Here's an excerpt of a story I wrote for the Connecticut Law Tribune about the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford's oral history project documenting Jewish lawyers and judges in Connecticut:
When Gerry Roisman graduated law school in 1962, one of the partners at the law firm where his mother worked as a legal secretary said he would help Roisman find a job.
As he sat in the partner's office, Roisman listened as the lawyer called up a senior partner at one of the major law firms in Connecticut and extolled Roisman's credentials.
But "the thing turned from positive to negative, and he hung up the phone and he looked at me square in the eye and said: 'They would love to hire you. Your credentials are great, you're bright and you have all kinds of positive things going for you," including contacts in Greater Hartford, Roisman recounted.
The partner continued with the bad news, Roisman recalled: "But the answer I got was, 'My clients wouldn't like it and we're gonna pass.'"
The only thing objectionable about Roisman? His Jewish identity.
Roisman's story is going to be one of many that the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford is documenting for an oral history project of Jewish lawyers and judges in Connecticut.
Estelle Kafer, the historical society's executive director, said the group continues to seek contributions of stories and experiences of Jewish lawyers. The project will culminate in the publication of a scholarly journal and an event on May 14 to celebrate the project.
The society has documented the rich histories of the Jewish members of other professions, including doctors who formed Mount Sinai Hospital because they could not get admitting privileges at other hospitals. "I think the general public doesn't realize the discrimination they faced," Kafer said.
Roisman said he also faced discrimination when he tried to represent banks. After law school, Roisman had a general practice that included criminal, personal injury, commercial, tax, estate planning, immigration, and family law fields. Roisman also was a leader in getting Connecticut to adopt no-fault divorce. Now his West Hartford practice focuses on family law and working with his son in the sports law field.
"Every [law] office I know of in the city of Hartford has overcome those biases and prejudices, but it was very real coming out of law school," Roisman said.
The first Jewish lawyer in the Hartford area practiced in the 1890s, so the goal of the project is to bring that history "forward for 110 years," Roisman said.
The first Jewish lawyers in the Hartford area were the product of Jewish immigration from Germany in the latter part of the 19th century. The numbers grew after a second wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern European countries in the early part of the 20th century, said Hartford Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck, who is among those working on the history project.
Many Jewish lawyers worked their way out of extreme poverty and somehow managed to go to Ivy League law schools, Peck said.
There was a period in the 1940s, '50s and '60s in which Jewish lawyers weren't accepted in some law firms. As a result, Jewish lawyers began to form their own firms. Among them was Rogin Nassau and Schatz & Schatz, Peck said.
"Now these law firms, as the profession has evolved and as Jews have established themselves as valuable members in these professions … have merged into larger law firms," she said.
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
