Konvitz, Milton Memorial Service Audio-Visual Materials, 2003
Collection Number: /4242 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Milton Konvitz Memorial Service Audio-Visual Materials, 2003
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
/4242 AV
Abstract:
Audio recording of the memorial service for Milton Konvitz
Creator:
Konvitz, Milton
Quanitities:
0.44 cubic feet
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.
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
Milton Konvitz Memorial Service Audio-Visual Materials #/4242 AV. Kheel Center for
Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: /4261m: "Some Aspects of Negro-Jewish Relationships in Detroit, Michigan" Manuscript /4085: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers /4039 AV: Milton R. Konvitz American Ideals Lectures Audio-Visual Materials /4039 L: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Codification Project /3033: Milton R. Konvitz Liberian Project Files /4039: Milton R. Konvitz Papers /4039 B: Milton R. Konvitz Additional Papers /4220m: Milton Konvitz Additional Papers /4241: Milton Konvitz Personal Correspondence /4315 G: ILR School Milton Konvitz Memorial Lecture Posters
Names:
Konvitz, Milton R. (Milton Ridvas), 1908-2003
CONTAINER LIST
Container
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Description
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Date
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Box 1 | 1 |
Konvitz Service, 10/26/2003
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2003 |
Scope and Contents
housed with 6118 AV in box 466, ff4
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Box 2 |
Konvitz Service Oct. 26, 2003
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Box 2 | 1 |
Konvitz Service, 10/26/2003
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2003 |
Box 3 |
Konvitz Service Oct. 26, 2003
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Box 3 | 1 |
Konvitz Service, 10/26/2003
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2003 |
Box 4 |
Konvitz Service Oct. 26, 2003
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Box 4 | 1 |
Konvitz Service, 10/26/2003
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2003 |
Box 5 |
Konvitz Service Oct. 26, 2003
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Box 5 | 1 |
Konvitz Service, 10/26/2003
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2003 |