Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1906, Sept. 14 | Born, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1928 | Ph.B., University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1930 | J.D., University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1930-1941 | Associate in law firm of McInerney, Epstein & Arvey, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1931 | Married Ceretta Samuels (died 1958) Published with A. I. Tobin Frank Harris: A Study in Black and White (Chicago: Madelaine Mendelsohn. 293 pp.) |
| 1934 | Director of public relations, Illinois Police Association |
| 1941-1973 | Attorney in private practice, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1944 | Member, Executive Committee, Illinois Committee for Equal Job Opportunity Member, national and Chicago Advisory Board Commission on Law and Social Action, American Jewish Congress |
| 1945-1947 | Chairman, Veterans Housing Committee, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1946-1948 | Legislative chairman of Mayor's Emergency Housing Committee, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1949-1951 | Member, Mayor's Housing Action Committee, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1959 | Married Mamie L. Friedman |
| 1959-1963 | President, Greater Chicago Council of the American Jewish Congress |
| 1965 | Published A Handful of Clients (Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. 379 pp.) |
| 1965-1969 | President, Adult Education Council of Greater Chicago |
| 1968 | Member, Chicago Citizens Commission to Study the Disorders of Convention Week Published Moment of Madness: The People vs. Jack Ruby (Chicago: Follett Publishing Co. 564 pp.) |
| 1969-1970 | Delegate to the sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention; chairman of its Committee on Bill of Rights |
| 1970-circa 1997 | Professor, John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1972 | Awarded the state of Israel's Prime Minister's Medal Published For the First Hours of Tomorrow: The New Illinois Bill of Rights (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 178 pp. |
| 1973 | Became partner in law firm of Gertz and Giampietro, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1974 | Successful plaintiff in landmark libel suit Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. Published To Life: The Story of a Chicago Lawyer (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co. 308 pp.) |
| 1975 | Editor, The Short Stories of Frank Harris: A Selection (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 299 pp.) |
| 1978 | Editor, Henry Miller: Years of Trial and Triumph, 1962-1964: The Correspondence of Henry Miller and Elmer Gertz (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 345 pp.) |
| 1978-1980 | First Amendment Lawyers Association; president, 1978-1979; chairman, 1979-1980 |
| 1979 | Published Odyssey of a Barbarian: The Biography of George Sylvester Viereck (Buffalo: Prometheus Books. 305 pp.) |
| 1980 | Published Charter for a New Age: An Inside View of the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention (Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 378 pp.) |
| 1983 | Published A Guide to Estate Planning (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 179 pp.) |
| 1984 | Published Quest for a Constitution: A Man Who Wouldn't Quit: A Political Biography of Samuel Witwer of Illinois (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America. 231 pp.) |
| 1992 | Published Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc.: The Story of a Landmark Libel Case (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. 295 pp.) |
| 2000, Apr. 27 | Died, Chicago, Ill. |