Charles Garside, Sr. (May 12, 1898 – October 31, 1964) was a 20th-century lawyer who served in a number of publicly prominent roles in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. sta ...

, the most notable involving the State Commission against Discrimination, the formation of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New York, and the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

Biography

Garside was born in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its ...

and his studies at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

were interrupted by America's entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He served as a Private in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

. Garside earned a bachelor's degree in history and politics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

before attending

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...

, from which he graduated in 1923. He was admitted to the New York State bar and practiced law at Choate, Larocque, and Mitchell, making partner in 1927. He was an active

Young Republican The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

, serving as vice president of

The New York Young Republican Club The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40 in New York City. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States, founded i ...

. In 1934,

Fiorello H. La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fr ...

appointed him to a vacant Municipal Court justiceship, a position to which he was subsequently elected and served for ten years, though he resigned after two years to become a partner in his own law firm. He also became a director of the Harsco Corporation. He served as a colonel in the Army's

General Staff Corps General Staff Corps ( sv, Generalstabskåren, Gst) was an administrative corps within the Swedish Armed Forces between 1937 and 1990 and consisted of Swedish Army officers chosen for duty in the Defence Staff and Army Staff. It replaced the earlie ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the Joint Army Navy Board for Training Unit Contracts. After the war, he returned to private practice and ran for office against

Charles A. Buckley Charles Anthony Buckley (June 23, 1890 – January 22, 1967) was a Democratic Party politician from The Bronx, New York. An Irish-American, he served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Bronx County Democratic Party and a member of ...

in 1946. In 1947,

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

tapped him to head the State Commission against Discrimination. He also headed the committee on medical education centers which eventually drove the creation of the Downstate and Upstate Medical Centers. He also helped mediate a violent strike at

Bell Aircraft The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer, a builder of several types of fighter aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for the development and production of man ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

in 1949. Garside was a member of the State University board of trustees when he was tapped to assume the presidency of the SUNY System upon the resignation of his predecessor. At the time, Garside was serving as President of the Associated Hospital Service of New York, which later became New York

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was ...

, a position he kept and served in until his retirement in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garside, Charles 1898 births 1964 deaths People from Middletown, Connecticut Cornell Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers Chancellors of the State University of New York Princeton University alumni United States Marines 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American academics

Biography

See also

References