Horace Stern (August 7, 1878 – April 15, 1969) was the chief justice of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme ...

from 1 November 1952 to 29 December 1956. He became chief justice after serving on the court from 6 January 1936.

Biography

Stern was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

North Philadelphia North Philadelphia, nicknamed North Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is immediately north of Center City. Though the full extent of the region is somewhat vague, "North Philadelphia" is regarded as everything north of either ...

, one of eight children. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1899, and from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

''summa cum laude'' in 1902."This is Our Bar": History of the Philadelphia Bar
/ref> Prior to his elevation to the bench, Stern was a professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School, where his portrait still hangs today. He went on to co-found of the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen (later called

WolfBlock WolfBlock LLP (formerly Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen) was a large U.S. law firm and lobbying group based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ''National Law Journal'' ranked WolfBlock the 149th-largest firm in the United States, and the 10th-lar ...

) in 1903, before taking an appointment to the

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

in 1920. Stern was the first Jew to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the second Jewish trustee of the University of Pennsylvania (and first since

Moses Levy (Pennsylvanian) Moses Levy (1757 Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaMay 9, 1826 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a prominent Jew in Colonial America. Biography Moses Levy was born in 1757 in Philadelphia. His father, Samson Levy, was a signatory of the celebrated r ...

(

Class of 1772) whose term as trustee started in 1802 and ended in 1826). He was also very active within Philadelphia's Jewish community, having served as president of the Federation of Jewish Charities (now the

Jewish Federation The Jewish Federation (JFED), is generally a secular Jewish non-profit organization, found within many metropolitan areas across the United States with a significant Jewish community. They provide supportive and human services, philanthropy, finan ...

of Greater Philadelphia) and having been a founder of the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...

. Stern's daughter Sophie Stern married

Henry Friendly Henry Jacob Friendly (July 3, 1903 – March 11, 1986) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1959 until his death in 1986. Friendly was one of the most p ...

in 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Horace Chief Justices of Pennsylvania 1878 births 1969 deaths University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Jewish American attorneys Jewish American academics University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty