Zolton Anton Ferency (June 30, 1922 – March 23, 1993) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, political activist and Professor of Criminal Justice at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(MSU). Ferency was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, in a

Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...

family. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and graduated from Michigan State University and the

Detroit College of Law The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the fi ...

. Ferency was a three-time chairman of the

Michigan Democratic Party The Michigan Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Michigan. It is based in Lansing. Lavora Barnes is the party's current chair. She was previously the party's Chief Operating Officer. The party currently con ...

. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

in 1966, when he was defeated, as expected, by

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...

. He also served as first President of the Human Rights Party, which he helped found in 1970 after breaking with the Democratic Party over its support for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. He rejoined the Democrats in 1976. Ferency was elected to the

Ingham County Ingham County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 284,900. The county seat is Mason. Lansing, the state capital of Michigan, is largely located within the county. (Lansing is the only ...

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

in 1980, and to the

East Lansing East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...

City Council in 1991. He was serving on the city council at his death. He was a frequent if unsuccessful candidate for other public offices, running for governor in 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, and 1982; for Justice of the

Michigan Supreme Court The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the state ...

in 1972, 1976, and 1986; and for the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

, 24th District, in 1990. Ferency taught criminal justice at MSU from 1971 until his retirement in 1990. Ferency lived in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. He died on March 23, 1993 in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

. The Ferency House in the Michigan State University Student Housing Cooperative and the Zolton Ferency Endowed Scholarship at MSU commemorate Ferency.

References

Specific General * http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/fentress-fergus.html
Time (magazine)
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060901075833/http://www.cj.msu.edu/%7Ehistory/sleuths.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200346/http://www.urbanoptions.org/resources/sundial/sun04fall.pdf * https://web.archive.org/web/20110320013707/http://www.msu.coop:80/zolton-ferency Michigan State University faculty 1922 births 1993 deaths Human Rights Party (United States) politicians Michigan Democrats People from East Lansing, Michigan Michigan State University alumni Detroit College of Law alumni County commissioners in Michigan Michigan city council members Lawyers from Detroit American people of Hungarian descent Military personnel from Michigan American military personnel of World War II 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers {{Michigan-politician-stub