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Walter Gladwin

Walter Gladwin
Member of the New York State Assembly
In office
November 23, 1953 – October 31, 1957
Preceded byLouis Peck
Succeeded byIvan Warner
Constituency7th district
Personal details
Born(1902-10-21)October 21, 1902
Berbice, British Guiana
DiedJune 12, 1988(1988-06-12) (aged 85)
Goshen, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAnna
Children4

Walter H. Gladwin (October 21, 1902 – June 12, 1988) was an American politician who served in the New York State Assembly from 1953 to 1957, as a member of the Democratic Party. He was the first black person to be elected to the New York State Assembly, be appointed an assistant district attorney or be named a criminal court judge in the Bronx; he also served in several other New York City government positions.

Born in British Guiana, Gladwin moved to the Bronx as a teenager and resided there until he retired and moved to upstate New York. He served in a volunteer capacity with the NAACP, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Urban League, and other organizations. A park in the neighborhood where he served was renamed in his honor in 2020.

Early life

Gladwin was born on October 21, 1902, in Berbice (spelled Verbice in some sources), British Guiana.[1][2] He was orphaned while a teenager and moved to the Bronx to live with an uncle[3] in 1925.[4] He graduated from the City College of New York in 1936, and New York Law School in 1941,[1] with a LL.B. degree.[2] He earned money to pay for his education by working part-time jobs as a printer and elevator operator. Gladwin married Anna, with whom he had four children.[1]

Career

Gladwin was admitted to the bar in 1942[3] and entered private practice at that time,[5] maintaining an office at 391 East 149th Street in the Bronx.[2] In 1943, he was named Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for the Third District of New York, and in 1946, Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York.[6] On April 29, 1949, he was sworn in as Assistant District Attorney, under District Attorney Samuel J. Foley,[7] where he served as chief prosecutor for the Court of Special Sessions and Magistrate's Court in the Bronx.[2]

Gladwin was president of the Bronx chapter of the NAACP, director of the Bronx Chamber of commerce,[8] and a member of the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America.[1] In 1948 he was elected to be vice-chairman of the Bronx Committee of the National Conference of Christians and Jews,[9] was on the board of directors for the Forest Neighborhood Houses,[3] and was a member of the Equity Progressive Club.[10] He worked toward peaceful race relations as the head of the Bronx branch of the Urban League.[11]

Political

In the early 1950s, a number of political parties in New York City nominated black candidates: Andronicus Jacobs for Manhattan Borough President by the American Labor Party,[12] Elmer Carter for the New York State Commission Against Discrimination by the Republican Party,[13] and James Robinson by the Liberal Party.[14] The Democratic Party nominated Gladwin under pressure from Ewart Gunier's Harlem Affairs Committee to respond to these events.[15] Gladwin converted to Catholicism around this time; in her 2003 book To Stand and Fight, Martha Biondi explains that this was likely a political move, as Catholics held "considerable power in the New York Democratic Party".[15] In 1956, he was a delegate to the state Democratic convention.[16]

Louis Peck, a member of the New York State Assembly, resigned in July 1953, so that he could run for a seat on the New York City Council.[17] With the support of Elias Karmon and the Jackson Democratic Club,[18][19] Gladwin was elected in a special election to fill Peck's seat, winning 63% of the vote.[20][21] He was reelected in 1954 (with 74%) and 1956 (with 69%), running in District 6 after district lines were redrawn.[6][22][23] While serving in the assembly, he advocated for the U.S. Congress to withhold federal aid from states which did not comply with the Supreme Court's school desegregation order, saying "it would be a 'crime and disgrace' to tax Negroes living in New York State in order to support segregated school in the South".[24] He was a member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus for all the years he was in the Assembly.[25]

Charles A. Buckley submitted Galdwin for a judicial nomination in 1957.[26] Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. appointed Gladwin to a judgeship in the New York Criminal Court serving in both the Bronx and Manhattan, where he became well known for presiding over the high-profile Adele Morales case.[1][5] Ivan Warner was elected in a special election on January 14, 1958, to fill the assembly seat vacated by Gladwin.[27][28] Gladwin was the first black person in the Bronx to serve in either the Assembly or as a criminal court judge, as well as being the first black assistant district attorney in the Bronx.[1][29]

Later life

Gladwin retired as a judge in 1972, after which he moved to Highland Mills, New York, where he resided for the rest of his life and was in private practice until 1983. He died of a heart attack at Arden Hill Hospital in Goshen, New York, on June 12, 1988.[1][5]

Walter Gladwin Park

In 2020, commemorating the 51st anniversary of Black Solidarity Day, the New York City Parks Department renamed Tremont Park as Walter Gladwin Park. The Parks Department noted that, "His legislative priorities included combating narcotics use among youth, improving housing for low-and middle-income constituents, strengthening civil rights guarantees and enforcement, and advocating for a state-sponsored summer camp program".[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Walter Gladwin, 85, Former Bronx Judge And Assemblyman". The New York Times. June 13, 1988. p. D12. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d The New York Red Book (63rd ed.). Albany: Williams Press. 1954. p. 179.
  3. ^ a b c "Walter Gladwin Park". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Gladwin Known for Giving The Bronx a Helping Hand". The New York Age. April 23, 1949. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Walter Gladwin, Broke Race Bars In Legal System". Newsday. June 14, 1988. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c "Walter Gladwin Park (history)". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bronx Gets New Ass't D.A." New York Daily News. April 30, 1949. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Johnson, Stephon (November 5, 2020). "NYC renames parks in honor of Black Solidarity Day". Amsterdam News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  9. ^ "Bronx Beacon". The New York Age. December 18, 1948. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Club and Fraternal Activities: Equity Progressive Club". The New York Age. November 1, 1930. p. 2.
  11. ^ "Notable Bronxites". The Bronx County Historical Society. September 2, 2015. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "Urban League Hears 4 Aspirants For Manhattan Borough President; Jack, Carter, Robinson and Jacobs Detail Their Programs, Defend Their Parties and Appeal for Support". The New York Times. October 27, 1953. p. 23. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025.
  13. ^ "Discrimination Fighers: Elmer A. Carter". The New York Times. January 28, 1959. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  14. ^ "Rev. Dr. James Robinson Dies; Founded Youth Group for Africa". The New York Times. November 7, 1972. p. 38. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Biondi, Martha (June 30, 2009). To Stand and Fight. Harvard University Press. pp. 214–218. ISBN 978-0-674-02095-5.
  16. ^ "Is There A Difference". The New York Age. September 1, 1956. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Bronx Democrats Split Albany". Syracuse Herald-Journal. July 23, 1953. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Karmon, Elias. "Interview with the Bronx African American History Project" (Interview). Interviewed by Dr. Mark Naison. BAAHP Digital Archive Fordham University. p. 16. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  19. ^ Karmon, Elias (Spring–Fall 2008). "Mr. Bronx: An Oral History of Elias Karmon". Bronx County Historical Society Journal (Interview). No. 45. Interviewed by Mark Naison. p. 16.
  20. ^ "Louis Peck, 82, Former Judge Who Was a Bronx Legislator". The New York Times. August 14, 1987. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017.
  21. ^ "Final Returns on Mayoralty Race and Other City Contests; Vote on Amendments, Judiciary". The New York Times. November 5, 1953. p 26, column 8 (Vote for Assembly). ISSN 0362-4331.
  22. ^ "Results of Balloting for Governor, Other State Offices; City Vote for Representatives". The New York Times. November 3, 1954. p 18, column 5 (Assembly: the Bronx). Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  23. ^ "City Vote for State Senate and Assembly". The New York Times. November 7, 1956. p 14, column 6 (Vote for Assembly: Bronx). Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  24. ^ "New Legal Poison is Aimed at Litterbugs". Wellsville Daily Reporter. January 25, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  25. ^ 1917–2014: A Look at the History of the Legislators of Color (PDF) (Report). New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. p. 19.
  26. ^ "An Assist From Faubus". New York Daily News. October 13, 1957. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Special Elections In City Jan. 14". New York Daily News. December 14, 1957. p. 8C – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Lee, Dick (January 15, 1958). "Democrats Fill 3 Vacant Jobs In Legislature". New York Daily News. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "Walter Gladwin, Class of 1941, First Black Assemblyman in the Bronx". New York Law School. August 14, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2025.
New York State Assembly
Preceded by
Louis P. Peck
 New York State Assembly
Bronx County, 7th District
1953–1957 		Succeeded by
Quelle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gladwin