Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is unrestricted with the exception of select folders in Series 7, Subseries 2.
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Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection documents the professional and personal life of Eliot H. Lumbard.
- Extent:
- 52.15 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows: Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Eliot Howland Lumbard Papers, 1943-2006, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York.
Any researcher citing portions of the draft manuscript Harm to Each Other must include the following statement: The draft Harm to Each Other is not a final draft by Eliot H. Lumbard, nor approved by him. The book was never published.
Background
- Scope and Content:
The Eliot Lumbard Papers document the life's work of a lawyer who devoted himself towards both public service and private practice with equal vigor and success. The collection is arranged into 12 series: Series 1: Office of the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York; Series 2: New York State Commission of Investigation; Series 3: Special Assistant Counsel for Law Enforcement to New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller; Series 4: Other Public Service, Professional Associations and Organizations; Series 5:Publications, Harm to Each Other: Crime Control in America; Series 6: Other Publications; Series 7: Private Practice; Series 8: Teaching; Series 9: Correspondence; Series 10: Personal Files; Series 11: Subject Files; Series 12: Audio/Visual. Series 7 is further divided into two subseries.
The Lumbard papers are useful to scholars, students and historians studying New York State government of the 1960s, bankruptcy cases, SUNY Albany, and criminal justice. The entire collection totaling nearly 53 cubic feet contains records from his public and private sector work which he had commercially bound. The collection includes: correspondence, memorandum, press releases, reports, court proceedings, notes, speeches, journal articles, academic papers, drafts, newspaper clippings, and background research.
All of the significant positions that Lumbard held are represented in this collection including his service as Assistant U.S. Attorney 1953-1956, Chief Counsel for the New York State Commission of Investigation, 1958-1961, and Special Assistant Counsel for Law Enforcement to New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1961-1967. Also of significant interest are his records from private practice cases including: counsel to Charles Seligson and trustee in bankruptcy of Ira Haupt and Co. (1964-1973); formation of the University at Albany's School of Criminal Justice; review panel to disbar to Roy Cohn, accused of professional misconduct; and representation of the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health in the early 1970s.
Access to some individual legal case files in Series 7 are restricted. Consult the head of the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives for details.
- Biographical / Historical:
Eliot Howland Lumbard practiced law for 40 years as an associate or partner in various New York and Pennsylvania firms. In addition to his private practice, he compiled a distinguished record in government service, including service on several commissions to investigate, combat, and control crime, and as a key advisor on crime to New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller.
Lumbard was born in Fairhaven, Mass. on May 6, 1925. He received a B.S. from the Merchant Marine Academy in 1945 after serivce in World War II, a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania in 1949 and his J.D. from Columbia University in 1952. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1953 and the U. S. Supreme Court Bar in 1959. In addition, in 2005 he received an honorary Doctorate of Science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy.
Following his admission to the Bar, he began his legal career in government service. From 1953-1956 he was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. During this time, he was assigned to a wide variety of both civil and criminal matters. From 1958-1961 he was Chief Counsel of the New York State Commission of Investigation. New York Governor W. Averell Harriman signed the Commission of Investigation into law on April 25, 1958 and charged the Commission with the duty and power to conduct investigations in connection with organized crime and racketeering, the conduct of public officers and public employees and any matter concerning the public peace, public safety and public justice. In his role, Lumbard organized and directed many large and complex investigations, including the investigation of the police departments in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, as well as investigating organized crime, harness racing, bingo, the New York City school construction program, and Albany real estate tax delinquencies. In 1961 New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller hired Lumbard as Special Assistant Counsel for Law Enforcement, a position he held until 1967. As a key Rockefeller advisor, Lumbard discussed many ideas and issues related to the social problems of crime and crime control. Lumbard organized the Oyster Bay Conferences on Organized Crime (1963-1967), developed the New York State Information and Intelligence System (NYSIIS) which was the first computer-based criminal justice record system that included individual criminal histories, and proposed creating a school of criminal justice, eventually established at the University at Albany in 1965.
During his career in private practice, Lumbard worked on many cases of commercial litigation on finance and bankruptcy matters. Some of his cases included: counsel to Charles Seligson and trustee in bankruptcy of Ira Haupt and Co. (1964-1973), a large Wall Street case known as the salad oil debacle in 1963; trustee in bankruptcy of Universal Money Order Co., Inc. (1977-1982) which was the nation's largest consumer bankruptcy; and trustee in the Roy Cohn proceedings who was accused of professional misconduct. In the early 1970s, he represented the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health (CRASH), located in New York City and at the time the largest freestanding abortion clinic in the world. CRASH opened in 1970 after New York legalized abortion.
Lumbard worked in academe as a lecturer at the New York University Law School from 1963-1965 and as an Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at John Jay College from 1975-1985. From 1967-1969, Lumbard researched and wrote an unpublished work titled Harm to Each Other: Crime and Crime Control in America.
In addition, Lumbard served as director or trustee of many organizations, including the New York Police Foundation, Inc. (1971-1991) and the New York State Maritime Museum (1969-1980). Lumbard was a member of many professional organizations, including the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the International Bar Association, the New York Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
Lumbard died in November 2013 at the age of 88 in Nashua, NH and was survived by two daughters and a son.
- Acquisition information:
- Beginning in 1972 and continuing during the mid 1970s, Eliot H. Lumbard donated portions of this manuscript group to the University at Albany. Lumbard transfered additonal materials in 1999, 2005, and 2006 to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. Martin Greenberg deposited additional accessions in 2002 and 2020.
- Processing information:
Initially processed in 2008 by John Grayshaw. Sigifnicant additional processing in 2017 and EAD finding aid created by Sheri Sarnoff in 2017.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Office of the U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, 1952-1989, Undated
- Series 2: New York State Commission of Investigation, 1955-1991, Undated
- Series 3: Special Assistant Counsel for Law Enforcement to New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1956-1996, Undated
- Series 4: Other Public Service, Professional Associations and Organizations, 1952-2006, Undated
- Series 5: Publications: Harm to Each Other: Crime and Crime Control in America, 1956-1996, Undated
- Series 6: Other Publications, 1963-1987
- Series 7: Private Practice, 1951-1999, Undated, (RESTRICTED)
- Subseries 1: Cases, 1951-1999, Undated
- Subseries 2: Firms, 1963-1990 (RESTRICTED)
- Series 8: Teaching, 1964-1999, Undated
- Series 9: Correspondence, 1960-1996, Undated
- Series 10: Personal Files, 1943-2001, Undated
- Series 11: Subject Files, 1960-1999, Undated,
- Series 12: Audio, 1963-1971, Undated
All series are arranged alphabetically.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Contents
Access
Using These Materials
- ACCESS:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is unrestricted with the exception of select folders in Series 7, Subseries 2.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
As a condition of access set forth in the memorandum of agreement by the donor, any researcher reproducing/copying any portions of the draft manuscript Harm to Each Other must be aware of the following statement: The draft Harm to Each Other is not a final draft by Eliot H. Lumbard, nor approved by him. The book was never published.
Any researcher citing portions of the draft manuscript Harm to Each Other must accompany the citation with the following statement: The draft Harm to Each Other is not a final draft by Eliot H. Lumbard, nor approved by him. The book was never published.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed first with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows: Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Eliot Howland Lumbard Papers, 1943-2006, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York.
Any researcher citing portions of the draft manuscript Harm to Each Other must include the following statement: The draft Harm to Each Other is not a final draft by Eliot H. Lumbard, nor approved by him. The book was never published.