During his long career of public service, first as a reform-minded lawyer and later as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Louis Dembitz Brandeis (1856-1941) had a profound influence upon American life in this century. In the words of Max Lerner: "Years from now, when historians can look back and put our time into perspective, they will say that one of its towering figures--more truly great than generals and diplomats, business giants and labor giants, bigger than most of our presidents--was a man called Brandeis." Other respected authorities have asserted that, except for John Marshall and Oliver Wendell Holmes, no jurist has exerted so broad and enduring influence upon American jurisprudence as Brandeis. Now assembled for the first time and planned for publication in a five-volume series are the Brandeis letters. In Vol. 1, (1870-1907): Urban Reformer, are letters written by Brandeis during his first years as a lawyer and social activist. They illuminate, in a day to day way, seemingly small areas of social action which are rarely documented and are so often lost in historical haze. They show what liberal reformers were thinking and doing in the Progressive Era and reveal the techniques, tactics, and strategies they employed in working within the system to find solutions to the human and urban problems of their day. In the process, they focus on many problems of contemporary concern and furnish insights into ways of organizing citizen pressure to effect social change.
Widely regarded as a leading progressive reformer as well as a major figure in Constitutional history, Louis D. Brandeis was an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939. Liberals and conservatives alike consistently rate him as one of the few truly great jurists to serve on that court. Until now, only Brandeis's professional correspondence has been available in print. Here, Melvin I. Urofsky and David W. Levy present the private correspondence between Brandeis and his immediate family, particularly his wife and two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan. Not only do the letters reveal much about progressive politics and personalities, they also reveal Brandeis the person. Author of the "right to privacy" doctrine, Brandeis jealously guarded his personal life. He enjoyed the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He liked to hike and canoe. As a husband and father, he faced the same problems and frustrations faced by every spouse and parent. He relished a good joke yet carefully restricted this side to his family and a few close friends. While many who came in contact with him thought him cold and remote, those closest to him saw the human side behind the mantle of Supreme Court justice.
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