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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12/26/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; monotonous schedule; correspondence with people from home; British politics; being Jewish around Christmastime; experience growing up Jewish in Portland.
12/25/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Christmas celebrations on base; colleague's emergency furlough; being Jewish around Christmastime.
12/25/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Christmas celebrations on base; Fascism, Communism, democracy; GOP; Marshall's talks with Chiang; postwar Germany; US postwar economic policies.
12/23/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding a court martial he participated in; memories of home; thoughts on returning to Portland.
12/21/1945 B

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding mother's health; trip to Boston to visit family; talk Israel gave to scouts in Bath; Treasury Department under Truman.
12/21/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding personnel issues on base; promotion.
12/20/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding the health of mother's eye; sister Helen's progress in school; labor issues in US; British politics; law school; GI Bill.
12/20/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding point system for discharge from the Army; court martial he will be attending.
12/19/1945

Israel Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from father Israel regarding mother's eye health; their appointment with Dr. Sachs in Boston; trip with mother to New York; Uncle Louis handling Bill Needleman's estate.
12/16/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding meeting about the close out of the officers club (particularly what was to be done with their supply of alcohol); record keeping at ordnance office; upcoming court martial; pessimism around US politics; communism.
12/16/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to Aunt Anne, Uncle Joe, Bob, and Joan from Sumner Bernstein regarding trip to Guadalcanal; speculation about when he will be discharged; US responsibilities to the international community; citizenship.
12/15/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding typing up loose ends at the ordnance office; court martial; low morale on base; propaganda techniques among Nazis and Japanese governments.
12/15/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding court martial; tentative timeline for base closure; family news; sister Helen's college plans; department of Veteran's Affairs.
12/13/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding trip to Guadalcanal; appointment as court-martial trial judge prosecutor; correspondence; GM-UAW dispute; US economy.
12/12/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding time on Guadalcanal; family's Thanksgiving celebrations; voter registration; Bill Needleman's death.
12/11/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding trip to Guadalcanal; experience traveling on Army plane; description of the island; visits to battle locations; thunderstorm; cemetery; attempt to locate Luther Tibbet's grave; lodgings; correspondence; Council for Judaism; Palestine; Zionism.
12/09/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding loading of ship to the US; planning for trip to Guadalcanal; correspondence; news clippings; commentary on generals in Europe; new Harvard undergraduate library; Nuremberg trials; Zionism.
12/09/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to Aunt Anne, Uncle Joe, Joan and Bob from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; trip to Guadalcanal; Kumin; Zionism; confusion within US State Department; speculation on when he will be discharged.
12/05/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding personnel; labor disputes; Truman; the Republican Party; Truman-Attlee-King decisions about the atomic bomb; American relationship to the British Empire.
12/04/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding loading cargo ship to the US; corresponding with parents during their trip to New York; advice on college applications for sister Helen.
12/03/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding attendance at court martial; interest in military justice; Harvard-Yale football game.
12/01/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; detailed description of court martial case regarding robberies on the island; enjoyment of legal work.
12/01/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding correspondence; American Jewish Committee; Zionism; Portland City Council elections; point system for time served in the Army.
11/29/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding packages arriving from home; court martial duties; American conversations about the atomic bomb; US position toward China.
11/28/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; news from home; G.I. Bill of Rights; Palestine.