Title: Charles L. Aarons Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1907-1952

Creator:

• Aarons, Charles L. (Charles Lehman), 1872-1952

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss DK; PH 2301; PH 2302(3)

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (8 archives boxes) and 16 photographs (2 folders)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Personal and professional papers of Charles Aarons, a Milwaukee County circuit judge. The bulk of the collection is composed of copies of Judge Aaron's legal decisions, reports, and studies. Included is the “ambulance chasing” case Churchill et al. that resulted in disbarment proceedings against many Milwaukee lawyers, and reports on circuit court congestion and on comparative negligence. One box of letters and biographical material includes correspondence with Max Adler on Zionism, with Henry Ford on anti-Semitism, with Charles B. Rogers on University of Wisconsin alumni affairs, and with Wisconsin congressmen on immigration policies. Other letters pertain to Aarons' interest in the American Jewish Committee. The photographs in PH 2301, circa 1930-1952, primarily are news photos showing posed groups including Judge Aarons at public events. In PH 2302(3) are posed group photographs of the Wisconsin Board of Circuit Judges, 1941-1949.

Note:

Forms part of the Wisconsin Jewish Archives.

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000dk

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Charles Lehman Aarons was born in New York City on August 18, 1872. In 1873, his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his father was a prosperous wholesale clothing merchant. He attended the University of Wisconsin and in 1895 received his law degree.

Aarons' first job was with the Milwaukee firm of Felker, Goldberg, and Felker, where he stayed until 1897 when he opened his own practice. In 1925 he was elected judge of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, and was re-elected in 1931, 1937, and 1943. He declined to run in 1949 and retired on January 2, 1950.

Aarons was a member of the Milwaukee School Board, 1903-1905 and 1908-1910. He was also active in various Jewish community activities, including the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.

In 1905 he married Rose Sheuerman of Des Moines, Iowa. She died in 1945. Charles Aarons died in 1952.

The papers are arranged in alphabetical files. There is both personal and legal correspondence which documents some of his Milwaukee Jewish community activities. The clippings mainly concern various campaigns and judicial opinions.

The largest part of the collection is comprised of copies of his judicial opinions arranged alphabetically by the plaintiff's last name. His most famous decision was the 1927 “ambulance chasing” case (Churchill et al.) that resulted in the disbarment proceedings against many Milwaukee lawyers.

The reports concern various legal topics that Aarons investigated with other judges, including circuit court congestion, comparative negligence, and the attempt to standardize judge's instructions to juries.

The speeches and writings, 1935-1950, include those of Aarons, other Wisconsin judges, and an incomplete set of Charles B. Rogers' newspaper column, “Reminiscences of a Country Lawyer.”

The miscellaneous papers include citations that Aarons received, campaign literature, legal certifications of his election successes in 1925, 1931, 1937, and 1843; and biographical material.

Use Restrictions

Copyright to many of the photographs is held by the Milwaukee Journal. The Wisconsin Historical Society, through contract with the Milwaukee Journal, can provide reproductions and reproduction rights.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Joseph L. Baron, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1954.

Processing Information

Processed by Lindsay Nauen and Eleanor McKay, July 1, 1974.

