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Paul O’Dwyer was a lawyer and an activist who was a staunch defender of human and civil rights. He was a lawyer and activist who advocated for the rights of the poor, oppressed, and minorities.
Background
O’Dwyer was born on June 29, 1907, in Bohola, County Mayo,
Ireland. He was the youngest of 11 children. He was the son of Patrick and
Bridget (nee McNicholas) O'Dwyer, who were both teachers.
He emigrated to New York in 1925 at the age of 17. O’Dwyer
studied at Fordham University and St. John’s Law School and became a U.S. citizen
in 1931. In his time as a lawyer, he advocated for civil rights causes. These
included desegregation, Irish republicanism, Zionism, gay rights during the
AIDS crisis, and rights for Kentucky coal miners.
O’Dwyer married Kathleen Rohan on August 19, 1935. Together,
the couple had 4children: William, Rory, Brian, and Eileen. His hobbies included
landscaping his farm, going to the theatre, and reading.
Activism and Career
Aside from being a lawyer, O’Dwyer was involved in his
community, including local Irish American organizations. In the late 1930s, he
was the chair of the Downtown Brooklyn Community Council. In 1940, he moved his
law practice to Manhattan when his brother became the Kings County District
Attorney.
O’Dwyer held beliefs about the politics of his time. Before
Pearl Harbor, he was strongly opposed to U.S. involvement in World War II. He
was the chairman of the American Friends of Irish Neutrality, which gave him
the opportunity to travel across the country to speak and rally pro-neutrality
groups. He mainly focused on Irish American organizations.
During his time practicing law, his best-known legal cases involved
people accused of Communist activities. This was especially true of the “Red
Scare” of the 1950s, where he would defend labor leaders and fellow attorneys who
faced congressional questioning and deportation. He supported challenges to anti-union laws in
Florida and Alabama, and he won compensation for New York City teachers who had
been dismissed for alleged treason.
O’Dwyer was involved with the National Lawyers Guild. He became
their president in 1947, and served on its national board from 1948 to 1951. He
was a supporter of constitutionalist and Irish republican initiatives. Because
of his influence, he helped prevent the deportation of several Irish Republican
Army gunmen. These included “The Fort Worth Five” and Vincent Conlon.
Politics
In 1968, O’Dwyer ran in the Democratic primary for U.S.
senator from New York and won an unexpected upset. He ran on an anti-Vietnam War
platform and had the backing of presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.
However, he lost the general election to popular Republican incumbent Jacob
Javits. He also ran for, and lost, mayor, Congress, and the U.S. Senate
O’Dwyer became New York City Council President in 1973, serving
from 1974 to 1977. He was an advocate for Fort Worth Five. In 1991, O’Dwyer
marched in the St. Patrick’s Day procession with his wife and members of the
Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO).
Legacy
He was known to oppose library censorship and racial
segregation in New York housing and on Wall Street. He defended labor union
leaders and alleged anarchists, as well as supported the left-wing American
Labor Party and the creation of Israel.
Other actions O’Dwyer took included organizing Black voters
in the South, representing striking Kentucky coal miners, arguing before the
U.S. Supreme Court for the rights of mainland Puerto Rican voters, suing New
York City to keep transit fares low, and leading an April 1969 antiwar march
from Times Square to Central Park.
In the 1940s, O’Dwyer supported the illegal transport of
weapons to Palestine, and he also supported the same thing in Ireland during
the 1970s. He would later acknowledge that he knew about the smuggling routes.
Paul O’Dwyer died on June 23, 1998, in Goshen, New York. His
legacy of advocacy and justice lives on, and he serves as a role model for
those who want to stand up for who and what they believe in.