Background
Marshall was the son of Louis Marshall, noted constitutional lawyer and co-founder of the American Jewish Committee and Florence Lowenstein. He grew up with his sister Ruth, and brothers James and Bob in Manhattan.
Marshall was the son of Louis Marshall, noted constitutional lawyer and co-founder of the American Jewish Committee and Florence Lowenstein. He grew up with his sister Ruth, and brothers James and Bob in Manhattan.
All four children attended Felix Adler"s Ethical Culture School. This was followed with doctoral studies and a Doctor of Philosophy in economics from the Brookings Institution, in 1930.
He was an early leader of The Wilderness Society and later the Sierra Club. George Marshall continued his education at Columbia University, where he earned bachelor"s and master"s degrees. His doctoral dissertation was entitled "The Machinists" Union: A Study in Institutional Development".
From 1934-1937, Marshall worked as an economist for the consumer division of the National Recovery Administration under Franklin Doctorate. Roosevelt"s New Deal.
Political activist
He served as chairman of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and the Civil Rights Congress, a leading leftist group that was active early the United States civil rights movement, providing leadership and funding. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he worked with Paul Robeson, Dashiell Hammett and William L. Patterson on litigation protecting the rights of African-Americans and American communists.
Marshall was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, where he was cited for Contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over records from the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties. Convicted, he served three months in a federal prison in 1950.
Conservationist
Marshall had a lifelong dedication to conservationism.
George Marshall made major contributions to The Wilderness Society, and then the Sierra Club, for more than 50 years. He edited The Wilderness Society"s magazine, The Living Wilderness from 1957-1961, and served as president of that organization from 1971-1972. Marshall served on the board of directors of the Sierra Club from 1959-1968, and later as "director, president, and vice chairman".
Marshall moved to London until late in his life.
He died at age 96 on May 15, 2000, in Nyack, New New York