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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11/26/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding registering at Harvard; correspondence from mother about weekend in New Haven; details of a PFC court-martialed for sleeping on the watch.
11/25/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding assignment to a court-martial board; Harvard-BU football game; Palestine.
11/24/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding plans for loading cargo onto ships; meal with officers on the USS Kwajelein.
11/24/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Telegram from Sumner T. Bernstein's sister Helen to their father on his birthday.
11/22/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding friends he has made on base; relationships with enlisted men.

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11/21/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding Thanksgiving holiday; entertainment on base; father's birthday.
11/20/1945 C

Helen-Barbara Bernstein

Letter to father from Sumner T. Bernstein's sister Helen passing along Sumner's birthday wishes.
11/20/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding "Mildred Pierce" screening; life on base; Zionism; news from home.
11/20/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Telegram from Sumner T. Bernstein to his father with birthday wishes.
11/19/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding candidates for 1948 election; Congress; postwar Germany; Palestine; American labor issues; American aid to Britain.
11/18/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding his mother's wartime charity work; American labor issues; football; Zionism.
11/17/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; correspondence; "Uncle Harry" screening; demobilization; Children of Palestine.
11/15/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding demobilization; life on base; correspondence.
11/14/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding theft of ammunition from dump on base; U.S. maintenance of armed forces; life on base; demobilization.
11/14/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding theft of ammunition from base dump and subsequent investigation.
11/14/1945 C

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to Sumner T. Bernstein from his father regarding birthday wishes; Sumner's studies at Harvard; trip to New York; football.
11/12/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding Communist China; Indonesian independence; Palestine; South America; life on base; correspondence.
11/12/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; U.S. labor issues; politics and control of atomic power.
11/11/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Handwritten note from Sumner T. Bernstein to his father wishing his father a happy birthday.
11/10/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; Armistice Day; response to letter from HB; Truman conscription-for-peacetime speech; Palestine; Zionism.
11/09/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; visiting officers; demobilization; correspondence.
11/07/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; watching movies; American politics.
11/05/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding correspondence; news from home; life on base; American politics; Zionism; peace enforcement in Germany and Japan.
11/04/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding Truman military program; UNHRA; news from home; atomic bomb; relations with Russia.
11/03/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; Army bureaucracy; DAR discrimination against Marion Anderson; news from home.