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Henry White Edgerton, son of Charles Eugene and Anne Benedict (White) Edgerton.

Alice May Durand, daughter of Cyrus Yale and Celia (Day) Durand.

Children:

1. John Durand, b. June 8, 1919; Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY.
2. Ann, b. November 10, 1921; Winchester, Middlesex Co., MA.

The household of Henry W. Edgerton was recorded in the 1930 Federal Census of Ithaca City (Ward 5), Tompkins County, New York (pg. 296; dwelling #206; family #258; enum. April 15, 1930), as follows:

At the time of this enumeration, the family was residing at 7 Central Avenue.  Henry’s occupation was listed as “Teacher – Cornell University”.  The household also included one lodger, L. Segundo Gardaya, from the Phillipine Islands.

The following obituary for Judge Henry White Edgerton was published in the The Washington Post on February 25, 1970:

“JUDGE H. W. EDGERTON DIES

Retired U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Henry W. Edgerton, long a champion of civil liberties and civil rights who often saw his dissenting opinions become the law of the land, died Monday at his home, 2925 Glover Driveway NW.  He was 81.

Considered a great craftsman of legal writing, Judge Edgerton, although retired since 1962, had continued to sit on cases before the Appellate Court here as late as last summer. He had been in ill health for some time.

He had served as chief judge of the Court of Appeals for three years before resigning from that position on his 70th birthday in October, 1958.

Just last Saturday, Judge Edgerton had received an honorary degree of doctor of laws from George Washington University at the School's winter convocation.  It was accepted for him by his son, John, of Washington.

The citation accompanying the degree summed him up as a judge, teacher and citizen in this way:

‘He combines the penetrating insight of a scholar with the jurist’s sure knowledge of human affairs in a career extending over more than 50 years of public service. A superb professor of law, he became an equally distinguished judge.  During his many years on the bench… his incisive, analytical ability, coupled with a warm and sympathetic understanding of the human problems of modern times, made him one of the outstanding judges of this century.  He had the courage to stake out new positions on the frontier of an advancing legal system, particularly in civil rights and civil liberties.  His landmark decisions in these areas led the way to later action by the Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court of the United States.’

One of Judge Edgerton’s memorable dissents came in 1950 and was a forerunner to the Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation decisions.  At that time, Judge Edgerton had this to say about the utility of court orders in the social sphere:

‘It is sometimes suggested that due process of law cannot require what law cannot enforce.  No such suggestion is relevant here.  When United States courts order integration of District of Columbia public schools, they will be integrated.’

In a 1948 dissent, Judge Edgerton raised one of his many protests against the excesses of some congressional investigating committees.  He said that he would hold that the House Un-American Activities Committee’s questions in one case were aimed at exposure rather than legislation and that they abridged freedom of speech.

Judge Edgerton consistently supported appeals at government expense by paupers convicted of crimes but unable to pay attorneys fees and once wrote in an opinion:

‘The United States can afford to let poor defendants take criminal appeals that the rich could take.  It cannot afford to do otherwise.’

Born in Rush Center, Kan., Judge Edgerton spent part of his childhood in Washington.  He attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated from Cornell University in 1910.  He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa while a junior at Cornell and had been class orator. He entered Harvard Law School after spending a year in Europe and received his law degree in 1914.  He joined a law firm in St. Paul, Minn., but soon came to Washington to join the staff of the Library of Congress.

Judge Edgerton taught law at Cornell, was a professor of law at George Washington University here and was a professor in the Cornell Law School in 1937 when he was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (now the District of Columbia Circuit).  The author of numerous articles on legal subjects, he also held an honorary doctor of laws degree from Yale University.

His kindness, his courtesy, his integrity and his devotion to justice and human freedom brought him the warm respect of the students he taught, his law clerks and colleagues.

When Judge Edgerton left Cornell Law School, almost every student in the school appeared at a farewell dinner they had arranged for him.  His law clerks paid a similar tribute 20 years later when he was honored at a dinner attended by Supreme Court Justices, judges and lawyers.

His opinions relating to civil liberties were put into book form, entitled ‘Freedom in the Balance,’ which was edited by Eleanor Bontecou and published by the Cornell University Press.

In addition to his son, Judge Edgerton is survived by his wife, Alice Durand Edgerton, and a brother, William F., of Chicago. A daughter, Ann, died in 1950.

The family requests that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to the Henry White Edgerton Prize Fund at Howard University.”

Original Source Documents:

World War I Draft Registration Card – Henry White Edgerton; Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY.

1930 Federal Census – household of Henry White Edgerton; Ithaca City (Ward 5), Tompkins Co., NY.

Obituary – Henry White Edgerton; The Washington Post – Wednesday, February 25, 1970.