Robert F. Bingham to Charles W. Chesnutt, 21 November 1922
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THE CLEVELAND COUNCIL OF SOCIOLOGY1
November 21, 1922.
Mr. Charles W. Chestnut,
1106 Wiliamson Bldg.,
Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Mr. Chestnut:
You requested of Mr. Foley2 information as to whether you had paid your dues to the Council of Sociology for the year 1922–1923. Our records show that you have paid for 1921–1922 but not for 1922–1923.
Sincerely yours, Robert F Bingham Bingham/FM 1435-L-6 Wm J Corrigan3 Justice Kirby's4 1239 Engs Bldg5Correspondent: Robert Fry Bingham (1891–1947) was a White lawyer from Ohio specializing in real estate who began working for the prominent Cleveland law firm of Thompson, Hine and Flory shortly after he passed the bar in 1915. He was very active in civic service, including as member and (in 1922) treasurer of the Cleveland Council of Sociology.
1. The Cleveland Council of Sociology was founded in 1893 to host regular debates and lectures by local and national speakers, often on social problems of general interest. Initially designed for small groups and followed by a dinner at elite Cleveland hotels, the lectures were later opened to larger groups. Booker T. Washington was hosted by the Council in January 1905. Chesnutt became a member that year and gave a speech in 1906 ("The Age of Problems," Charles W. Chesnutt: Essays and Speeches, ed. Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., Robert C. Leitz, III, Jesse S. Crisler [Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999]: 238–251). Chesnutt served as the Council's president in 1910. [back]
2. This is likely in reference to Roland Ray Foley (1889–1984), a White Harvard-educated lawyer who lived in Ohio from the 1920s to the 1940s and was, like Robert F. Bingham, working for the Cleveland law firm of Thompson, Hine and Flory in 1922. It is unclear what role he had in the Cleveland Council of Sociology. [back]
3. William J. Corrigan (1886–1961) was a prominent White Cleveland lawyer specializing in labor law. He worked for the Cuyhoga County Attorney's office (1917–1920) before going into private practice, often functioning as counsel for unions. He was for many years attorney for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. [back]
4. The reference is unclear. Chesnutt's note may refer to what was then the Kirby Building, a prominent downtown highrise in Cleveland where many law firms had their offices. But the reference could also be to White Cleveland lawyer (not judge) Thomas Miner Kirby (1880–1941), who was admitted to the bar of numerous courts, including of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1918. [back]
5. This is the address of Thompson, Hine, and Flory, a law firm founded by White Cleveland lawyer Walter S. Flory in 1911, where Bingham was a law partner. [back]
