Kheel, Theodore W. Memorabilia, 1948-2006
Collection Number: 6021 MB
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Theodore W. Kheel Memorabilia, 1948-2006
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6021 MB
Creator:
Kheel, Theodore W.
Quanitities:
3.06 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
Theodore Woodrow Kheel was said to be named for both Woodrow Wilson and his political
rival Theodore Roosevelt, the result of a compromise between his politically differing
parents. The settlement presaged a career in which Kheel would be tapped by mayors,
governors, and presidents to settle disputes that were part of the nation's major
political and social transitions from post-World War II to well into the 21st century.
Born in 1914 in Brooklyn, Ted Kheel attended public high school in the Bronx. He
was awarded a Regents scholarship to Cornell University, where he attended an accelerated
undergraduate law school program permitting him to earn a bachelor's and law degree
in six years.
In private practice for a brief time after graduation from law school, Kheel soon
was offered a position as a National Labor Relations Board attorney in Washington.
Kheel's special talents as a mediator and his obvious political skills soon gave him
the opportunity to move to a new war-time agency, where he was initially hired as
principal mediation officer. By 1944, he had been appointed executive director of
the National War Labor Board, with a staff of 2,500 who were hearing 150 disputes
a week. Kheel's work at the WLB introduced him to the most important figures in the
labor movement and key government officialscontacts he would use effectively in the
future.
Following the end of World War II, Kheel returned to New York City and was drafted
by Mayor O'Dywer to serve in the city's new Labor Relations Division, which Kheel
came to head within a year. With the agreement of the mayor, Kheel was able to serve
both in this position and maintain a separate, private law practice.
In 1949, Kheel was appointed to a part-time position as impartial chairman for an
important segment of public transit in New York City, a position in which he would
render 30,000 decisions through 1982. Also in 1949, Kheel became a partner in the
New York law firm Battle, Fowler, Jaffin and Kheel. His skills in conflict resolution
led an observer to remark that the firm's work began with a battle, ended by Kheel.
During his more than half a century of involvement in labor matters, Kheel was known
above all else for his extraordinary ability to get feuding parties to make concessions
to reach an agreement. In the important New York and national labor disputes which
he would be called to mediate, Kheel's approach was to protect management rights and
at the same time demand fairness to workers while also trying to protect the public
interest in the issue.
Kheel's was frequently the voice of reason in settling a number of extremely difficult
labor disputes of the 1960s and 1970s. Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., turned to Kheel
to help end the 114-day newspaper strike of 1962-63. Among his most infamous cases
was the strike involving Mike Quill, head of the Transport Workers Union, who publically
battled Mayor John V. Lindsay in 1965-66. Kheel's efforts also included helping coordinate
bargainers and mediators during the 35-day New York City teachers' strike in 1968.
President Lyndon B. Johnson summoned Kheel to Washington in 1964 to help mediate 10
days of feverish negotiations that prevented a nationwide rail walkout. Kheel would
ultimately serve as a mediator and advisor for virtually every New York mayor from
O'Dwyer to Beame, for the Kennedy-Johnson Administration, and other presidential administrations
as well.
Kheel's interests in public issues were not limited to the labor sector. The policy
disputes that came to his attention as a mediator and lawyer frequently cried out
for larger solutions, and Kheel was not averse to using his considerable public presence
and media contacts to seek redress, especially for what he viewed as past institutional
injustices or misguided government actions. Although pressed to do so on a number
of occasions, Kheel refused to run for elective office, preferring the role of a labor
neutral and public advocate.
Kheel was also not averse to backing his powers of persuasion with legal action:
a fierce advocate for public transit, he initiated a class action lawsuit over the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's refusal to fund mass rail transit. His
most sustained crusade for the public good related to his battle to limit commuter
auto traffic and control highway building in New York City in favor of increased use
of public transportation. Initially attacked by Port Authority officials and some
city, state, and federal politicians of both parties, many of the solutions originally
proposed by Kheel, including the concept of the subsidized fare, became public policy
in later years.
An early supporter of the civil rights movement, Kheel and his wife Ann become involved
with the New York Urban League in the 1950s. He served as its president in 1955 and
as national president for four years. He worked with President Johnson on race issues
and with Martin Luther King, Jr., in a libel suit against the New York Times. Kheel's
mediation skills led to important strides in hiring African Americans in the airline
industry. His reputation for sensitivity to minority issues resulted in his becoming
involved in efforts to add civilians to the New York City Police Review Board in 1965.
Kheel was also recruited as a peacemaker in the 1968 Ocean Hill-Brownsville Teachers
dispute.
Even though Kheel handled disputes for transit workers, typesetters, and longshoremen,
he reveled in the finer things in life, and dabbled as a restaurateur in fine food
and was a patron of the fine arts.
He once owned a stake in Le Pavillon, a leading French restaurant in Manhattan, among
others. He also represented numerous artists, including Robert Rauschenberg and Christo,
and was the prime mover in the realization of the long-heralded Gates Project in Central
Park in 2005.
He also made millions of dollars as an entrepreneur while facilitating sustainable
economic and social change. He was the lead investor in the giant Punta Cana resort,
transforming 30 miles of jungle in the Dominican Republic, and helped bring about
the airport that opened that country to tourists and travelers.
