Overview
This collection contains the papers of Henry Wise, who practiced law in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the early to mid-twentieth century. Wise focused his practice mainly on unions, housing, and the fishing industry. He was a strident supporter of collective bargaining for workers in the Boston and Cambridge area and assisted Massachusetts fishermen in their efforts to establish fishing collectives.
Dates
- Creation: 1918-1970
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 Historical and 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 Historical and 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
12.5 linear feet (30 boxes)The papers of Henry Wise span the years 1918-1970, with the bulk of the material falling between the years 1923-1955. The documents in this collection reflect the legal career of Henry Wise, and consist primarily of papers dealing with Wise’s legal work with various trade unions and social programs, with a bulk of the material focusing on Wise’s work with the fishing industry in New England, primarily the Atlantic Fishermen’s Union.
Included are full newspapers and magazines, as well as clippings, correspondence, booklets, pamphlets, legal documents, printed acts and bills, memorandum, notes, maps, statistics, and surveys. There are also administrative records for many companies and unions including, but not limited to: by-laws, constitutions, rules and regulations, statistics, reports, surveys, and maps.
Historical/Biographical Information
Henry Wise was born on July 14, 1896 in Boston’s South End. He attended and graduated from the Boston Latin School, Harvard College in 1918, and Harvard Law School in 1921. In 1927 he married Pearl Katz, a civic and political leader in her own right. (Her papers are now at Harvard’s Schlesinger Archives.) Over the course of his career, he became involved with a number of unions around Massachusetts. In particular, he became a member of the Stenographs’ and Bookkeepers’ Union Delegate Boston Central Labor Union. In addition to his legal practice, he wrote on education, and became an instructor in law at Lynn Labor College, Salem Labor College, Boston Trade Union College, and Wellesley College. He was also a legal consultant expert for Co-operative Marketing Organization. He fought for civil rights in education, when he drafted a resolution, passed by A. F. of L., Condemning restriction of students by Harvard because of race. Wise worked in the private and public sector primarily on labor laws, public housing, and urban renewal. As part of his public housing work, he served on the Cambridge Housing Authority and was an advocate for urban renewal legislation in Massachusetts. He also worked extensively with the fishing industry in Massachusetts, predominantly during WWII. Henry Wise died in 1989 at the age of ninety-three.
Series List/Description
- Series I. Cooperative Files, 1918-1954 1918-1954
This seriescontains materials collected and produced on or about the issue ofCooperative Marketing and cooperation, in general, between individualorganizations in the same field. This primarily includescorrespondence, newspaper clippings, magazines/pamphlets, legaldocuments, and notes. All non-dated material is placed at the end ofthe series.
- Series II. Utilities Files, 1924-1947 1924-1947
This seriescontains materials collected and produced about utility companies andunions. This includes correspondence, legal documents, notes,administrative records for companies/unions, newspaper clippings,magazines/pamphlets, legal documents, and notes.
- Series III. Walter Baker Co. Files, 1937-1944 1937-1944
This seriescontains materials collected and produced about the Walter Baker Co.This primarily includes correspondence, legal documents, newspaperclippings, and magazines/pamphlets. Of particular interest isinformation on and from General Foods, including letters, pamphlets,surveys, and graphs from the company. There is also a small bookletof illustrations for Don Quixote, and some small paintings ofEurope.
- Series IV. Housing Files, 1931-1957 1931-1957
This seriescontains materials collected and produced about the issue of housing,including initiatives, conditions, problems, and litigation.Documents include, but are not limited to: correspondence,newspaper/magazine clippings, pamphlets, legal documents, and notes.All non-dated material is placed at the end of the series.
- Series V. Atlantic Fishermen’s Union (AFU) Files, 1919-1970 1919-1970
This seriescontains materials collected and produced on or about the AtlanticFisherman’s Union (AFU) and issues surrounding the organization,including social, political, and legal ramifications of the fishingindustry in general. The bulk of the material ranges from around1930-1960. There is a considerable amount of material concerning theGeneral Foods Corporation, as well as material from various companieswho worked with the fishing industry, including government agencies.There is also a small amount of material from and about Nova Scotia,which was an important location for the fishing industry.
Thisincludes, but is not limited to: correspondence, full newspapers andclippings, magazines, pamphlets, legal documents, printed acts andbills, memorandum, administrative records for companies/unions,statistics, reports, maps, statistical maps, statements of fishprices, posters, and reports.
- Series VI. First Addenda,
Thisseries contains records that were part of the first donation that aresimilar to the materials found throughout the previous series;however, they were not arranged during the first processing of thiscollection, thus forming the first addenda. The materials include butare not limited to correspondence, newspaper clippings, legaldocuments, printed acts and bills, memorandum, and administrativerecords. The papers are primarily loose, but there are also severalbound trial manuscripts. There is also an aluminum phonograph record,which was moved to the Phonograph Albums collection (Hollis #002094171) for preservation reasons.
- Series VII. Second Addenda, 1893-1988, bulk1922-1955 1893-1988, bulk1922-1955
This series containsmaterials donated and arranged by Rebekah Wise Sachs that look atHenry Wise, from his school days through his career. The materialsinclude but are not limited to correspondence, newspaper/ magazineclippings, periodicals, and legal documents.
There is also asmall hollinger box containing twenty-eight booklets of By-Laws andConstitutions for various unions arranged chronologically. A fulllist of titles and dates is provided in the container list.
Within each series and/or subseriesindividual items or folders are identified by box and folder number.For example, the number 5-12 corresponds to box 5, folder 12.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Papers of Henry Wise (1918-1970) were presented to the Harvard Law School as a gift by his wife, Pearl K. Wise.
The Addenda to the Papers of Henry Wise was presented on October 15, 2007, to the Harvard Law School as a gift by his daughter, Rebekah Wise Sachs.
Processing Information
Processed by Jessica K. Reeder, October 2008
Topical
- Electric industry workers –Labor unions –Massachusetts.
- Electric industry workers –United States.
- Electric power –New England.
- Electric utilities –New England.
- Fisheries –New England.
- Fisheries –North Atlantic Oceans –Congresses.
- Fisheries, Cooperative –Massachusetts.
- Fishers –Labor unions –Massachusetts.
- Title
- Henry Wise. Papers, 1918-1970: Finding Aid
- Author
- Harvard Law School Library, Cambridge, MA 02138
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- law00235
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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