Overview
Materials used and collected by Lévitt for his study of the crisis in Rhodesia following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence, November 11, 1965, together with his proposals for and efforts in behalf of a reconciliation between Rhodesia and Great Britain. The 1974 addition to the collection includes papers relating to Lévitt’s teaching career, court papers, study and research material on international treaties and nationality and comparative law, and miscellaneous personal and professional papers.
Dates
- Creation: 1817-1968
Conditions Governing Access
Access to these papers is governed by the rules and regulations of the Harvard Law School Library. This collection is open to the public, but is housed off-site at Harvard Depository and requires 2 business-day advance notice for retrieval. Consult the Special Collections staff for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Harvard Law School Library holds copyright on some, but not all, of the material in our collections. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be directed to the Special Collections staff. Researchers who obtain permission to publish from the Harvard Law School Library are also responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or organizations who hold copyright.
Extent
1 collection (44 boxes and 16 Paige boxes)The 5500 items in the papers of Judge Albert Lévitt (1887-1968) span the years 1927-1937 and 1965-1968; a small number of research items used by Judge Lévitt date back to the early 1920s and to the 1800s.
The collection includes correspondence, notes, memoranda, reports, minutes of meetings, bibliographies, government and legal documents, drafts, newspaper clippings, photographs, an outline of an uncompleted manuscript, files of index cards, partial files of newspapers, pamphlets, copies of magazines, printed parliamentary debates, and books. The books are association copies, and most of them have either marginal annotations, marginal check-marks, and/or slips marking special places of reference. All of the parliamentary debates are marked with both slips and check-marks.
The papers cover two distinct periods of Judge Lévitt's life. The first group covers roughly the years 1927-1937 when he taught at the Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University (1927-1930), his professional and political activities in Connecticut from 1930-1933, and his service as a Special Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. (1933-1935, 1936-1937), as a Representative of the U.S. Department of Justice on a Committee of Advisors on the Codification of Nationality Laws of the U.S. (1933-1935), and as a Judge of the U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands (1935-1936). These papers contain his study of, and research materials in, international treaties, nationality and comparative law; his court papers; and some personal/professional miscellany.
The second group consists mainly of research material which Judge Lévitt collected and received in connection with his study of the crisis in Rhodesia following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence on November 11, 1965, and with his proposals and efforts for a reconciliation between Rhodesia and the British Crown.
Among Judge Lévitt's correspondents were: Sir Hugh Beadle, Chief Justice, High Court of Rhodesia; Clifford Dupont, Officer Administering the Government, Rhodesia; D.W. Lardner-Burke, Minister of Justice, Rhodesia; Oliver Sprague; Sir Robert Tredgold, Rhodesia; Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; Patrick Wall, M.P., House of Commons, Great Britian.
The arrangement which Judge Lévitt had imposed upon his files, including Series titles and folder headings, has been preserved.
Historical/Biographical Information
Lévitt, Albert, lawyer, judge, public servant.
- March 14, 1887 b. Woodbine, Maryland,s. Thomas Reeve and Ida Alee Lévitt
- 1911 B.D. Meadville Theological School
- 1913 B.A. Columbia, cum magnis honoribus, Phi Beta Kappa
- 1920 LL.B. Harvard Law School
- 1923 J.D. Yale Law School
- December 24, 1921 m. Elsie Mary Hill, 1 daughter, Leslie Hill Lévitt
- 1904-1907 Served as private and sergeant, Hospital Corps, U.S. Army, (in Phillipines, 1906-1907 and later with the American Ambulance, French Army at the front, 1915.)
- 1913-1914 Lecturer in Philosophy, Columbia
- 1915-1916 Acting Professor of Philosophy, Colgate University
- June-September, 1917 Regimental sergeant major Harvard R.O.T.C.
- 1917 - January, 1919 Chaplain, U.S. Army (overseas after April 1918 in Baccarat sector, Oise-Aisne and Meuse-Argonne offensive where he was wounded and gassed.)
- 1920-1921 Assistant Professor of Law, George Washington University
- 1921-1922 Professor of Law, University of North Dakota
- 1924 Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence, Johns Hopkins Medical School
- 1924-1927 Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University
- 1927-1930 Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University
- 1939 Lecturer on the Law of Finance, School of Commerce, New York University
- 1942-1943 Professor of Law, Hasting College of the Law, University of California
- 1923-1924, 1933-1935, 1936-1937 Special Assistant Attorney General of the U.S.
- 1935-1936 Judge, U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands
- 1921 Member, U.S. Assay Commission
- 1933-1935 Representative of the U.S. Department of Justice on Committee of Advisors on Codification of Nationality Laws of the U.S.
