On Friday, October 6, 1961, Merle McCurdy was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio by Federal Judge James C. Connell, the same Judge who jailed Merle’s brother, Foster, in the late 1940s for picketing the Judge’s house during a Union labor dispute.

A crowd of two hundred gathered to attend Merle McCurdy’s swearing ceremony. As Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, was on the West Coast, and unable to attend the ceremony, Assistant Attorney General, William A. Geoghegan was present. Georhegan stated that, “Mr. McCurdy did not receive this post because of his race. Nor was there any thought that he might be passed by because of it. He was named only after full investigation had determined that he was well qualified” (The Plain Dealer, 1961, p. 6).

Also in attendance, was Andrew T. Hatcher (left), Associate White House Press Secretary and Dr. Robert Weaver (standing next to Merle), administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency. President John F. Kennedy attempted to name Dr. Weaver to a full position within his Cabinet, but was he blocked by southern politicians who objected to an African American serving the White House. President Lyndon Baines Johnson elevated Robert Weaver to a full cabinet position in 1966, naming him Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Sources

200 Attend Swearing in of McCurdy. (1961, October 7). The Plain Dealer, p. 6.

Gates, H. (2013, November 11). How Black Was JFK’s Camelot? The Root. Retrieved from https://www.theroot.com/how-black-was-jfks-camelot-1790898936

Nearly fifty years from his birth, Merle is joined at his swearing-in ceremony from one of his teachers from Conneaut High School. Fifty years ahead of her time, this unidentified teacher of Merle’s, lived to see one of her students - a great-great grandson of a former slave, ascend to one of the highest positions in the United States.

U.S. Representative, Charles Vanik can be seen in the middle of this photograph, wearing a bow tie.

By November of 1961, Merle had rounded out his staff of Assistant U.S. Attorneys. Noted from left to right: Merle M. McCurdy, Bernard J. Stuplinski (Merle’s Chief Assistant), Dominic J. Cimino, Burt W. Griffin, Charles M. Diamond, and Gerald J. Celebrezze.

Burt Griffin, later Judge Griffin of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, was a hold-over from the Eisenhower Administration. When hired in the late 1950’s, this son of a former Republican Judge was told of the pleasure the office had at receiving his resume, given that it was facing pressure to hire an African American attorney. The conversation left an impression on Griffin who felt the joke was on them because they just hired a “Jewish Democrat.” Griffin would later serve on the Warren Commission that investigated President Kennedy’s death.

Absent from this photograph is Merle’s former Legal Aid Chief Assistant, Gerald S. Gold. Before Merle’s appointment, the two had talked about joining a private partnership, but, even in 1960s Cleveland, Merle thought it was impossible for two attorneys of different races to start an office seeking paying clients. In addition, Merle indicated that he wanted to leave the Public Defender’s office in the good hands of his long-time friend, Gerald S. Gold.

Sources

Gold, G.S. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, April 23, 2015).

Sheehan, Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge B. et al. by Dana, R. (Personal Communication, April 2015).

Merle McCurdy shaking hands with Robert F. Kennedy.

Within eight months of his swearing-in ceremony, a witness in the House Un-American Activities Committee identified Merle’s brother, Foster, as a Communist. Working as a deputy in the Cuyahoga County Clerk’s Office, Foster denied any involvement in the Communist Party. He gave no further comment, as advised by Merle serving as a U.S. District Attorney.

The following day, Foster acknowledged some of his earlier activities in the late 1940s, but denied ever joining the Communist Party, stating that his refusal to join contributed to his divorce of his first wife, Mamie, ten years beforehand.

Robert F. Kennedy issued a statement indicating that it looked fully into the McCurdy Family background, were familiar with the allegations made against Foster, and that the administration had “no question about [Merle’s] loyalty, integrity and ability.” The controversy obviously caused a strain in the two brother’s relationship, Merle is quoted as saying: “Whatever my brother did occurred years ago. At that time I was not aware of any of his activities except what I read in the newspapers. We had long since gone our separate ways” (The Plain Dealer, 1962, p. 19).

Sources

Bobby has No Doubts on McCurdy. (1962, June 5). The Plain Dealer, p. 19.

Witness Names 16 Clevelanders as Reds. (1962, June 5). Akron Beacon Journal, p. 30.

On July 3, 1962, Merle McCurdy addressed a convention held in Atlanta, Georgia for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a convention attended by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who Merle is pictured with along with Ralph D. Abernathy. In his speech, Merle noted the strides that African Americans had made in a short period of time that included the appointment of former NAACP General Counsel, Thurgood Marshall, to the Federal Bench. Merle indicated that these strides did not come by accident and that it took the “power of the ballot” and “vigilance and fortitude” by persons willing to fight injustice and protect citizens from an invasion of their rights.

Source

McCurdy, M.M. (1962, July 3). Speech for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A copy of this address can be found in the Merle McCurdy Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio.