Sumner T. Bernstein Correspondence

Sumner Thurman Bernstein (1924 - 2002) grew up in Portland, Maine, the son of lawyer parents. He served in the South Pacific in the U.S. Army during World War II (achieving the rank of Captain) and attended Harvard University for his undergraduate education and for law school. He returned to Portland after marrying Rosalyne Spindel in 1949, to join his father and uncle’s law practice, which he helped to grow into Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in 1964. He was very engaged with the community, participating in the following organizations, among others, often serving as president or chair of these groups for a portion of his tenure: Portland City Council (1955-1961); Portland School Committee (1955-58); Portland Housing Authority; Downtown Portland Corporation; Maine State Bar Association; Maine Bar Foundation; Jewish Federation of Southern Maine; Temple Beth El; Maine Jewish Council; Jewish Community Center; National Council of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee; Pine Tree Council of the Boy Scouts of America; Portland YMCA; Maine Medical Center; Portland Public Library; and World Affairs Council of Maine. He also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maine School of Law from 1993-98 and was a member of their Board of Visitors, and he was an instructor at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute of the University of Southern Maine. The Papers document his civic work and personal life. They include correspondence, newspaper clippings, and text of his speeches and talks. Of particular value are 25 folders of family correspondence dating from 1940 to 1945, which include letters covering Bernstein’s military training and World War II service. Other records and reminiscences of his army service and Harvard education are present, as well. The Papers also include materials related to his final illness and death, including letters of sympathy and condolence, information about contributions made in his honor, obituaries, eulogies, and other tributes, and videos/cassettes of memorial services and other celebrations of his life. The Papers also include two albums – one documenting the 85-year history of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer, and Nelson and the other a collection of notes and photos compiled for The Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine’s Evening to Honor Sumner and Rosalyne Bernstein (May 15, 2000).

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04/20/1945 C

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding volleyball; San Francisco Conference; Nazism; socialism; Hayek's book.
04/19/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding changes in government after Roosevelt's death; San Francisco Conference; tariffs; Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement.
04/19/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding his recent performance evaluation; death of Ernie Pyle; correspondence with friends from home; card games; Maurice Hindus speech on Russia.
04/18/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Truman's speech to the Armed Forces; news of friends from home; memories of Harvard.
04/17/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding death of President Roosevelt; opinions and reflections on Roosevelt's legacy; predictions about how Truman will govern.
04/17/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; Aubrey Williams; German industrialism's role in politics; US labor disputes; rebroadcast of Truman's speech to the armed forces.
04/16/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding reports of the death of President Roosevelt; news clippings sent to him by parents; San Francisco Conference.
04/13/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; story of South Portland grocer Hiram Cole meeting FDR.
04/13/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Roosevelt's legacy; looking ahead to a Truman presidency; San Francisco Conference; patriotism.
04/13/1945 C

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; impact of FDR's death on American politics; what a Truman presidency will look like.
04/13/1945 D

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding father's trip to New York to visit Sumner's grandfather.

[incomplete]
04/12/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding New Republic article; concept of liberalism; Russia; New Deal; difficulties of serving in the military.
04/12/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding fight against fascism worldwide; community leadership; correspondence; friends fighting in Germany.
04/11/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; correspondence with sister Helen-Barbara; news from home; strategy in Germany.
04/09/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Chinese troops; San Francisco Conference; the future of Germany.
04/07/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding photograph taken at Friday services; Antisemitism; American Jews.

[incomplete]
04/07/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding White's "Report on the Russians"; postwar American politics; postwar international politics; law school reading list; reflections on democracy.
04/06/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; Russian break with Japan; mandatory peacetime military training.
04/05/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding USO performance of "Porgy and Bess"; San Francisco Conference; Palestine; Zionism; American Jewish organizations' different positions on Palestine.
04/04/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding frustrations with work; sister Helen's writing; Helen's college decision; international intervention in human rights abuses.
04/03/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; move to a new tent; correspondence with Uncle Lou; returning to college after the war; marriage; American labor disputes.
04/01/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding correspondence; life on base; American Jewish Committee; Palestine; experience of being Jewish at Harvard.
04/01/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; marriage; news clippings; holiday celebrations at home [Passover]; college football.
07/30/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding dance at the Club; socializing with female nurses and Red Cross workers; Portland Press Herald clippings; softball game; living in the Southern Hemisphere.
07/29/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding meeting with Ned Hanscomb (acquaintance from Maine); life on base; correspondence; internationalism among members of different American political parties.