Milwaukee Mss DK	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1920-1944
Box   1 Folder   2	1945-1947
Box   1 Folder   3	1948-1951
Box   1 Folder   4	Clippings, 1907-1951
	Judicial Opinions
Box   1 Folder   5	A-Ar, 1926, 1929, 1931-1933, 1935, 1937-1938, 1940-1943, 1947, 1949
Box   1 Folder   6	At-Ba, 1926, 1931-1935, 1937, 1943-1944, 1948-1949
Box   1 Folder   7	Ba-Bl, 1926-1927, 1930-1941, 1944-1946, 1948-1949
Box   2 Folder   1	Bo-Bu, 1926-1927, 1929, 1932, 1936-1943, 1945
Box   2 Folder   2	Ca-Cl, 1926-1929, 1932-1933, 1937, 1939-1940,1942, 1947-1948
Box   2 Folder   3-5	Churchill et al. Petition (“Ambulance Chasing”), 1927
Box   2 Folder   6	City of Milwaukee, 1929-1930, 1933, 1937-1939, 1946, 1949
Box   2 Folder   7	Co-Cz, 1926-1928, 1932-1934, 1937, 1939-1940, 1942, 1946, 1949
Box   3 Folder   1	D, 1929-1931, 1934, 1936-1945, 1947, 1949
Box   3 Folder   2	E, 1926, 1928, 1932-1936, 1938, 1943-1944
Box   3 Folder   3	F-Fi, 1928-1929, 1932-1934, 1936-1939, 1941, 1943-1944, 1946, 1948, undated
Box   3 Folder   4	Fl-Go, 1926-1936, 1938-1943, 1946-1949
Box   3 Folder   5	Gr-H.C., 1926-1930, 1932-1934, 1935, 1937-1937, 1941-1942, 1945, 1948-1949
Box   3 Folder   6	He-Hu, 1927, 1929-1930, 1932-1943, 1948
Box   4 Folder   1	I-J, 1928-1929, 1931-1932, 1938, 1940-1943, 1948
Box   4 Folder   2	K, 1926, 1928-1937, 1940, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1949
Box   4 Folder   3	Kempsmith, 1914, undated
Box   4 Folder   4	L, 1926-1928, 1931-1933, 1935, 1937-1940, 1943-1949
Box   4 Folder   5	Ma-Me, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937-1941, 1944-1946, 1949
Box   4 Folder   6	Me-Mi, 1926-1928, 1931-1932, 1934-1935, 1938, 1941-1943, 1946-1947
Box   5 Folder   1	Mo-O, 1926, 1929-1931, 1934-1949
Box   5 Folder   2	Pa-Ph, 1926, 1932-1935, 1938, 1940-1944, undated
Box   5 Folder   3	Pi-Pu, 1926-1929, 1931-1939, 1942, 1949
Box   5 Folder   4	R, 1924, 1926-1927, 1929-1942, 1945-1946
Box   5 Folder   5	Sa-Sc, 1926-1927, 1929-1942, 1945, 1948-1949
Box   5 Folder   6	Se-So, 1926, 1928, 1930-1938, 1940, 1944-1946
Box   6 Folder   4	Sp-Ta, 1928-1930, 1935-1940, 1943, 1948-1949
	State of Wisconsin
Box   6 Folder   1	A-H, 1925, 1928, 1936-1938, 1940-1941, 1944-1947
Box   6 Folder   2	K-T, 1927, 1929-1934, 1937-1941, 1944, 1948-1949
Box   6 Folder   3	W-Z, 1927, 1929-1930, 1933, 1935-1937, 1942
Box   6 Folder   5	Te-V, 1926-1929, 1932, 1934-1937, 1939, 1941-1942, 1946, 1948-1949
Box   6 Folder   6	Wa-Wh, 1927-1929, 1931-1932, 1936-1939, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1948-1949
Box   7 Folder   1	Wi-Ws, 1927-1930, 1932, 1934, 1939-1940, 1943, 1946, 1948
Box   7 Folder   2	Y-Z, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1947, undated
	Reports
Box   7 Folder   3	Circuit Court Congestion, 1934
Box   7 Folder   4	Comparative Negligence, 1932
Box   7 Folder   5-6	Instruction to Jury, 1943
	Speeches and Writings
Box   7 Folder   7	Charles L. Aarons, 1935-1941
Box   7 Folder   8	Charles B. Rogers' “Reminiscences of a Country Lawyer,” circa 1950
	Wisconsin Judges
Box   8 Folder   1	1878, 1929-1941
Box   8 Folder   2	1944, 1949, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	Miscellaneous Papers, 1925-1950
	Photographs
PH 2301	Primarily news photos of posed groups including Judge Aarons at public events, circa 1930-1952 Physical Description: 11 photographs
PH 2302(3)	Posed group photographs of the Wisconsin Board of Circuit Judges, 1941-1949 Physical Description: 5 photographs