Lewis H. Weinstein Papers

A U.S. attorney and communal leader, Lewis H. Weinstein was born on April 10, 1905 to Jacob Menehem and Kuna (Romanow) Weinstein in Arany, Lithania, and was taken to the United States as an infant. He grew up in Portland, Maine. He married Selma Yeslawssy on September 2, 1932 and had two children-David J. (born 1936) and Louise (born 1945).

Before coming to Boston in 1921, while he lived in Portland he worked as a reported for the Press Herald, as office manager in a furniture business, as a Hebrew school teacher and principal, and waiter.

After graduating from Harvard (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1927 and Harvard Law School in 1930, he was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1930 and practiced law in Boston, Massachusetts at the firm of Rome and Weinstein and then Foley, Hoag and Elliot from 1946 until his retirement.

During World War II he served in the army, in 1944 on General Eisenhower's staff as liaison to General Charles de Gaulle and in 1945 as chief of the liaison section of the European theater of operations. After the Normandy landing, he served as liaison officer from General Eisenhower to Generals DeGaulle and Koenig. He entered Paris with them on the Day of Liberation in 1944. After the war he returned to his law practice and was active in local, state, and national bar associations.

Among his many interests was housing: he served as counsel for urban renewal agencies and on city, state, and federal housing agencies, and taught city planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and law at Harvard and other professional institutions. He served as chairman, from 1946-1052, of the Massachusetts State Housing Board, Emergency Housing Commission, Massachusetts Housing Council and was counsel to numerous housing and redevelopment authorities, in Massachusetts and elsewhere. He was a member of the U.S. Rent Control and Housing Commission. His wide-ranging interest in Jewish life led to his service as chairman of four national Jewish agencies: the Council of Jewish Federation and Welfare Funds (1965-1966); the National Community Relations Advisory Council (1960-1964); the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, which he helped found and which he served as co-chairman from its inception and from 1968 as chairman; and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (1963-1965). He also served a number of local, state, and national organizations, including the Temple Mishkan Tefila Board, Boston's Hebrew College (President, 1946-1953), and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston as President and general campaign chairman. He served on the Boards of the Beth Israel Hospital, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged, Bureau of Jewish Education, and other local agencies.

1905

LHW born in Vilna, Lithuania, on April 10^th

1906

Arrived in United States

1927

B.A. (magna cum Laude), Harvard University

1930

L.L.B. Harvard Law School

1932

Marries Selma Yeslawsky

1930-1932

Associate, Rome & Weinstein

1932-1945

Partner, Rome & Weinstein

1934-1938

Asst. Corporate Counsel, City of Boston

1938-1945

General Counsel, Boston Housing Authority

1946-

Partner, Foley Hoag and Eliot

1946-1952

Chairman, Massachusetts State Housing Board

1946-1953

President, Hebrew Teachers College

1950

Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Board of Trustees, Executive Committee)

1954-1957

President, Combined Jewish Philanthropies

1956-1957

General Campaign Chairman

1960-1968

Senior Visiting Lecturer on Land Use and Planning, MIT

1960-1964

Chairman, National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council

1961-1968

Senior Visiting Lecturer in City Planning, MIT

1968-1970

Chairman, American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry

1960-1975

Lecturer, Harvard Law School

1963-1965

Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

1965-1966

President, Council of Jewish Federations

1986

Publishes Masa

1993

Publishes My Life at the Bar: Lawyer, Soldier, Teacher and Pro Bono Activist

Military Honors

Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Clusters; Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre avec Palme (France); Papal Military Medal

Civilian Awards

National Brotherhood Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews, 1957; Heritage Award, Yeshiva University; National Community Service Award, Jewish Theological Seminary of America