- 1941 Special advisor to the Office of Production Management, Priorities Division
- 1932 Candidate of Independent Republican party for governor of Connecticut
- 1950 Republican candidate, U.S. Senator, California
- June 18, 1968 d. Manchester, Massachusetts
Code of International Criminal Law, 1928
How to Study Law, 1928
The Law of Community Property of California, 1951
The President and International Affairs of the United States
The Public Utilities of Connecticut, 1931
Vaticanism: The Political Principles of the Catholic Church
Associate editor:
Central Law Journal, St. Louis, 1921-1930.
- March14, 1887
- b. Woodbine, Maryland,s. Thomas Reeve and Ida Alee Lévitt
- 1911
- B.D. Meadville Theological School
- 1913
- B.A. Columbia, cum magnis honoribus, Phi Beta Kappa
- 1920
- LL.B. Harvard Law School
- 1923
- J.D. Yale Law School
- December 24, 1921
- m. Elsie Mary Hill, 1 daughter, Leslie Hill Lévitt
- 1904-1907
- Served as private and sergeant, Hospital Corps, U.S. Army, (in Phillipines, 1906-1907 and later with the American Ambulance, French Army at the front, 1915.)
- 1913-1914
- Lecturer in Philosophy, Columbia
- 1915-1916
- Acting Professor of Philosophy, Colgate University
- June-September,1917
- Regimental sergeant major Harvard R.O.T.C.
- 1917 - January,1919
- Chaplain, U.S. Army (overseas after April 1918 in Baccarat sector, Oise-Aisne and Meuse-Argonne offensive where he was wounded and gassed.)
- 1920-1921
- Assistant Professor of Law, George Washington University
- 1921-1922
- Professor of Law, University of North Dakota
- 1924
- Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence, Johns Hopkins Medical School
- 1924-1927
- Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University
- 1927-1930
- Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School of St. Lawrence University
- 1939
- Lecturer on the Law of Finance, School of Commerce, New York University
- 1942-1943
- Professor of Law, Hasting College of the Law, University of California
- 1923-1924, 1933-1935,1936-1937
- Special Assistant Attorney General of the U.S.
- 1935-1936
- Judge, U.S. District Court of the Virgin Islands
- 1921
- Member, U.S. Assay Commission
- 1933-1935
- Representative of the U.S. Department of Justice on Committee of Advisors on Codification of Nationality Laws of the U.S.
- 1941
- Special advisor to the Office of Production Management, Priorities Division
- 1932
- Candidate of Independent Republican party for governor of Connecticut
- 1950
- Republican candidate, U.S. Senator, California
- June 18, 1968
- d. Manchester, Massachusetts
Series List
- Series I. Personal Files: Rhodesia
- Series II. Personal Files: Other Countries
- Series III. Pamphlet File: Rhodesia and otherCountries
- Series IV. Constitutional Law I
- Series V. Constitutional Law II
- Series VI. Constitutional Law: Treaties
- Series VII. International Law: Opinions, Memoranda
- Series VIII. Treaties
- Series IX. Treaties I: International Law
- Series X. Virgin Islands and other Miscellany
- Series XI. Public Utilities Files
- Series XII. Russian Insurance Cases, Recognition of Russia,1933: Exhibits and Translations of Decrees and Constitutions of theU.S.S.R and other data
- Series XIII. Personal and Biographical Miscellany
- Series XIV. International Miscellany: Argentina, Germany,Japan, Russia
- Series XV. Nationality
- Series XVI. Newspaper Files: Rhodesia and otherCountries
- Series XVII. Gr. Britain - Parliamentary Debates - House ofCommons
- Series XVIII. Gt.Britain - Parliamentary Debates - House ofLords
- Series XIX. Rhodesia - Parliamentary Debates
- Series XX. Books on Rhodesia, International Law, BritishCommonwealth Nations
- Series XXI. Miscellaneous material other than InternationalLaw
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
In 1968 the heirs of Albert Lévitt, teacher, ordained minister, lawyer, government official, judge and author, presented to the Harvard Law School, as a gift, a sizeable group of Judge Lévitt's papers, reflecting mainly his interest and research in international law and international affairs.
Existence and Location of Copies
The Albert Lévitt Papers is available on microfilm; see the HOLLIS record for more information.
Researchers are required to use the microfilm copy of the collection.
Processing Information
Processed by Erika S. Chadbourn and John J. Feeney, Jr., September 1968, November 1974
- Title
- Lévitt, Albert. Papers, 1817-1968: Finding Aid.
- Author
- Harvard Law School LibraryCambridge, MA 02138
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- law00067
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard Law School Library, Historical & Special Collections Repository
Harvard Law School Library's Historical & Special Collections (HSC) collects, preserves, and makes available research materials for the study of the law and legal history. HSC holds over 8,000 linear feet of manuscripts, over 100,000 rare books, and more than 70,000 visual images.
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