Family of Fred SOMKIN and Bodil HAMMERGAARD

Dr. Fred Somkin, a long-time resident of Ithaca, died at his home

February 1, 2009, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was

84 years old.

Born May 12, 1924, in Detroit, Michigan, he was the youngest of Ben

and Anna Somkin's four children.

Fred earned his B.A. degree in English from Wayne State University in

1946. Asked to leave Georgetown Law because he didn't attend classes

(exclaiming, "I learned more about law in Yeshiva!"), he nevertheless

earned his LL.B. degree from Columbus Law School in 1952. He served in

the U.S. Army during World War II and in its reserves from 1949 to

1953.

From 1952 to 1959, Fred engaged in the practice of law in Washington,

D.C. He was a member of the bars of the District of Columbia, the

State of New York, the United States Supreme Court, the United States

Court of Claims, and the United States Court of Military Appeals. He

appeared as counsel before the McCarthy Committee and was final

appellate counsel for the penultimate capital defendant in D.C.

Through his practice of law, Fred met Bodil Hammergaard, an architect

who had served as an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright from 1950 to

1954. Fred and Bodil were married in Washington in April 1959.

Fred held a great interest in American history. He earned both an M.A.

(American University, 1962) and a Ph.D. (Cornell University, 1967) in

the subject. He taught American history at Queen's University

(Kingston, Ontario) and at Harvard University before joining the

faculty of Cornell in 1968 as Associate Professor of American

Cultural/Intellectual History. Dr. Somkin was named Professor in 1991

and Emeritus Professor upon his retirement in 1994.

Along with history, Fred was passionate about music, English

literature, and poetry. He was famous among his friends for

recognizing the origins of even the most obscure quotations. Dr.

Somkin authored two major works: "Unquiet Eagle: Memory and Desire in

the Idea of American Freedom, 1815-1860 (1967) and How Vanzetti Said

Goodbye (1982)."

He is survived by his fiancée Lily Inglis of Kingston, