Earl G. Harrison

Earl Grant Harrison (1899-1955) was an American attorney, academician, and public servant. He is chiefly remembered for his work on behalf of displaced persons in the aftermath of the Second World War, when he brought attention to the plight of Jewish refugees in a crucial report he submitted to President Harry S. Truman. He also had a distinguished career as an attorney in the Philadelphia area.

Professional career

Harrison was born in Philadelphia, the son of grocer Joseph Layland Harrison and stock-company actress Anna MacMullen. He earned his A.B from University of Pennsylvania as a valedictorian in 1920, and his LLB from the same university's law school in 1923. He practiced law at the firm of Saul, Ewing, Remick, and Saul from 1923 to 1945.

Harrison served in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, first as Director of Alien Registration in the United States Department of Justice from 1940 to 1941, and then as United States Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization from 1942 to 1944. He also served as the U.S. representative on the Intergovernmental Commission on Refugees from 1945 to 1946.

Harrison was dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1945 to 1948 before resigning, allegedly over the appointment of Harold Stassen as university president.

He co-founded the law firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis in 1948, where he worked as a partner until his death in 1955.

The cause of refugees

Harrison's involvement on behalf of refugees following World War II included reforming and restructuring the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, registering 3.5 million refugees, and submitting the "scathing" and much-disputed report on U.S. military treatment of displaced persons that changed the Truman administration's refugee policy.

Other activities

Harrison was described by his contemporaries as “Spare-framed, square-jawed, red haired,” "a RooseveltRepublican," and "an almost indefatigable worker." In addition to his work for the United States government and his professional career, he served in leadership roles of the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, the University of Pennsylvania alumni association, and a number of organizations for the advancement of interfaith dialogue, tolerance, and economic development in Philadelphia. He was considered for nomination as a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania in 1946.

References

*Unpublished history of the University of Pennsylvania law school.

External links

* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/truman_on_harrison.html Harrison Report on the Treatment of Displaced Jews]