$1,200,000 Bequest
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE will receive approximately $1,200,000 from the estate of the late Justice William N. Cohen '79 of New York City, it was disclosed with the filing of an estate tax appraisal in New York on January 31. This bequest from Mr. Cohen, former Supreme Court Justice of New York who died on February 27. 1938, represents one half of his residuary estate. It is expected that it will be received by the College within the next few months, following the settlement of federal and state taxes.
Justice Cohen's bequest to Dartmouth was made without condition as to the use of principal or interest, but the preference was stated that a part at least be used to aid deserving students to pay the expenses of their education. The decision as to the utilization of this major bequest will rest with the Board of Trustees of the College.
The other half of Justice Cohen's residuary estate will go to his nephew, Arthur J. Cohen '03 of New York City. At the time of the filing of Justice Cohen's will considerable publicity was given to the bequest of 15,000 to the late Supreme Court Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo as an expression of admiration for the latter's high judicial ideals.
GAVE ANONYMOUS FUND ANNUALLY
Justice Cohen made numerous and substantial gifts to Dartmouth during his lifetime, and it was he who for many years made an anonymous annual contribution of $5,000, in the name of the Class of 1879, for the promotion of music, drama and belles lettres. This fund alone provided the College with a generous subsidy for the annual lecture series, concert series, and other artistic programs..Justice Cohen also gave generously to the Alumni Fund each year, being one of the men responsible for 1879's unsurpassed Fund record, and contributed to the construction of Memorial Field, Alumni Gymnasium, Webster Hall, and the Hough Treasure Room in Baker Library. Together with Henry B. Thayer '79 and Henry Melville '79, Justice Cohen always had a large share in making the Class of 1879 one of the most devoted and generous in the history of the College.
Following his graduation from Dartmouth in 1879, Justice Cohen attended Columbia Law School and graduated with honors in 1881. He became one of New York's outstanding trial lawyers and in 1897 was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court to fill out an unexpired term. As Republican nominee for the First Judicial District he yas defeated in the election of the following year. He served as counsel for Governor Theodore Roosevelt and later went to Washington as legal adviser. During the World War he was chairman of the Draft Board for New York, and throughout his career he held high positions in the legal profession, working ceaselessly to elevate judicial standards. Dartmouth honored him with the LL.D. degree in 1899. From 1931 until his death in 1938 Justice Cohen was president of the Class of 1879.