Finding the solution to problems such as the impact of automation on the workplace,
community disputes, and protecting a sustainable environment in which mankind will
flourish, to name but a few, were the focus of Kheel's interest, enthusiasm, and financial
support. He was the prime mover, bringing along like-minded citizens and specialists,
in the creation of organizations to find solutions to the more intractable issues
facing society. The Foundation on Employee Health, Medical Care and Welfare, the Foundation
on Automation and Employment (and its British counterpart), Automation House, the
Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and the Earth Pledge Foundation were
among the most successful of such efforts. In the same vein, in collaboration with
Price, Waterhouse in 1994, Kheel formed Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflicts,
Inc. (PERC), now housed at Cornell ILR as Cornell/PERC Institute.
A prolific writer, Kheel is perhaps best known for his encyclopedic work on labor
law. Throughout a career that was active almost until his death at age 96 in November
2010, he was able to balance, with amazing success, advocacy of the public good and
the management of a successful law and mediation practice and other business and cultural
interests.
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference
archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
Procedures for Document Use.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
Theodore W. Kheel Memorabilia #6021 MB. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5024: Theodore W. Kheel Arbitration Awards 5776 AV: Theodore W. Kheel Interviews and Programs 6017: Theodore W. Kheel Newspaper Clipping File 6021 AV: Theodore W. Kheel Audio-Visual Materials 6021 P: Theodore W. Kheel Photographs 6021/001: Theodore W. Kheel Correspondence 6021/003: Theodore W. Kheel Arbitration files 6021/004: Theodore W. Kheel Legal Files 6021/005: Theodore W. Kheel Speeches and Articles 6021/006: Theodore W. Kheel Non-Profit Organization Files 6021/007: Theodore W. Kheel Subject Files 6021/008: Theodore W. Kheel Books and Articles 6021/009: Theodore W. Kheel Newspaper Clipping File 6021/010: Theodore W. Kheel Additional Files 6021/011: Theodore W. Kheel Punta Cana Files 6021/012m: Invitation and Program for the Theodore W. Kheel Memorial Service 6059 OH: Thomas Shactman Interviews with Theodore W. Kheel 6194 OH: College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Interview with Theodore W. Kheel 6196 OH: New York City Central Labor Council Interview of Theodore W. Kheel for Central
Archives 6207 OH: CLEL Video Oral History Project
CONTAINER LIST
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Container
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Description
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Date
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| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Theodore W. Kheel, President, national Urban League, September 8, 1959 // Key to Washington,
D.C.
|
1959 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Engraved Mallet - In recognition of a difficult job well performed from Labor and
Industry N.W.L.B. Region 2
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|
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Silver Medallion - "I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity,
Frederick Douglass, 1817-1895" ; New York Urban League Award, Presented to Theodore
W. Kheel for Distinguished Leadership toward equal opportunity, May 2, 1991
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1991 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 |
Membership card, Theodore W. Kheel, National Labor Relations Board Union
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| Box 3 | Folder 1 |
Plaque - Final Daily News, Monday, November 6, 1978 -- presented to Ted Kheel, With
deep appreciation for making this possible.
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1978 |
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Scope and Contents
"Black & White & read all over again!"
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| Box 3 | Folder 2 |
Newsprint stamps - for the New York Times, November 6, 1978
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1978 |
| Box 3 | Folder 3 |
Miscellaneous Memorabilia
|
1948-2006 |
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Scope and Contents
Hofstra University, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa ; Alumni Association of the City
College of New York, presents the John G. Finley Medal ; Floyd Gibbons Post 500, Department
of New York, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ; The International Typographical
Union of North America Expresses appreciation to Hon. Theodore W. Kheel ; In Recognition,
Newspapers are a vital part of the life and culture of New York City, Labor Advisory
Board and Faculty ; The Earth Summit, United Nations, conference on Environment and
Development ; The National Board of Trustees and the National Executive Board of the
National Conference of Christians and Jews ; Whereas, the City of New York maintains
a Bureau of Labor Relations to facilitate the settlement of Labor-Management controversies;
and Whereas, this important City Bureau has in past years ; Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Four Freedoms Award to ; The Council, City of New York Proclamation ; The Assemble,
State of New York Proclamation
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| Box 4 |
Mr. Arbitrator Theodore W. Kheel 1982 ; Presented Oct. 15, 1982, From Mabstoa Div.
I TWU Local 100
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||
| Box 4 | Folder 1 |
Mr. Arbitrator Theodore W. Kheel 1982 ; Presented Oct. 15, 1982, From Mabstoa Div.
I TWU Local 100 ; Certificates that were rolled - 2 from the Appellate Division of
the Supreme Court and 1 from The City of New York
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1982 |
| Box 5 |
Labor Relations
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||
| Box 5 | Folder 1 |
Labor Relations-Cartoon/Sketch
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| Box 6 | Folder 1 |
Ted Kheel, Gerald Ford - Wall plaque, Introduction of 'Collective Bargaining' Stamp
-- 3/1975
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1975 |
| Box 7 | Folder 1 |
Miscellaneous Portraits -- [John Lyons]
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Scope and Contents
These photos found in box 3 of 6021, and moved here
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