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Boris I. Bittker papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1869

Scope and Contents

The papers consist of correspondence, legal pleadings, memoranda, newspaper clippings, reports, subject files, and writings that document Boris I. Bittker's career as a professor at Yale Law School from 1946 to 2006. In addition to voluminous materials relating to taxation, the papers also include correspondence and subject files relating to Bittker's book, Case for Black Reparations (1973) and a small amount of materials relating to his role in the the prosecution of the case of Ex Parte Quirin as a lawyer in the Office of Lend-Lease Administration from 1942-1943. Accession 2014-A-060 contains course notes from Yale Law School, 1938-1941.

The Boris I. Bittker Papers were processed as a collaborative effort between Manuscripts and Archives and the Yale Law School to document the careers and accomplishments of Law School faculty and alumni.

Dates

  • 1938-2006
  • Majority of material found within 1959 - 1986

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by Daniel Bittker and Susan Bittker for materials Boris I. Bittker authored or otherwise produced. After the lifetimes of both Daniel Bittker and Susan Bittker, copyright passes to Yale University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Daniel Bittker and Susan Bittker, 2006. Transferred from the Yale Law Library, 2013-2014.

Arrangement

Arranged in two series and two additions: I. Correspondence, 1939-2004, undated. II. Topical Files, 1939-2006, undated.

Extent

11 Linear Feet (22 Boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.1869

Abstract

The papers consist of correspondence, legal pleadings, memoranda, newspaper clippings, reports, subject files, and writings that document Boris I. Bittker's career as a professor at Yale Law School from 1946 to 2006. In addition to voluminous materials relating to taxation, the papers also include correspondence and subject files relating to Bittker's book, Case for Black Reparations (1973), and a small amount of materials relating to his role in the prosecution of the case of Ex Parte Quirin as a lawyer in the Office of Lend-Lease Administration from 1942-1943. Accession 2014-A-060 contains course notes from Yale Law School, 1938-1941.

Biographical / Historical

Boris Irving Bittker was born on November 16, 1916, in Rochester, New York. He received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1938. Bittker attended Yale Law School and obtained his LL.B. in 1941. He clerked for Judge Jerome N. Frank on the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Bittker worked as an attorney in the Office of Emergency Management, Foreigh Economic Administration (Lend-Lease Administration) from 1942 until he was inducted into the Army. He served as an infantryman in Europe and was awarded a Purple Heart. In 1946, he returned to Yale Law School as an assistant professor and was thereafter promoted to the posts of Southmayd Professor (1951), Sterling Professor of Law (1970), and Professor Emeritus (1983). Bittker was a prolific author and renowed expert in taxation, as evidenced by his two most influential casebooks Federal Income, Estate, and Gift Taxation and Federal Income Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders.

Boris I. Bitter died on September 8, 2005, and was survived by his two children, Daniel Bittker and Susan Bittker.

Title
Guide to the Boris I. Bittker Papers
Status
Under Revision
Author
compiled by Barbara Heck and staff of Manuscripts and Archives
Date
January 2007
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)

Location

Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours