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Title: John Lord O'Brian papers
Date (inclusive): 1916-1962
Collection Number: 70001
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
5 manuscript boxes, 3 microfilm reels
(2.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, memoranda, affidavits, clippings, printed matter, and speeches and writings, relating to the administration
of the War Emergency Division of the Department of Justice, registration of enemy aliens, civil liberties in time of war,
and domestic subversion in the United States during World War I.
Creator:
O'Brian, John Lord, 1874-1973
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1970.
[Identification of item], John Lord O'Brian Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Existence and Location of Copies
Collection is also available on microfilm (3 reels).
American lawyer; head of the War Emergency Division, United States Department of Justice, 1917-1919
| 1874 October 14 | Born, Buffalo, New York |
| 1896 | A.B., Harvard |
| 1898 | graduated, University of Buffalo Law School |
| 1902 | married, Alma E. White |
| 1903-1929 | Trustee, University of Buffalo |
| 1907-1909 | Member, New York State Assembly |
| 1909-1914 | U.S. Attorney for Western District of New York |
| 1913 | Candidate for Mayor of Buffalo, New York |
| 1915 | Delegate-at-large at New York State Constitutional Convention |
| 1916 | Delegate (for Hughes), National Republican Convention in Chicago |
| 1917 | Chairman, Draft Board Appeals, Western New York |
| 1917-1919 | Head of War Emergency Division, Department of Justice |
| 1920 | opposed expulsion of Socialists elected to New York State Legislature |
| 1920 | Permanent Chairman, Republican State Convention, New York City |
| 1921-1930 | Buffalo Trustee, Albright Knox Art Gallery |
| 1925-1926 | Vice Chairman, New York State Reorganization Committee |
| 1929-1933 | Assistant to Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice |
| 1931-1947 | Regent, University of State of New York |
| 1935-1939 | Special Counsel, Tennessee Valley Authority, Argued Ashwander vs. T.V.A. |
| 1938 | Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate from New York |
| 1939-1945 | Overseer, Harvard University |
| 1940 | nominated Thomas Dewey for President at Republican National Convention in Philadelphia |
| 1941-1944 | General Counsel, War Production Board |
| 1944 | joined Covington, Burling, Rublee, Acheson & Shorb, Washington, D. C. |
| 1945 | President, Harvard Alumni Association |
| 1947 | Chairman, Flying Pay Board |
| 1948 | Chairman, Oak Ridge Labor Dispute |
| 1950-1957 | Chairman for Endowment of Harvard Divinity School |
| 1951 | elected Washington Literary Society |
| 1951 | appointed to National Advisory Board on Mobilization Policy |
| 1955 | John Lord O'Brian Chair Established at Harvard Divinity School |
| 1957 | participated in Youth Forum Broadcast sponsored by the New York Times. |
| 1962 | honored by Chief Justice Earl Warren on 50th Anniversary of Admission to the Bar of the Court |
| 1963 | member of Lawyer's Committee on Civil Rights (appointed by President Kennedy) |
| 1968, April 13 | death of Mrs. John Lord O'Brian in Buffalo |
| 1972 | new law building at SUNY at Buffalo, named after O'Brian by State University Board of Trustees |
| 1973, April 10 | died at Washington, D. C. |
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Subversive activities -- United States
Civil rights -- United States
World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
Aliens -- United States
United States. Department of Justice. War Emergency Division