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).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.

Switch View to Grid View Slideshow

07/03/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding Boston Globe piece on Dewey; sister Helen's birthday; Russian Army pushing back the Nazis.
07/03/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding construction of his tent with tentmate Herb; thoughts on capitalism.
07/02/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding arrival of mail; news from home; accident on base; family's guesses about where he's stationed.
07/02/1944 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding staying busy to keep from getting moody; entertainment on base; Italian Manifesto; correspondence.
06/30/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding news clippings; convention; news of Harvard Commencement and quotes from President James Conant's speech (Sumner would have graduated in 1944 if not for the war).
06/30/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding presidential election; censorship; constructing tent with tentmate Herb Schreiber.
06/29/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding Dewey's convention speech; thoughts on Dewey's chances of beating Roosevelt in the 1944 election.
06/29/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding correspondence; orientation films; segregation in the military; labor dispute.
06/28/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding arrival of Sumner's letters; memories of taking young Sumner to his first Harvard football game; Republican Convention and the nomination of Dewey.
06/28/1944

Sumner Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding change in address; correspondence; father's vacation; American Jews' support of Palestine; Jewish diaspora; Antisemitism in America.
06/27/1944

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding conflicts over development of the Republican Party platform; speculation about whether Roosevelt will run for a fourth term; discussion of Roosevelt's politics; praise of Wilkie; dislike of Dewey.
06/27/1944 B

Sumner Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding construction of his tent with tentmate Herb; arrival of mail; boredom with routine.
06/26/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding wedding anniversary; Uncle Louis' legal work in the Army; Republican convention; opinions on WIlkie.
06/26/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding correspondence, supplies, discussion group on base, keeping track of European theater.
06/25/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding anniversary wishes; trip to an airfield; positive news out of the European front; Perlman case; Mann's Joseph and His Brothers; tentmate Herb; thoughts on sending sister Helen to private high school, and where she should attend college; Portland politics.
06/25/1944 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding "Trouble in Cambridge" TIME article on Antisemitic attack and race rioting at Harvard; disagreement with Dean Hanford's handling of the incidents; chance to stamp out American fascism; promotion of democracy.
06/25/1944 C

Sumner T. Bernstein

Telegram from Sumner Bernstein to his parents on their anniversary.
06/23/1944 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel.
06/23/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding friendship with Herb, sister Helen-Barbara's social activities, thoughts on service command.
06/24/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding daily routine, activities at service command, correspondence.
06/22/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding getting to know enlisted men and officers; news from home; Portland politics; Gwen Cushing's marriage; mail codes; card games; inquiry about whether his letters are being censored.
06/21/1944

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding grandfather's health; grandfather's requirements for a strictly Kosher, orthodox Jewish home; optimism about the direction of the war; glad that Sumner is not in active combat duty.
06/20/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding orientation program work, reading, entertainment on base.
06/19/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding comfortable situation at Service Command; news from home; response to sister Helen's trip to Boston; Oliver Wendell Holmes; Bernard de Voto; ability of civilian society to absorb returning soldiers; lengthy description of tentmate Herb Schreiber's biography and political views.
06/18/1944

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Uncle Lou being stationed in New York; letter from Mary Stein; family trips to Boston and Menikoe; hopes for election of Horace Hildreth in Maine Republican gubernatorial primary; Aunt Anne's letter about her dental convention; good news from both theaters of war; hopes for international cooperation.