(The full article can be found in the Cleveland Plain Dealer
here)
Ann Aldrich set firsts as lawyer, professor and federal district judge
By Grant Segall
May 03, 2010, 4:00PM
Bratenahl -- Ann Aldrich, who died Sunday night, watched her mother die in a hurricane, blasted railroad tunnels in Yugoslavia, won a key civil rights case, made environmental and demographic breakthroughs at Cleveland-Marshall School of Law and became the first woman federal district judge in Ohio.
"She paved the way for all women lawyers," said her longtime deputy clerk, Vicky Kirkpatrick.
Aldrich, 82, handled many notable cases in 30 years on the bench. She oversaw the first trial of Congressman James Traficant, who represented himself and won that round. She also tried local Catholic officials, an accused Nazi, a conscientious objector and more.
"She could see the whole room, the big picture," said Ohio Appeals Judge Patricia Ann Blackmon. She always explained sentences and urged wrong-doers to find their potential for better things.
Aldrich retired in 1995 but kept working as a senior judge despite years of heart, kidney and other problems. Her son, Martin, said the Bratenahl resident disposed of 42 cases in the last three months, mostly at hospitals. She died at the Cleveland Clinic.
Aldrich lived, traveled and raised children around the world. She volunteered to rebuild rail lines in Yugoslavia after World War II. She also rode an elephant and a hot air balloon.
"Eat, drink and be merry," she often said, "for tomorrow you may actually be alive."
Aldrich was raised in Providence, R.I. and summered in Quonset, R.I. She was 11 when a hurricane destroyed her summer home and crushed her mother. The girl and a sister survived. Their father was away.
Later on, he found her one day taking target practice at rats in a dump. He sent her to finishing school, but it failed to finish off her spirit.
Aldrich was the only woman in her class at New York University law school. She graduated second. She later earned a master's and doctoral law degrees there, writing a thesis in the 1960s about the law in outer space. She also studied at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Among other jobs, she tried cases in Okinawa for the U.S. Marines and worked in Washington, D.C., for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Federal Communications Commission.
Practicing privately in Darien, Conn., representing the United Church of Christ, she forced the FCC to make it easier for minorities to own radio stations in the South. The case broadened citizens' power to sue federal agencies.
She also went to Mississippi and persuaded civil rights leader Charles Evers to testify in the slaying of his brother, Medgar.
In 1968, Aldrich moved to Shaker Heights to join Cleveland-Marshall. She taught one of the nation's first environmental law classes and became the school's first tenured woman. With a colleague and student assistants, she won a lawsuit forcing local steel mills to use "scrubbers" to reduce pollution.
Surprised by a dearth of minorities at Cleveland-Marshall, she started a recruitment program for professors and students. She found promising people throughout the South, including Blackmon at Tougaloo College, who lived with the recruiter in Shaker Heights awhile. Aldrich mentored several other future judges at Cleveland-Marshall, including Una Keenon, formerly of East Cleveland Municipal Court.
President Carter appointed Aldrich to the district court in 1980. She battled with its strong-willed chief, Frank Battisti, and went public in 1983 with an affidavit she'd given about him to federal investigators. But she tended not to battle with anyone in her courtroom.
"I found Judge Aldrich to be very bright and fair to all sides," said Patrick McLaughlin, former U.S. attorney for Cleveland, now in private practice. "She was laid back. She was a quiet force."
Aldrich lived abroad with her first husband, a CIA agent. Her next husband was a second cousin who shared her maiden surname, Aldrich. She kept that name during a third marriage that ended with her husband's death.
Meridth, What a wonderful daughter-in-law you have been! How can I express my love for you and my appreciation for how you've cared for my son. I think back to seven and a half years ago, when I met you for the first time, and I am so glad for the times we've had to get to know each other, and share thoughts and feelings. Ed and I hope you have the best day ever! What are your plans? Do you have anything special going on today, or did you celebrate earlier? We all want to know and we all want to wish you the happiest day!
