Born:  December 11, 1909
Cedar Falls, Iowa

Summary by
Genevieve Beske

Interviews conducted by
Willis J. Goldsmith, Esq.

Howard C. Westwood, Esq.

Oral History Text & Documentation

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Oral History Summary

BIOGRAPHY

Howard C. Westwood, 84, a partner in the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling and a specialist in airline law, died of emphysema March 17, 1994, at Chevy Chase House in Washington. Mr. Westwood joined Covington & Burling in 1934 and retired in 1979. Since then, he had been of counsel to the firm.

His law practice included helping develop government regulation of airlines and the Civil Aeronautics Act, and the representation of clients in the airline industry. From the mid-1950s to the mid-197’s, Mr. Westwood also worked on legal aid for indigents. He was a founder of the Legal Aid Society and in 1992 was awarded its “Servant of Justice” award.

Mr. Westwood had written more than 30 articles on the Civil War for historical journals and had presented more than 25 papers to Civil War round tables in Washington and elsewhere. His first book, “Black Troops, White Commanders and Freedmen During the Civil War,” was published in 1992. He was a member of the Burning Tree Club and a board member of the Ulysses S. Grant Association of Carbondale, Illinois.

He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, attended Swarthmore College and graduated from Columbia University law school. He was clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harlan F. Stone for a year before joining Covington & Burling. During World War II, he was a Marine Corps drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C.

Courtesy of the Westwood Family