Dudley Field Malone

Early life

Malone was born on the West Side of Manhattan on June 3, 1882. He was the son of William C. Malone of New York City,

After being admitted to the bar in 1907, he began practicing law and became active in the Democratic Party in New York, specifically in the reform faction opposed to the Tammany Hall organization. In 1912 he helped organize Woodrow Wilson's successful primary and general election campaign for U.S. president.

Career

When Wilson took office in 1913, he rewarded Malone by appointing him Third Assistant Secretary of State. Later in 1913, Wilson appointed him Collector of the Port of New York, an important patronage position. As Collector, Malone resisted all efforts by Tammany to use the Collector's office for patronage. He served as Collector until 1917, when he resigned and was succeeded by Byron R. Newton, the former publicity director of Wilson's presidential campaign.

Malone broke decisively with the Wilson administration in the fall of 1917 and publicly endorsed the anti-war Socialist Morris Hillquit for mayor of New York. He was not a member of the Socialist Party of America but found Hillquit's call for an expeditious end to the European war to be compelling and wrote in an open letter to Hillquit:

You, as I understand it, advocate no separate peace for America, but the quickest possible peace that can be negotiated in the interests of the masses of all nations, with no annexations and no punitive indemnities. If this be Socialism, it is also sound Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and Americanism.

Malone had become an advocate of women's suffrage and resigned to protest Wilson's failure to take up that issue or to support a Woman Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution. In 1918 he won the release of a group of suffragists jailed during the anti-Wilson Silent Sentinels demonstrations led by Alice Paul. Malone successfully appealed their convictions for "unlawful assembly" for "obstructing the sidewalk" in front of the White House.

In 1920 Malone ran for governor of New York as the candidate of the newly organized Farmer–Labor Party. He received only 69,908 votes out of over 2.8 million cast. That same year, he began to devote himself to his law practice, specializing in international divorce cases of wealthy individuals and becoming known as "the greatest international divorce lawyer." He established a branch office in Paris along with former Judge William H. Wadhams.

In 1920 Malone wrote to President Wilson about the recent false claims of mass rapes committed by French colonial troops in the Rhineland, stating, "Thoughtful persons in America and throughout the world are horrified by the victimization of German women and girls by half-savage African troops."

Later legal career

In 1925 Malone accepted an invitation to join Clarence Darrow as co-counsel for the defense of John T. Scopes in the famous "Monkey Trial." In response to Bryan's argument against admitting scientific testimony, Malone gave arguably the best speech of the trial in defense of academic freedom. "I have never learned anything from any man who agreed with me" was one of his famous quotes. In 1927 Malone identified as an Independent and wrote an op-ed in The New York Times denouncing Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s "attacks on the Governor of this State and your abortive attempts to associate him with any responsibility for commercialized vice."

Malone continued his divorce practice until 1935, when he declared bankruptcy in New York and moved to Westwood, Los Angeles, California. He claimed his debts consisted mostly of sums owed to personal friends, including William K. Vanderbilt, Edward F. Hutton, and the late Otto H. Kahn. He served as counsel to 20th Century Fox and appeared in a few movies as a character actor. As Malone bore a strong resemblance to Winston Churchill, he was called on to play Churchill in the film adaptation of Joseph E. Davies's book, Mission to Moscow (1943).

Personal life

On November 14, 1908, he married May Patricia O'Gorman (1884–1961), the daughter of Judge and U.S. Senator James Aloysius O'Gorman, at the Church of the Ascension on West 107th Street in New York City. May served overseas with the Red Cross during World War I and later worked with Anne Morgan to restore devastated regions in France. After living apart for several years, she obtained a divorce from him in Paris in 1921.

A few months after his divorce, he married the writer and suffragist activist Doris Stevens (1888–1963) on December 9, 1921, in Peekskill, New York. She was the first female member of the American Institute of International Law and first chair of the Inter-American Commission of Women. They also divorced in Paris in October 1929, on the ground of abandonment. "Her plea was based on the alleged impossibility of two persons of equally strong mind living harmoniously together."

On January 29, 1930, in London he married Edna Louise Johnson, an actress whom he had met through the novelist William John Locke. The witnesses at their wedding were Sir William Jowitt, the Attorney General of England, and Lady Cynthia Mosley, a Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent. Before his death in 1950, they were the parents of one son:

• Dudley Field "Shim" Malone Jr. (1931–1990), a theatrical agent and manager.

In July 1949 three brothers attacked him in a "roadside fight," and he suffered a head gash. Malone died on October 5, 1950, in Culver City, California.

In popular culture

Malone is portrayed by Tsilala Brock in the Broadway musical Suffs with book, music, and lyrics by Shaina Taub. Suffs began an open-ended run on at the Music Box Theatre in March 2024 after its off-Broadway premiere at The Public Theatre in March 2022. The musical follows the women's suffrage movement through the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. It is produced in part by Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai.

