Baldwin, Roger

Baldwin, Roger (Nash)

(born Jan. 21, 1884, Wellesley, Mass., U.S.—died Aug. 26, 1981, Ridgewood, N.J.) U.S. civil-rights leader. Born into an aristocratic Massachusetts family, Baldwin attended Harvard University and taught sociology at Washington University (1906–09) in St. Louis, where he also was chief probation officer of the city's juvenile court and secretary of its Civic League. When the U.S. entered World War I, he became director of the pacifist American Union Against Militarism, the predecessor of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). As the ACLU's director (1920–50) and national chairman (1950–55), he made civil rights, once a predominantly leftist cause, a universal one.

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Baldwin, Roger (Nash) (1884–1981) social activist; born in Wellesley, Mass. He taught sociology and was chief probation officer in St. Louis, Mo., before serving prison time as a conscientious objector during World War I. He was the director (1920–50) and national chairman (1950–55) of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that he had helped to found. During this time, the ACLU defended many controversial clients. On retiring, he taught for some years at the University of Puerto Rico.