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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10/06/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding plans for his education once he is out of the Army; European politics; peace in Japan; correspondence.
10/05/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding opinions on American labor issues; Truman speech; occupation of Japan; Portland, Maine politics.
10/04/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding investigation of Roosevelt loan; American-British relations; international politics; opinion on Jewish War Veterans organization.
10/03/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; Dorothy Thompson's column on German atrocities; reports of Antisemitism in Europe; Palestine; American labor disputes; Chinese politics.
10/02/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding French elections; Macarthur-State Department controversy; Harvard football; American politics; Bradley revision of Veterans Administration.
10/01/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; symposium of Jewish Youth Attitudes; discharge from the Army; news from home; French elections.
09/29/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; Geneva; correspondence; Zionism; news from home.
09/28/1945

Rebecca Bernstein

Letter to Sumner Bernstein from his mother Rebecca regarding strategies for coping with his boredom; medical news about his father; local charity budgets.
09/28/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; news from home; banning of Strange Fruit in Boston [it featured an interracial romance and was banned for "lewdness"].
09/27/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; Greenberg case; news from home; European politics; correspondence.
09/26/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; correspondence; Portland elections; news from home.
09/24/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding life on base; Portland elections; Palestine; news from home.
09/23/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding sister Helen's school; CSB merger; life on base; news from home; American Judaism; career after Army.
09/22/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; international politics.
09/22/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter "to Willie" [appears to be to family] from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding mock news article "Mysterious Discovery at Espiritu Santo"; Russian influence in East Asia; life on base.
09/21/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; atomic bomb; war crimes trials in Germany; British military; Communism.
09/20/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding issues on base; news from home; Marshall's chat with Congress.
09/19/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to the Joseph B. Abrams family (aunt and uncle) from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding demobilization; post-WWII Army reform; the future of China; European politics.
09/19/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; MacArthur announcement; international politics; furloughs; United Nations.
09/18/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; Yom Kippur observation; the future of Orthodox Judaism; conflict between MacArthur and the State Department; correspondence.
09/18/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner Bernstein regarding weather on base; Yom Kippur observation; MacArthur; Wallace's book on labor unions.
09/16/1945 A

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding impact of Pearl Harbor on US involvement in WWII; news clippings; Yom Kippur celebrations.
09/16/1945 B

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; European politics; relationship between Japan and US; Argentina; NYC mayoral race; Portland, ME politics.
09/14/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

Letter to family from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding life on base; entertainment; anti-Semitism and Zionism.
09/13/1945

Sumner T. Bernstein

V-mail to grandparents from Sumner T. Bernstein regarding well-wishes for Rosh Hashanah.