Horace Stern

Horace Stern
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In office November 1, 1952 – December 29, 1956
Preceded by	James B. Drew
Succeeded by	Charles Alvin Jones
Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In office January 6, 1936 – November 1, 1952
Personal details
Born	(1878-08-07)August 7, 1878 North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	April 15, 1969 (aged 90)
Relations	Henry Friendly (son-in-law) Rose Goldsmith Stern (sister-in-law)
Education	University of Pennsylvania (BA, LLB)

Horace Stern (August 7, 1878 – April 15, 1969) was the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1 November 1952 to 29 December 1956. He became chief justice after serving on the court from 6 January 1936.^[1]

Biography

Stern was born to a Jewish family in North Philadelphia, one of eight children. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1899, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School summa cum laude in 1902.^[2]

Prior to his elevation to the bench, Stern was a professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School, where his portrait still hangs today.^[3] He went on to co-found of the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen (later called WolfBlock) in 1903, before taking an appointment to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in 1920.^[2]

Stern was the first Jew to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the second Jewish trustee of the University of Pennsylvania (and first since Moses Levy) whose term as trustee started in 1802 and ended in 1826).^[4] He was also very active within Philadelphia's Jewish community, having served as president of the Federation of Jewish Charities (now the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia) and having been a founder of the American Jewish Committee.

Stern's daughter Sophie Stern married Henry Friendly in 1930.^[5] Stern's brother Sidney was married to clubwoman Rose Goldsmith Stern.^[6]

References

1. List of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices, from Pennsylvania Department of General Services
2. "This is Our Bar": History of the Philadelphia Bar
3. "Stern's portrait at UPenn Law School". Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
4. Legends of the Bar, from the Philadelphia Bar Association
5. Norman, Michael (1986-03-12). "HENRY J. FRIENDLY, FEDERAL JUDGE IN COURT OF APPEALS, IS DEAD AT 82". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
6. Stern, Rose Goldsmith (1918). "The Problem of the Training of a Deaf Child as Viewed by a Mother.—I". American Annals of the Deaf. 63 (2): 151–189. ISSN 0002-726X.