Henry Schwarzschild
Encyclopedia
Henry Schwarzschild was an activist for civil rights and human rights
. He was a fighter for the American Civil Rights Movement and later on became involved in the fight against capital punishment. He founded the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
(NCADP), Lawyer's Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), and headed up the ACLU
's (American Civil Liberties Union) Capital Punishment Project.
, Germany. He was married to Kathleen Jett, and the couple had two daughters, Miriam and Hannah. Henry moved to the United States at the age of 13 in 1939 with his parents, right before World War II
. They moved to New York when they arrived in the United States. After serving in the Army during World War II as a member of the Counterintelligence Corps from 1944–1946, he went to the City College of New York
where he received a bachelor’s degree and then did graduate work in political theory at Columbia. After serving in the Army it is said that he had the “appearance of a durable veteran from ancient wars, penetrating eyes intolerant of bombast and passivity, facial lines that mobilize easily to express by turns infectious good humor, remembered pain, resignation, impatience.” In the 1950s, he worked as an executive of the International Rescue Committee, the American Committee for Cultural Freedom
, and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
. He decided to join in the sit in and ended up being the only white person involved. This was the beginning of his fight for civil rights. Soon after he began his fight for African-American’s civil rights, he was arrested on June 21, 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi
for his participation in the Freedom ride
s. Once he was released Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
wrote on his imprisonment forms, “Your courageous willingness to go to jail for freedom has brought us closer to our nation’s bright tomorrow.” From that point on he and Martin Luther King, Jr. attended many events together, with both of them speaking and making movements towards civil rights. In 1961 Schwarzschild embarked on his own speaking tour across America to try and recruit people to their cause. He went on to make many public statements on civil liberties, capital punishment, racial justice, and many others.
In 1964 he created the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee which was composed of civil rights lawyers. In the first year he convinced 300 lawyers to take their vacation time and go down to the South to help with the cause of civil rights for African Americans.
and they work to “extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color, women, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people, prisoners, and people with disabilities.” The ACLU had groups who spoke up for those who were anti-death penalty through the Capital Punishment Project especially. Through his power in the ACLU he was able to organize and establish a structure called the National Coalition for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty to help pressure President Ford to pardon those who had left the United States to avoid military conscription.
In 1976, while also working with the Capital Punishment Project and with the other groups he was a part of, he created the NCADP which stands for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
. Henry founded this organization in response to the Supreme Court
decision Gregg v. Georgia
which permitted executions to resume in the United States. Schwarzschild organized it in New York and then transferred its headquarters to Washington, D.C. where he could do more with the legislation process. The NCADP consists of several dozen state and national affiliates, mainstream Protestants, and other groups along with these. The opposition to the death penalty was obviously present before the creation of this group but that bond is what solidified the different members of this group. They attempted to create change in the death penalty topic by creating public policy campaigns, serving as an information contact for people who want to know more about the death penalty and a site to keep up with the updates on new conquests in the death penalty area. They did this through trying to influence state by state changes in their constitutions that ban the death penalty individually in each state one by one.
in the summer of 1982, he wrote a public letter comparing the siege of the city to that of the Warsaw Ghetto, creating a "new holocaust." Schwarzschild concluded by "renouncing" the State of Israel, declaring himself to be its "enemy."
In response, the Jewish Press, a politically conservative weekly newspaper, created the Schwarschild Award as a parody of his views, highlighting a prominent "Jewish person in the public spotlight who, by his or her statements, displays contempt for the Jewish people," in the newspaper's view.
, Palestine
, and other third-world countries. He fought for the religious and political rights of these groups.
Schwarzschild has been opposed to the death penalty all of his life and has stated that “he is an advocate not for murderers but against the death penalty.” (Word and the Law) He wanted to clear up the controversy in society about him supporting murderers by not wanting the death penalty. He believed they still deserved to suffer, but not through death. Throughout the years he fought for the support of national political figures and for the most part he found none. Many lawyers and political figures supported the death penalty because their constituents and clients supported it. The one thing that Henry made clear was that he “could not live in a period of major moral, social events and be a bystander.”
there is a collection in their library for Henry Schwarzschild. In 2000 the Lincoln Center of Henry Schwarzschild was added to the holdings in special collections. His important collections of “printed works, government publications, and other contemporary pieces” were added by his wife, Kathleen. Another way his legacy remains is through the annual Henry Schwarzschild Memorial Lecture which began in 1999. It is sponsored by the NYCLU and the Hogarth Center for Social Action at Manhattan College and the lecturers focus on critical issues of “human rights and human dignity.” Schwarzschild also contributed a few times to The New York Review of Books with letters titled “Help for Ben Chaney” (March 1971), “HUAC” (September 1966), and the article, “An Exchange on Racism” (December 7, 1967). Many people see his life as an example of how to fight for rights and use his example to take a stand for what they believe. His most recent legacy was his denouncement of the use of legal injections in executions. (NYSDA Defender News)
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. He was a fighter for the American Civil Rights Movement and later on became involved in the fight against capital punishment. He founded the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is a large organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty in the United States...
(NCADP), Lawyer's Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), and headed up the ACLU
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
's (American Civil Liberties Union) Capital Punishment Project.
Early life
Schwarzschild was born in WiesbadenWiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Germany. He was married to Kathleen Jett, and the couple had two daughters, Miriam and Hannah. Henry moved to the United States at the age of 13 in 1939 with his parents, right before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They moved to New York when they arrived in the United States. After serving in the Army during World War II as a member of the Counterintelligence Corps from 1944–1946, he went to the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
where he received a bachelor’s degree and then did graduate work in political theory at Columbia. After serving in the Army it is said that he had the “appearance of a durable veteran from ancient wars, penetrating eyes intolerant of bombast and passivity, facial lines that mobilize easily to express by turns infectious good humor, remembered pain, resignation, impatience.” In the 1950s, he worked as an executive of the International Rescue Committee, the American Committee for Cultural Freedom
American Committee for Cultural Freedom
The American Committee for Cultural Freedom was the U.S. affiliate of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an organization that, during the Cold War, sought to encourage intellectuals to be critical of the Soviet Union and Communism, and to combat, according to a writer for the New York Times, "the...
