Newton D. Baker to Charles W. Chesnutt, 2 May 1922
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BAKER, HOSTETLER & SIDLO
COUNSELLORS AT LAW
UNION NATIONAL BANK BUILDING
CLEVELAND
NEWTON D. BAKER
JOSEPH C. HOSTETLER
THOMAS L. SIDLO
FRANK E. STEVENS
M. DE VAUGHN
PAUL PATTERSON
BENJAMIN F. FIERY
M. J. MONAHEN
May 2, 1922.
Mr. Charles W. Chesnutt,
1106 Williamson Building,
City.
My dear Mr. Chesnutt:-
I have received your note of May 1. My attention had been called to the article by Mr. Costello1 and I found it intrinsically interesting apart from its very generous reference to me which of course, gave me pleasure.2
Cordially yours, Newton D. Baker Newton D. Baker. 1-5Correspondent: Newton D. Baker (1871–1937) was a White lawyer and Democratic politician born in West Virginia. After earning a law degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia, he practiced law in West Virginia and then in Cleveland, Ohio, where he founded the prestigious corporate law firm Baker, Hostetler, and Sidlo, in 1916. In Cleveland, he served as city solicitor (1901–1909) and mayor (1912–1915), then as U.S. Secretary of War (1916–1921). He then returned to his law practice and remained a leader in the Democratic party in Ohio as well as serving as president of Cleveland's Chamber of Commerce. In early 1932 he showed interest in running for president, but did not publicly announce; his name was also circulated as a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
1. Mr. Costello has not been identified. Contact the Charles W. Chesnutt Archive if you have further information. [back]
2. Chesnutt's note from May 1, 1922, has not survived, so the reference here is unclear, but Newton Baker was mentioned in the papers that day in two different contexts that might have caught the interest of Chesnutt: At the meeting of the Order of Railway Conductors, he was referenced as a possible presidential contender for 1924 ("'Baker for President' Boomlet is Launched at Railway Convention," [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, May 3, 1922, 2); he was also scheduled to address the convention of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union on behalf of Cleveland's Chamber of Commerce, at a time when he publicly supported "open shop" practices that allowed non-union members to work in unionized businesses, a practice that allowed more Black workers access to employment ("Gompers to Open Garment Meeting," [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, April 30, 1922, 13). [back]
