Nicholas Kelley papers

ca. 1845-1968 [bulk 1890-1968]

Nicholas Kelley, son of social reformer Florence Kelley, was a New York City lawyer and civic leader. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1906 and LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1909. Upon graduation from law school, he married Augusta Maverick of San Antonio, Texas and took a position in the law office of Cravath, Henderson & de Gersdorff where he handled bankruptcy cases. Kelley served as a United States government appeals agent of the draft board and as an assistant in the office of the director of the draft in 1917. From July 1918 to June 1920, he worked in the Department of the Treasury as a member of the war loan staff, and served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in charge of loans to foreign governments from 1920 to 1921. Kelley returned to New York City in 1921 and joined the law firm of Larkin, Rathbone and Perry. From November 1921 to February 1922 he headed a financial mission to Peru on behalf of American banking interests.

Kelley served as an industry member of the Automobile Labor Board from 1934 to 1935 and worked to carry out the terms of an arbitration agreement designed to avert a strike in the automobile industry. At Larkin, Rathbone and Perry, Kelley acted as general counsel for the Chrysler Corporation where he continued to deal with labor relations. He was named a vice president of Chrysler in 1937 and stayed until his retirement in 1957. Kelley was active in the Association of the Bar of New York, serving both on its Executive Committee and as Chairman of its Committee on the Administration of Bankruptcy Law during his career. From 1941 to 1946 Kelley was Chairman of the Alien Enemy Hearing Board in New York City.

Throughout his life, Nicholas Kelley carried on his mother Florence Kelley's dedication to social and civic reform. For many years he was a member of the Executive Committee of the League for Industrial Democracy and of its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. He served on the boards of the Henry Street Settlement, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. He was president of the National Civil Service Reform League, chairman of the board of the Foreign Language Information Service, treasurer of the American Association for Old Age Security, a trustee of the Economic Foundation, a member of the Executive Committee of the Civil Service Reform Association, and of committees of the Citizens Union. He was also a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Interested in education, Kelley served on the boards of trustees of Antioch College, Fisk University, Swarthmore College, and Bennington College. He was a member of the American Philosophical Association, the Harvard Club, the Century Association, the Knickerbocker Club, and the Cosmos Club of Washington D.C. Additionally, Kelley owned a dairy farm in Annandale, New Jersey where he raised award-winning Holstein-Friesian cows.