John B. Trevor Sr.

John Bond Trevor Sr. (1878–1956) was an American lawyer and "one of the most influential unelected officials affiliated with the U.S. Congress." [1] He was very active in the immigration debate,[2] once described as "the most influential lobbyist for restriction." [3] Along with Pennsylvania senator David A. Reed, and with strong support from the AF of L labor leader Samuel Gompers, he was influential in shaping the Immigration Act of 1924, which put in place restrictive immigration quotas and stood until 1964.[4] Immigration advocate Louis Adamic wrote of Trevor that "if a man's love for his country is measurable by his detestation of all who had the bad taste to be born elsewhere, there probably is no greater patriot in America to-day."[5] The Sons of the American Revolution recognized Trevor's patriotism by awarding him their gold medal for Americanism in 1951.[6]

Trevor received his law degree from Harvard and was a prominent New York socialite.[6] Trevor belonged to the circle of Madison Grant.[7]

During World War I, Trevor worked in military intelligence as a US Army captain and was decorated as chevalier in the French Légion d’Honneur for his assistance to the French Army in a matter of national importance.[6] In 1919, he was deputy attorney general of the State of New York. In 1920, he was associate counsel for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Sub-Committee and counsel of the New York State Legislative Committee Investigating Subversive Activities.[8] In 1927 he founded a committee that became the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies (more fully, American Coalition of Patriotic, Civic and Fraternal Societies), an organization opposed to unrestricted immigration, nazism, fascism, and communism.[6] (Walter S. Steele served the American Coalition as chairman of its National Security Committee.[9]) In 1954, the Atlanta Constitution published an article falsely associating Trevor with an organization called the Coalition of Patriotic Societies that was pro-Nazi. This story was later retracted on the front page of the Atlanta Constitution on 23 January 1957.[10] Despite this published retraction and the corroborating sworn testimony of Special Assistant Attorney General of the United States, William P. Mahoney,[11] certain authors continue to perpetuate this slander by citing the original false article.[12][13]

Mr. Trevor was a founding trustee of Paul Smith's College of Arts and Sciences,[14] and at various times a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History,[15] a trustee of New York University,[6] and Commodore of the St. Regis Yacht Club (1938-1939).[16]

On 25 June 1908, he married Caroline Murray Wilmerding.[17] They had two sons. His son John B. Trevor Jr. was a founding trustee of the Trudeau Institute.[18]

References
  1. Tucker, William H (2002). The Funding of Scientific Racism: Wickliffe Draper and the Pioneer Fund. University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-02762-0
  2. Nelkin D, Michaels M. Biological categories and border controls: the revival of eugenics in anti-immigration rhetoric. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 18, Number 56, 1998, pp. 35-63(29)
  3. Margo Conk. The Census, Political Power, and Social Change: The Significance of Population Growth in American History. Social Science History, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter, 1984), pp. 81-106
  4. Trevor, John B. An Analysis of the American Immigration Act of 1924.
  5. Louis Adamic, "Aliens and Alien-Baiters," Harper's Monthly Magazine vol. 173 (June/November, 1936), p. 566.
  6. Staff report (February 21, 1956). John Trevor dies; Urged Alien Law; Lawyer Helped Set Up the quota System, Assisted in Congressional Inquiries Got Legion of Honor. New York Times
  7. John Higham. American Immigration Policy in Historical Perspective. Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 21, No. 2, Immigration (Spring, 1956), pp. 213-235
  8. Rollin Browne. A Vile Slander Laid to Rest
  9. "Walter Steele, a magazine editor". New York Times. 4 March 1960. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. Ralph McGill (January 23, 1957). Misunderstanding Corrected Atlanta Constitution
  11. Deposition of Hon. William Power Maloney in the US District Court, Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, Case No. 5226, January 1957
  12. "Professors of Hate", Rolling Stone, October 20, 1994
  13. The Tanton Files, Heidi Beirich, SPLC,Sept 19, 2008
  14. St Regian, January 1, 1948
  15. Fifty-Fifth Annual Report of the Trustees of The American Museum of Natural History, page xvii, July 15, 1924
  16. St. Regis Yacht Club Centennial 1897-1997, Carl B Ely Shedd (1997)
  17. Staff report (June 26, 1908). J.B. TREVOR WEDS MISS WILMERDING; Countess of Strafford's Daughter and Miss Drayton the Bridesmaids. R.W. GOELET BEST MAN Willard Duncan Howe of Pittston, Penn., Leads Miss Pauline Howard of This City to the Altar. New York Times
  18. The Trudeau Institute, HSL-wiki Trudeau Institute Archived 2011-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
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