanta murder of a young girl who worked
for him. It was the most tragic case of
prejudice that led to Leo Frank's lynch-
ing by an anti-Semitic mob. Albert
Lasker contributed $160,000 to com-
mence a movement to defend Frank
when it became apparent that he was
innocent. Then Louis Marshall presented
an appeal in Frank's defense to the U.S.
Supreme Court. Only Justices Oliver
Wendell Holmes and Charles Evans
Hughes rendered the minority ruling in
Frank's behalf.
Among his most important achieve-
ments was the historic role of collaborat-
ing with Chaim Weizmann, president of
the World Zionist Organization, in the
formation of the Jewish Agency for
Palestine in 1929 in Zurich, Switzerland.
The World Zionist Congress, meeting in
Zurich at the time, approved their collec-
tive action on behalf of the Zionists and
non-Zionists by a vote, of 230 to 30, with
45 abstentions.
Marshall died in Zurich, after that
great accomplishment and before his
planned return to the United States.
It should be noted that Dr. Weiz-
mann had much admiration for Louis
Marshall and they became devoted
friends.
Marshall's many roles included his
condemnation of the blood libel that
emerged from a stupid incident in
Masena, N.Y. He especially expressed
outrage at the Masena mayor's condon-
ing the shocking incident. It ended with
apologies by the perpetrators.
Many anecdotes are attributed to
Louis Marshall. Especially entertaining
is a true story I published in The Jewish
News early in 1966. It is an unforgetta-
ble tale and will ever be repeated. Here
is my text of it:
The late Louis Marshall, who
was one of the greatest constitu-
tional lawyers of his day, first
appeared before the Court of
Appeals at Albany, N.Y., before
he had achieved more than a
local reputation in the then small
town of Syracuse, N.Y.
Young Marshall was slight of
build, diffident and walked as
though in a dream. To his attire
he gave little or no thought. Well
do I remember him in his over-
large derby hat that always
seemed to rest upon his ears, and
his "high water" trousers that
ended where his gaiters began.
In water, especially when the •
snow was deep, Marshall, like
others in our town, wore leather
boots into which were crammed
as much of the trousers as they
could hold.
The case in which he was to
appear in court was an important
one. Sauntering about the hotel
in Albany, the night before the
hearing, the young lawyer sud-
denly found himself in a room in
which several guests were
gathered about a table drinking
wine. The men, evidently lawyers
from New York, who were to op-
pose him on the morrow, were in
dinner attire, as were the women
of the party, when one of the men
called' out: "Come in stranger,
and join us."
Marshall moved toward the
table and seated himself.
"Haow's crops daown your
way?" asked one of the men in
what he believed was the native
dialect. The young up-state
lawyer sensed that these people
mistook him for a country boob
and were going to have some fun
at his expense. He would not dis-
appoint them.
"Fair to middlin'," he replied
with an apparently innocent
simplicity.
"An' haow's the caows?"
enquired another. The women
were giggling behind their gloved
hands.
"They're milkin' fair," replied
Marshall.
More smart questions were
asked and all were answered to
the evident delight of the party,
when one of the men asked the
stranger for a glass of wine.
"Don't mind if I do," replied the
pseudo simpleton. The wine was
poured out and one of the party
called for a toast from the
stranger.
Marshall rose, raised his
glass, stood for a moment in
thought, and then, in quiet even
voice, which in later years com-
manded rapt attention from his
hearers, spoke: "Ladies and gent-
lemen," he said, "I wish you
health, happiness and more wis-
dom as your years advance, bear-
ing ever in mind that outward
appearances may be deceiving.
You took me for a boob because
of my clothes: for the same rea-
son I took you to be ladies and
gentlemen. We were both mis-