Milton R. Konvitz American Ideals Lectures Audio-Visual Materials
Collection Number: /4039 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Title:
Milton R. Konvitz American Ideals Lectures Audio-Visual Materials, 1973- 1974
Collection Number:
/4039 AV
Creator:
Konvitz, Milton R.
Quantity:
10.6 linear ft.
Forms of Material:
Audiocassettes, compact discs, sound recordings, audiovisual materials.
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Collection of Milton Konvitz's lectures from January, February, March and April of 1973.
Language:
Collection material in English
March 12, 1908-September 5, 2003 Milton Konvitz, a Cornell University faculty member and authority on constitutional and labor
law, and civil and human rights, died Sept. 5 at the age of 95. Konvitz was a founding faculty member in the School of
Industrial and Labor Relations from 1946 until his retirement in 1973. He was also a professor in Cornell's Law School.
Konvitz is perhaps best known for his American Ideals course, which he taught to more than 8,000 students over the course
of
his career, never giving the same lecture twice. "I saw the U.S. Constitution as it has been interpreted as a magnificent
depository of our ideals, both individual and social," he said. His course exposed students to the great intellectual
thinkers and philosophers throughout history whose writings had shaped those ideals. They included Sophocles, whose play
Antigone is Cornell's New Student Reading Project this year. One student he influenced was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, Cornell Class of 1954, who considers him a mentor. At Cornell Konvitz also was a founder of the university's
Department of Near Eastern Studies and Program of Jewish Studies. "I felt it was essential for a college interested in
the humanities not to leave out Hebrew language and literature," he said. "And the knowledge of Jewish history, which
began 4,000 years ago and has contributed to civilization no less than Greek, Roman or English history, is important to
today's students-Jewish and non-Jewish." He often hosted students at his Ithaca home and helped start the first Kosher
dining option at Cornell, Young Israel House. In addition, for nearly 30 years he directed the Liberian Codification Project,
which drew up the official body of statutory laws that is still in force in the Republic of Liberia today, despite the
current political upheaval there. Konvitz also edited the opinions of Liberia's Supreme Court and received the Grand Band
of
the Order of the Star of Africa, the highest award given to foreigners, as well as an honorary degree from the University
of Liberia, one of seven honorary degrees he received in his lifetime. Active as a scholar and writer until his death, he
wrote books and articles on American constitutional law that won him wide recognition and were cited in U.S. Supreme Court
opinions. Among his nine books is Fundamental Liberties of a Free People: Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, which was
republished earlier this year with an expanded introduction by him that is strongly critical of the Rehnquist Supreme
Court. Other books include A Century of Civil Rights (1983) and Judaism and Human Rights (2nd ed. 2001). He also edited a
dozen volumes, including two on American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose thinking shaped his views. One Emersonian
idea he absorbed was that readers give life to books, which Konvitz recast as follows: "It is in their hearing that
students bring life to the words, the thoughts, the teacher." Konvitz was born in Safed, Palestine (now Israel ), in 1908,
the son of a rabbi. He immigrated to the United States in 1915 and became a naturalized citizen in 1926. He received a
bachelor's degree in 1929 and a law degree in 1930, both from New York University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cornell
in 1933. Before joining Cornell's faculty, he was one of three assistant general counsels to Thurgood Marshall at the
NAACP Legal Defense Fund for three years. He is survived by his wife, Mary, of Oakhurst, N.J.; a brother, Phillip, of
Elberon, N.J.; a son and daughter-in- law, Josef and Isa, of Paris, France; and two grandsons, Eli and Ezra. Josef Konvitz,
who grew up in Ithaca, is now an official at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Collection of Milton Konvitz's lectures from January, February, March and April of 1973.
Names:
Konvitz, Milton R.(Milton Ridvas), 1908-2003.
Geographic Subjects:
United States--Social conditions.
United States--Politics and government.
Form and Genre Terms:
Audiocassettes
Compact discs
Sound recordings
Audiovisual materials
Access Restrictions:
Access to the collections in the Kheel Center is restricted. Please contact a reference archivist for access to these materials.
Restrictions on Use:
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and Procedures for Document Use.
Cite As:
Milton R. Konvitz American Ideals Lectures Audio-Visual Materials #/4039 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation
and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections:
/3033: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Project Files
/4039: Milton R. Konvitz Papers
/4039 a: Milton R. Konvitz Papers Guide (Volume 1). Laser Copy
/4039 B: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers
/4039 L: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Codification Project
/4085: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers
/4220m: Milton Konvitz Additional Papers
/4289 AV: ILR School Alumni Affairs and Development Audio-Visual Materials
/4297: ILR School Biography Files
6047: Archives Information File
/3033: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Project Files
/4039: Milton R. Konvitz Papers
/4039 a: Milton R. Konvitz Papers Guide (Volume 1). Laser Copy
/4039 B: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers
/4039 L: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Codification Project
/4085: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers
/4220m: Milton Konvitz Additional Papers
/4289 AV: ILR School Alumni Affairs and Development Audio-Visual Materials
/4297: ILR School Biography Files
6047: Archives Information File
Container
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Description
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Date
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Box 1 | 1973 | ||
Box 2 | 1973 | ||
Box 3 | 1973 | ||
Box 4 | 1973 | ||
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Box 7 | 1973 | ||
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Box 36 | 2001 | ||
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Box 78 | 1981 | ||
Box 79 | 1973-1974 | ||
63 - 1973 cassettes ; 99-1974 cassettes and 4 unlabeled - housed in Annex
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