Chester K. Gillespie to Charles W. Chesnutt, 3 March 1923
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OFFICE PHONE: MAIN 910
RES. PHONE: GARFIELD 1351 J
Chester K. Gillespie
ATTORNEY - AT - LAW
OFFICE: 508 SUPERIOR BLDG.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
March 3rd 1923.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt,
Williamson Bldg.,
City.
Dear Mr. Chesnutt:-
I would be pleased if you could see your way clear to write Attorney A. E. Bernsteien, Engrs., Bldg.,1 favoring me for the position as Assistant U. S. District Attorney, for the Northern District of Ohio.2
Your support will be deeply appreciated.
Sincerely yours Chester K. Gillespie CKG.Correspondent: Chester K. Gillespie (1897–1985) was a Black lawyer and activist from Ohio who got his law degree at Baldwin-Wallace College Law School in Berea, Ohio and became assistant law director for Cleveland in 1921. He brought many (mostly unsuccessful) anti-discrimination lawsuits against businesses, and later served as a Republican in the Ohio General Assembly (1933—34, 1939—40, and 1943—44) and as the president of the Cleveland branch of the NAACP (1936—37).
1. Abraham Edward Bernsteen (1876–1957) was a White lawyer who had graduated from Western Reserve University's law school in Cleveland in 1900 and was in private practice with various partners. He was a lifelong Republican and served as U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio from 1923 to 1929. In January 1929, he resigned and returned to private practice. [back]
2. Chesnutt wrote to the newly appointed Abraham Edward Bernsteen on March 8, 1923, to recommend Gillespie as assistant U.S. District Attorney. But Bernsteen appointed Irene Nungesser (1890–1970), a White lawyer from his law practice, and one of the first women to serve in this position. Like Bernsteen himself, she resigned from her position in 1929 (in March). Nungesser became Bernsteen's wife in 1933. [back]
