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Jeremiah T. Mahoney

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Jeremiah T. Mahoney
Justice of the New York Supreme Court
In office
January 1923 – November 1928
Preceded bySamuel Greenbaum
Succeeded byWilliam T. Collins
Personal details
Born(1878-06-23)June 23, 1878
New York City
DiedJune 15, 1970(1970-06-15) (aged 91)
New York City
Political partyDemocratic Party
Alma mater

Jeremiah T. Mahoney (June 23, 1878 – June 15, 1970) was an American lawyer and jurist. He served on the New York Supreme Court and as president of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). As president of the AAU, he advocated for the United States to boycott the 1936 Summer Olympics in protest of the antisemitic and racial policies of Nazi Germany. He was the Democratic Party nominee for mayor of New York City in the 1937 election, but lost to Fiorello La Guardia.

Early life

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Mahoney was born and raised on the East Side of Manhattan.[1] His father, an Irish immigrant, worked as a police officer.[2] Mahoney attended local public schools and graduated from the City College of New York. In college, he competed in baseball, gridiron football, track and field, and lacrosse.[1] He graduated from City College in 1895[3] with a Bachelor of Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Laws from New York University and a Master of Arts from St. Francis Xavier College.[4]

Mahoney was a high jumper, and qualified for the 1906 Summer Olympics, but did not compete as he was attending law school. He qualified for the 1908 Summer Olympics as well, but did not attend because of his job in the city comptroller's office.[5]

Career

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Mahoney entered into a partnership in a law firm with Robert F. Wagner and N. Taylor Phillips in 1910.[4][6] In September 1912, William Jay Gaynor, the mayor of New York City, appointed Mahoney and Harry M. Rice as Commissioners of Accounts, succeeding Raymond B. Fosdick.[7] He also served as an officer for the New York Athletic Club.[8] In 1920, he represented Babe Ruth in lawsuits seeking to stop the release of unauthorized films.[9]

Mahoney became involved in Democratic Party politics through Tammany Hall.[10] In January 1923, Governor Alfred E. Smith appointed Mahoney to the New York Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Samuel Greenbaum.[11] He was elected to a 14-year term that November on the Tammany Hall slate.[12] Mahoney resigned in November 1928 to return to his law practice,[13][14] and was succeeded on the court by William T. Collins.[15] In the year before he left the court, 1927, Mahoney joined the Board of the newly formed Union Labor Life Insurance Company, one of the legacy projects of labor advocate Samuel Gompers.

In December 1934, Mahoney was elected president of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), succeeding Avery Brundage, who had not run for reelection.[16] Mahoney led the effort to push the United States to boycott the 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, because of the discrimination of Nazi Germany against non-Aryan athletes.[17] Brundage opposed the boycott. Ultimately, the AAU voted against boycotting the Olympics,[18] and Mahoney resigned as president of the AAU. He was again elected president in December 1936, defeating Patrick J. Walsh, the candidate endorsed by Brundage.[19] He did not run for reelection in1938, and was succeeded by Samuel E. Hoyt.[20]

Mahoney ran for the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of New York City in the 1937 election. Mahoney supported the New Deal, but Tammany Hall was opposed to it, and so they supported U.S. Senator Royal S. Copeland, an anti-New Deal Democrat.[21] Mahoney won the nomination. Copeland also ran for the Republican Party nomination against Fiorello La Guardia, the incumbent mayor and a supporter of the New Deal, and lost.[22] Mahoney lost to La Guardia in the general election, 60% to 40%.[23]

One month after losing the mayoral election, Mahoney ran for a position on the executive committee of the American Olympic Committee.[24] Mahoney spoke out against United States participation in the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were to be held in Tokyo, due to Japan's treatment of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, but he said that he did not intend to rally opposition as he had for the 1936 Olympics.[25] He served on the board of directors for the Ruppert Brewing Company,[26] and represented the estate of Jacob Ruppert in 1940 in trying to sell the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball to a syndicate led by James Farley.[27] He served as campaign manager for Wagner's 1944 reelection to the United States Senate.[28] In 1945, La Guardia appointed Mahoney to a committee that was requested by Larry MacPhail and Branch Rickey to examine the status of African American baseball players. The committee determined that they were excluded from Organized Baseball due to "sheer prejudice and tradition".[29]

In 1948, Mahoney criticized President Harry S. Truman's record, saying that Truman could not be reelected. He called for a draft movement to encourage Dwight D. Eisenhower to run as a Democrat in the 1948 United States presidential election instead.[30] He retired as a Tammany Hall district leader after the 1948 election,[10] though he continued to be involved in the AAU.[31]

