Dean Alfange

Life

Early life and education

Alfange was born Constantine Alflangi in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, to two ethnic Greek parents. His parents moved to New York in 1902, where they raised him in Utica, New York. He graduated from Utica Free Academy in 1918, and joined the United States Army during World War I.

After the war, he attended Hamilton College and graduated in 1922 with honors in philosophy, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. Alfange remained active at the college, and when he received the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Award for his book The Supreme Court and the National Will, he donated the prize to Hamilton College, establishing the ongoing Dean Alfange Essay Award, given to two students each year for essays on American constitutional government. He received a juris doctor from Columbia University Law School and became a lawyer in Manhattan.

Later life

He was married to Thalia Perry, with whom he had one child, Dean Alfange Jr., who went on to become a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. Alfange died October 24, 1989, in Manhattan from cancer.

Legal career

Alfange received his degree from Columbia University Law School, and was admitted to the American Bar Association in 1925. He supported Truman's notion of a Living Constitution.

Later in his political career, Alfange served as the Deputy New York State Attorney General.

Political career

Democratic Party

In 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt made Alfange chairman of the Democratic foreign-language speakers' bureau of his third election campaign.

American Labor Party

Alfange served as head of the American Labor Party for several years in the late 1930s. Mayor of New York City Fiorello La Guardia supported Alfange in this election. Alfange finishing in third place or about 9.7 percent of votes cast. With this figure, Alfange garnered more votes than any other American Labor candidate ever had or would again in a state-wide election; these votes were accused of splitting the liberal vote and thus playing a large role in Thomas E. Dewey's victory, however, Dewey won with a majority, garnering 52% of the vote.

Liberal Party

Alfange led a walkout against the American Labor Party in 1944, when pro and anti-Communist factions within the organization came into increased conflict. This walkout led to the formation of the Liberal Party of New York.

Republican

Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller named Alfange head of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board in the early 1970s. He served until Hugh L. Carey abolished the board in 1975.

Activism

Alfange served in a number of activist and ethnic organizations, including heading the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, an organization for the advancement of Greek-Americans. He also served as president of La Guardia Memorial House, a settlement house, for more than 40 years.

Alfange headed the Zionist organization "Committee to Arm the Jewish State", a group that sought to end arms embargoes against Zionist groups working to create Israel before independence. He also served as the chairman of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, a group that sought to rescue victims of the then ongoing Holocaust. Through this organizations, Alfange urged that it was a Christian's moral and religious duty to help Jews victimized by the Nazis.

An American's Creed

Alfange is remembered for a short statement he wrote in the 1950s entitled "An American's Creed" or simply "My Creed". The creed originally appeared in This Week magazine, and a condensed version appeared in Reader's Digest in both the October 1952 and January 1954 issues. The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge gave Alfange an award for the composition in 1952."I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon. I seek to develop whatever talents God gave me—not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any earthly master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say – 'This, with God's help, I have done.' All this is what it means to be an American."

Bibliography

References

References

1. Rogan, Mary Ellen. (July 1990). "Dean Alfange Papers". [[New York Public Library]].
2. Fowler, Glenn. (27 October 1989). "Dean Alfange, Liberal Leader, Is Dead at 91". [[The New York Times]].
3. The Trustees of Hamilton College. (2010). "An Inspiration to All: Dean Alfange, Class of 1922". [[Hamilton College (New York).
4. The Trustees of Hamilton College. (2010). "Coming Full Circle: Alfange, Kayle, Coleman, Mandel and Alfange". [[Hamilton College (New York).
5. Pestritto, Ronald. (2007). "Modern America and the Legacy of the Founding". [[Lexington Books]].
6. Associated Press. (29 October 1942). "Governor Race Leads Interest in Elections". The Daily Gazette Co.
7. Van Devander, Charles. (1974). "The Big Bosses". Ayer Publishing.
8. Meyer, Gerald. (1989). "Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician 1902-1954". [[State University of New York Press]].
9. Lichtenstein, Nelson. (1987). "Labor's War at Home: The CIO in World War II". [[Cambridge University Press]].
10. Associated Press. (19 January 1948). "Committee Formed to Arm Palestine". [[Block Communications]].
11. Medoff, Rafael. (29 June 2003). "No Laughing Matter: Why World Jewry should be saluting Bob Hope". [[Jewish World Review]].
12. Platt, Suzy. (1993). "Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations". [[Barnes & Noble]].