Eleanor Bontecou

Eleanor Bontecou (February 14, 1891 – March 19, 1976) was an American lawyer, civil rights advocate, law professor and government official. Bontecou served as an attorney and investigator for both the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. War Department. She also worked as a professor at two universities. During her career, Bontecou achieved national fame for her work in the civil liberties and women's rights movements.

Early life and education

Bontecou was born in Short Hills, New Jersey, a community in Millburn Township, New Jersey. and the Bryn Mawr European Scholarship. After Bonctecou earned her law degree from New York University in 1917, She served as one of the first seven attorneys at the agency, the precursor to the Civil Rights Division. Bontecou conducted a comprehensive study of how the U.S. and its allies treated conscientious objectors during World War I. She would later put forward recommendations for better treatment of conscientious objectors in World War II.

In 1941, Bontecou testified before a Congressional hearing on poll taxes held by a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. She described the long-term study on the effect of poll taxes on voting participation.

Career in academia

In 1922, Bontecou returned to Bryn Mawr as its Acting Dean. She received her Ph.D. from the Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government (now the Brookings Institution) in 1928. Bonctecou then briefly worked as a professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago until contracting encephalitis lethargica.

Honors and legacy

A law professorship at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey carries Bontecou's name. In 2011, the Library of Virginia honored her as one of its Virginia Women in History. The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum houses Bontecou's papers.

Works

The Poll Tax (1942) Freedom in the Balance: Opinions of Judge Henry W. Edgerton Relating to Civil Liberties (1960) The Federal loyalty-security program (1974)