Thomas H. Eliot
Encyclopedia
Thomas Hopkinson Eliot (June 14, 1907-October 14, 1991) was a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, and academic, serving as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

 and in the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.
A great-grandson of Samuel Atkins Eliot
Samuel Atkins Eliot (politician)
Samuel Atkins Eliot , was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts....

 and grandson of Charles William Eliot
Charles William Eliot
Charles William Eliot was an American academic who was selected as Harvard's president in 1869. He transformed the provincial college into the preeminent American research university...

, Eliot was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

 into the prominent Eliot family
Eliot family
The Eliot family is the American branch of one of several British families to hold this surname. This branch is based in Boston but originated in East Coker, Yeovil, Somerset. It is one of the Boston Brahmins, a bourgeois family, whose ancestors had become wealthy and held sway over the American...

. He attended Browne and Nichols School
Buckingham Browne & Nichols
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is a private school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, by the Charles River. The school educates students from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. It was established by a merge of two independent schools, the Buckingham School founded...

, graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1928 and was a student at Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...

 in Cambridge University, from 1928 to 1929. He graduated from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1932 and was admitted to the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 bar in 1933, commencing practice in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

. He served as assistant solicitor in the United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

 1933–1935 and as general counsel for the Social Security Board 1935–1938. He was lecturer on government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1937 and 1938, and regional director of the Wage and Hour Division in the Department of Labor in 1939 and 1940.

In 1938 Eliot ran unsuccessfully as election candidate to the Seventy-sixth Congress. However, he gained election as a Democrat to the Seventy-seventh Congress (January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943). He was unsuccessful as a candidate for renomination in 1942 and for nomination in 1944 to the Seventy-ninth Congress.

Eliot saw war service in 1943 as director of the British Division, Office of War Information, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England, and special assistant to the United States Ambassador. From 1943 to 1944 he was chairman of the appeals committee, National War Labor Board
National War Labor Board
The National War Labor Board was a federal agency created in April 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson. It was composed of twelve representatives from business and labor, and co-chaired by Former President William Howard Taft. Its purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in...

. He served with the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...

 in 1944, and from November 1944 to November 1945 was chief counsel, Division of Power, Department of the Interior.In addition, Eliot served as New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 chairman of the United Negro College Fund
United Negro College Fund
The United Negro College Fund is an American philanthropic organization that fundraises college tuition money for black students and general scholarship funds for 39 private historically black colleges and universities. The UNCF was incorporated on April 25, 1944 by Frederick D. Patterson , Mary...

.

After the war, Eliot engaged in the practice of law in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, 1945–1950, before returning to university life. In 1952 he was appointed professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...

 were he wrote Governing America; the Politics of a Free People: National, State, and Local Government, and American Government: Problems and Readings in Political Analysis . In 1958 he became a professor of constitutional law from 1958. In 1961 he moved to Washington University College of Liberal Arts, serving as Dean 1961–1962, and Chancellor 1962–1971. He also served as Vice chairman, United States Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, 1963–1967, president, Salzburg Global Seminar, 1971–1977 and as a teacher, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, 1977–1985. Eliot was a resident of Cambridge, Mass., until his death there in 1991.
He was interred at Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...

, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

.

External links

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