References

References

1. (2 October 1917). "NEWTON TAKES POST.; Succeeds Dudley Field Malone as Collector of the Port.". [[The New York Times]].
2. [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1917-10-27/ed-1/seq-16/ "Malone Backs Hillquit and Socialism,"] ''New York Tribune,'' vol. 77, whole no. 25,913 (October 27, 1917), pg. 16.
3. (8 September 1917). "MALONE RESIGNS AS COLLECTOR TO AID SUFFRAGE; Dissatisfied with Treatment by Administration of White House Pickets. TO RESUME LAW PRACTICE But Will Devote Leisure to Fight for Political Freedom of Women. NO WHITE HOUSESTATEMENT Washington Expects Resignation Will Be Accepted--No Break with President. Office a Lucrative One. Mr. Malone's Letter. MALONE RESIGNS TO AID SUFFRAGE Believe Amendment War Measure. Tells of Accomplishments Here. Saw Women Pickets Arrested.". [[The New York Times]].
4. (11 April 1918). "MALONE JOINS HILLQUIT.; Ex-Collector to Assist in Defending Publishers of The Masses.". [[The New York Times]].
5. ''Hunter v. District of Columbia'', 47 App.D.C. 406, 1918 WL 18180 (1918) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hunter_v._District_of_Columbia
6. (28 October 1920). "NEW YORK AMERICAN DECLARES FOR SMITH; Says Malone Is Worthy, but Voters Should Prefer Governor to Miller.". [[The New York Times]].
7. (1999). "American National Biography". [[Oxford University Press]].
8. (14 November 1920). "MRS. BOOLE POLLED ABOUT 151,000 VOTES; Woman Candidate for Senator on Prohibition Ticket Made Strong Showing. MONROE BANNER COUNTY Miller for Governor Ran Ahead of Wadsworth for Senator in Up-State Districts.". [[The New York Times]].
9. Nelson, Keith. (December 1970). "The "Black Horror on the Rhine": Race as a Factor in Post-World War I Diplomacy". The Journal of Modern History.
10. (2009). "America's Girl: The Incredible Story of How Swimmer Gertrude Ederle Changed the Nation". [[St. Martin's Press]].
11. (8 November 1927). "MALONE SCORES ROOSEVELT; Takes Colonel to Task for". [[The New York Times]].
12. (22 December 1935). "DUDLEY F. MALONE FILES AS BANKRUPT; Former Collector of Port Fixes Liabilities at $261,370 and Assets at $62,500.". [[The New York Times]].
13. (5 October 1961). "Mrs. Dudley F. Malone". [[The New York Times]].
14. (2 December 1921). "Dudley Field Malone Divorced in Paris; Decree Obtained by Wife Just Revealed". [[The New York Times]].
15. (7 December 1921). "DUDLEY FIELD MALONE TO SAIL WITH A BRIDE; Former Collector Books Passage for Himself and Mrs. Dudley Field Malone.". [[The New York Times]].
16. (11 October 1929). "FEMINIST DIVORCES DUDLEY FIELD MALONE; Doris Stevens Gets Decree in Paris From Lawyer--Couple Met as Rival Political Speakers.". [[The New York Times]].
17. (29 January 1930). "DUDLEY F. MALONE TO WED IN LONDON; Lawyer, Ex-Assistant Secretary of State, to Marry Today Edna L. Johnson of New York. WEDDING TO BE HIS THIRD He Met His Bride-to-Be Three Years Ago When She Was Studying Music in Paris.". [[The New York Times]].
18. (30 January 1930). "DUDLEY F. MALONE WEDS EDNA JOHNSON; Sir William Jowitt and Lady Cynthia Mosley Witnesses of Marriage in Registry Office. THE BRIDE IS UNATTENDED Guests at Wedding Breakfast Include Lady Astor, Peggy Wood, Will Rogers and Cyril Maude.". [[The New York Times]].
19. (7 December 1941). "PRESIDENT CHEERS ILL BOY; Wires Son of Dudley F. Malone Before Operation on Coast". [[The New York Times]].
20. (12 January 1990). "Dudley Field Malone, Theatrical Agent, 59". [[The New York Times]].
21. (3 July 1949). "DUDLEY F. MALONE BEATEN; Two Men Arrested, One Sought After Roadside Fight". [[The New York Times]].
22. (6 October 1950). "DUDLEY F. MALONE DIES IN CALIFORNIA; Lawyer, 68, Former Collector of Port Here, Was Long Active in Democratic Party". [[The New York Times]].
23. Dickson, Ej. (2024-06-06). "The World Is Falling Apart. Broadway's 'Suffs' Urges Us to Keep Marching".
24. Russo, Gillian. (2021-11-16). "'Suffs' announces Off-Broadway cast including Jenn Colella, Phillipa Soo, Nikki M. James".
25. Paulson, Michael. (2023-10-18). "'Suffs' Heads to Broadway With Hillary Clinton as a Producer". The New York Times.