, and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.
Work With Civil Rights
In 1960 Henry and his wife Kathleen were in Lexington, Kentucky when he overheard people talking about a lunch-counter sit in on the campus of Berea CollegeBerea College
Berea College is a liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky , founded in 1855. Current full-time enrollment is 1,514 students...
. He decided to join in the sit in and ended up being the only white person involved. This was the beginning of his fight for civil rights. Soon after he began his fight for African-American’s civil rights, he was arrested on June 21, 1961 in Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
for his participation in the Freedom ride
Freedom ride
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated southern United States to test the United States Supreme Court decisions Boynton v. Virginia and Morgan v. Virginia...
s. Once he was released Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
wrote on his imprisonment forms, “Your courageous willingness to go to jail for freedom has brought us closer to our nation’s bright tomorrow.” From that point on he and Martin Luther King, Jr. attended many events together, with both of them speaking and making movements towards civil rights. In 1961 Schwarzschild embarked on his own speaking tour across America to try and recruit people to their cause. He went on to make many public statements on civil liberties, capital punishment, racial justice, and many others.
In 1964 he created the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee which was composed of civil rights lawyers. In the first year he convinced 300 lawyers to take their vacation time and go down to the South to help with the cause of civil rights for African Americans.
Work With Capital Punishment
In 1972 he was appointed to head up the ACLU’s project on capital punishment which was named the Capital Punishment Project. From 1972 until 1990 he worked as the leader of this project and fought to get legislation passed to help with the opposition to the death penalty. For the first five years he ran this project completely on his own. After those five years they finally began to get funding and more volunteers into the program. The ACLU is the American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and they work to “extend rights to segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color, women, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people, prisoners, and people with disabilities.” The ACLU had groups who spoke up for those who were anti-death penalty through the Capital Punishment Project especially. Through his power in the ACLU he was able to organize and establish a structure called the National Coalition for Universal and Unconditional Amnesty to help pressure President Ford to pardon those who had left the United States to avoid military conscription.
In 1976, while also working with the Capital Punishment Project and with the other groups he was a part of, he created the NCADP which stands for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is a large organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty in the United States...
. Henry founded this organization in response to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 153 , reaffirmed the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States, upholding, in particular, the death sentence imposed on Troy Leon...
which permitted executions to resume in the United States. Schwarzschild organized it in New York and then transferred its headquarters to Washington, D.C. where he could do more with the legislation process. The NCADP consists of several dozen state and national affiliates, mainstream Protestants, and other groups along with these. The opposition to the death penalty was obviously present before the creation of this group but that bond is what solidified the different members of this group. They attempted to create change in the death penalty topic by creating public policy campaigns, serving as an information contact for people who want to know more about the death penalty and a site to keep up with the updates on new conquests in the death penalty area. They did this through trying to influence state by state changes in their constitutions that ban the death penalty individually in each state one by one.
Opposition to Israel
Following the Israeli siege of Beirut1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
in the summer of 1982, he wrote a public letter comparing the siege of the city to that of the Warsaw Ghetto, creating a "new holocaust." Schwarzschild concluded by "renouncing" the State of Israel, declaring himself to be its "enemy."
In response, the Jewish Press, a politically conservative weekly newspaper, created the Schwarschild Award as a parody of his views, highlighting a prominent "Jewish person in the public spotlight who, by his or her statements, displays contempt for the Jewish people," in the newspaper's view.
Retirement and Beliefs
After retiring from the ACLU in 1990 he began to help with problems in the Middle East between IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, and other third-world countries. He fought for the religious and political rights of these groups.
Schwarzschild has been opposed to the death penalty all of his life and has stated that “he is an advocate not for murderers but against the death penalty.” (Word and the Law) He wanted to clear up the controversy in society about him supporting murderers by not wanting the death penalty. He believed they still deserved to suffer, but not through death. Throughout the years he fought for the support of national political figures and for the most part he found none. Many lawyers and political figures supported the death penalty because their constituents and clients supported it. The one thing that Henry made clear was that he “could not live in a period of major moral, social events and be a bystander.”
Death
On June 1, 1996 Schwarzschild died in the White Plains Hospital in White Plains. He was 70 years old. His daughter said the cause was cancer.Legacy
His legacy is continued through a few different methods. In Berea, Kentucky at Berea CollegeBerea College
Berea College is a liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky , founded in 1855. Current full-time enrollment is 1,514 students...
there is a collection in their library for Henry Schwarzschild. In 2000 the Lincoln Center of Henry Schwarzschild was added to the holdings in special collections. His important collections of “printed works, government publications, and other contemporary pieces” were added by his wife, Kathleen. Another way his legacy remains is through the annual Henry Schwarzschild Memorial Lecture which began in 1999. It is sponsored by the NYCLU and the Hogarth Center for Social Action at Manhattan College and the lecturers focus on critical issues of “human rights and human dignity.” Schwarzschild also contributed a few times to The New York Review of Books with letters titled “Help for Ben Chaney” (March 1971), “HUAC” (September 1966), and the article, “An Exchange on Racism” (December 7, 1967). Many people see his life as an example of how to fight for rights and use his example to take a stand for what they believe. His most recent legacy was his denouncement of the use of legal injections in executions. (NYSDA Defender News)