Herbert Parsons Gleason (October 22, 1928 - December 9, 2013) was an American attorney who served as Boston's chief legal counsel under Mayor Kevin White.

Biography

Gleason was born to Hollis Tidd Gleason, an investment banker, and Emily Blanchard (Clapp) Gleason, a women’s rights activist. He was raised in Cohasset, Massachusetts and graduated from Western Reserve Academy and Harvard College. He also served in the United States Army (working counterintelligence in Salzburg) and was an editorial writer for '' The Patriot Ledger''. In 1958 he married Nancy Cope Aub. That same year he graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and was admitted to the bar. After a year clerking for Judge Arthur E. Whittemore, Gleason joined the firm of Hill and Barlow, where he eventually became partner. In 1949, Gleason began working for the Salzburg Global Seminar. From 1950 to 2010 he was a member of the organization's board of directors. In 1960, Gleason and Kevin White gained control of Boston's Ward 5 Democratic committee and Gleason served for many years as the committee's chairman. Gleason worked on White's campaigns for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and Mayor of Boston and after White's victory in the

1967 Boston mayoral election The Boston mayoral election of 1967 occurred on Tuesday, November 7, 1967, between Secretary of the Commonwealth Kevin White and Boston School Committee member Louise Day Hicks. White was elected to his first term, and inaugurated on Monday, J ...

, Gleason was named Boston's corporation counsel. He was the city's legal counsel during the desegregation busing crisis, formed the legal basis for White's tax reform proposals, and defended the city in a lawsuit over overcrowding in the Charles Street Jail. He left city hall in 1979 to become a visiting scholar at

and to further his work with the Salzburg Global Seminar. From 1980 to 1981, Gleason was the legal counsel for the MBTA Advisory Board. In 1981 he was hired by Warner-Amex. In 1988, Gleason joined the firm of Smith, McNulty & Kearney. Gleason served on the transition team for White's successor,

Raymond Flynn Raymond Leo Flynn (born July 22, 1939) is an American politician who served as 52nd Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1984 until 1993. He also served as United States Ambassador to the Holy See from 1993–1997. Flynn was an All-American c ...

and served on his health care task force. Flynn later appointed him to serve as chairman of Boston’s Board of Health and Hospitals. In 1990, Gleason was appointed to a five-year term on the Massachusetts Ethics Commission. In 1992, United States District Court Judge A. David Mazzone appointed him as special master to review conditions at the sex offender unit at Bridgewater State Hospital. Gleason served as president of the United South End Settlements, director of the

Neighborhood Health Plan Mass General Brigham (MGB) is a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physician network that includes Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), two of the nation's most prestigious teaching institutions. It was f ...

, director of METCO, and as director and vice president of the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium. Gleason died of complications of melanoma on December 9, 2013 in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at the age of 85.

References

External links

Salzburg Global Seminar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Herbert P. 1928 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Corporation counsels of Boston Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Massachusetts lawyers People from Cohasset, Massachusetts