Personal life

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Mahoney married Mollie (née Cashen) in 1911. They had two sons, Jay and Candace.[1] Mollie and Candace died in an airplane crash in the Adirondack Mountains in September 1939; Candace, who had been in training to become a pilot with the United States Army, was flying the plane.[1][32]

Mahoney died at the New York Athletic Club, where he resided, on June 15, 1970. A service was held for him at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.[1]

Mahoney Hall at the City College of New York, named for Mahoney, was dedicated in 1972.[3] William Hurt portrayed Mahoney in the 2016 film Race, a biographical film about Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Jeremiah T. Mahoney, 91, Dies; A Lawyer and Former Justice". The New York Times. June 20, 1970. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "Mayorality Race Rouses New York As Two New Dealers Wage Lively Fight For City Honors". Valley Morning Star. United Press. October 31, 1937. p. 8-A. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Katz, Michael (November 30, 1977). "Roses in November for Holman As City College Renames Gym". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Borough Bank Prober Well Known As Athlete". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 14, 1912. p. 32. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Jeremiah T. Mahoney, New Head of A.A.U., an All-Around Athlete". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 13, 1934. p. 24. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "30 Jan 1910, Page 1 – The Sun at". Newspapers.com. January 30, 1910. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  7. ^ "Two Succeed Fosdick: Mayor Names Harry M. Rice and Jeremiah T. Mahoney". New-York Tribune. September 18, 1912. p. 16. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Ban on Enlisted Athletes Downed; A.A.U. Annual Meeting in Turmoil When Delegates Try to Bar Soldiers". The New York Times. September 17, 1918. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "Babe Ruth Enjoins Unauthorized Films". The Capital Times. September 1, 1920. p. 7. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Mahoney Retires as District Leader; Ninth A.D. Group Elects S.M. Gold as Successor to Post – Tammany Opposition Rises". The New York Times. December 7, 1948. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  11. ^ "J. T. Mahoney Is Appointed Judge". The Courier-News. United Press. January 3, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Election Results in New York". The Item. November 8, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "New York Judge Resigns". The Times-Tribune. Associated Press. October 31, 1928. p. 22. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Mahoney Plans To Quit State Supreme Court". New York Daily News. September 15, 1928. p. 23. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "An Excellent Appointment". Times Union. December 24, 1928. p. 42. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Mahoney New Head of A.A.U." The Boston Globe. December 10, 1934. p. 10. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Mahoney Letter Demanding Ban on Olympics". The New York Times. October 21, 1935. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "Charges Follow Vote On Olympic Games". The San Francisco Examiner. Associated Press. December 10, 1935. p. 19. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Cameron, Stuart (December 7, 1936). "Jeremiah T. Mahoney Is Named to Succeed Brundage as A.A.U. Head". The Lexington Herald. United Press. p. 7. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "A.A.U. Elects Hoyt President For 1938". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1937. p. 19. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Levin, Harry (September 15, 1937). "Dewey May Be Straw That Breaks Power of Tammany Hall". Wisconsin State Journal. Central Press. p. 12. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Warren, Carl (September 18, 1937). "Primary Victory Wins LaGuardia Added Strength". New York Daily News. p. 2. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Limpus, Lowell (November 3, 1937). "LaGuardia Victorious by 400,000; Dewey by 100,000". New York Daily News. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Mahoney Runs: Seeks Olympic Post". New York Daily News. December 22, 1937. p. 50. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "U.S. and Britain Are Alone In Opposing Tokio Olympics". Newspapers.com. February 12, 1938. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  26. ^ "George Ruppert Heads Brewery, Realty Corp". Hartford Courant. January 25, 1939. p. 18. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Yankee Sale Likely Within Two Weeks, Says Attorney". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Associated Press. July 16, 1940. p. 10. Retrieved July 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Mahoney to Lead Wagner Campaign; Tammany Aide Will Work With independent Citizens Group for Senator's Re-election". The New York Times. August 15, 1944. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  29. ^ "Committee Charges Prejudice Excluded Negro Ball Players". The Brooklyn Citizen. November 19, 1945. p. 1. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Eisenhower Draft Urged by Mahoney; 'Strongest' Candidate, Ex-Justice Says—Holds That Truman Cannot Be Re-elected". The New York Times. July 3, 1948. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  31. ^ "A $500,000 Fund Drive". The Kansas City Times. Associated Press. January 27, 1953. Retrieved July 21, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Ex-A.A.U. Chief Loses Wife and Son in Air Crash". The Evening Sun. September 5, 1939. p. 4. Retrieved July 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Ford, Rebecca (October 1, 2014). "William Hurt Cast in Jesse Owens Biopic 'Race'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
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