Eastman, Crystal
1881 - 1928

State Historical Society of Wisconsin Visual Archives: Negative No. WHi (x3) 48222
State Historical Society of Wisconsin Visual Archives: Negative No. WHi (x3) 48222

Details
Born: 6/25/1881 in Glenora, New York
Died: 7/1928
Ethnicity: White/Caucasian
Professional Facts
Practice Area:
Labor Law
Profession:
Labor Law
Regions and States of Practice:
NY, Northeast
PA, Northeast
WY, West
Legal Education:
New York University School of Law, 1907
Other Education:
Vassar (1903)
Columbia University (1907)
Positions During Her Career:
Secretary of New York State Wainwright Commission
Worked on the Pittsburgh Survey
New York State Employer's Liability Commission
Worked in England
Firsts:
Only woman on the New York State Employer's Liability Commission (1909)
Helped found the civil rights organization that later became the American Civil Liberties Union (1917-?)
Further Research Materials

References:
The Lawyer as Revolutionary, II: Crystal Eastman and the Internationalist Beginnings of American Civil Liberties
John Fabian Witt, The Lawyer as Revolutionary, II: Crystal Eastman and the Internationalist Beginnings of America Civil Liberties. In John Fabian Witt, Patriots and Cosmopolitans: Hidden Histories of American Law. Harvard University Press (February 28, 2007), available at: http://www2.law.columbia.edu/faculty_franke/Thursday%20Lunch/Witt%20Paper.pdf
Dawn Bradley Berry, The 50 Most Influential Women in American Law. Los Angeles: Contemporary Books (1996).
Blanche Wiesen Cook (Ed), Crystal Eastman on Women and Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press (1978)
Blanche Wiesin Cook, Toward the Great Change: Crystal and Max Eastman on Feminism, Antimilitarism, and Revolution. New York: Garland Publishing (1976)
Crystal Eastman, Work Accidents and the Law. New York: Arno (1910)

Links:
Beecher Family Information
City of Elmira, New York
"Max Eastman: The Life of the Century" by Richard Sautter
National Grid For Learning web site (United Kingdom), biographical entry for Max Eastman
"Report on the Armory Show," New York Times, from web site "The Life and Times of Emma Goldman"

Student Papers:
Labor's Love Lost? Crystal Eastman's Contribution to Workers' Compensation Reform
Davis, Erin F., 2002
Potential Paper Topics:
An analysis of her critique of common law employers' liability doctrine (note that this topic is already covered, but not terribly in depth, by a previous paper).
An analysis of her suggestions for a mandatory worker's compensation system.
An analysis of the legal scholarship she produced in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Survey.
An analysis of her volume of the Pittsburgh Survery (particularly Part III).
An analysis of the legal scholarship she produced in conjunction with her work for the Wainwright Commission.
Research into her work for women's suffrage.
Research into her work to aid progressives and socialites during WWI in defending against charges under the Espionage Act.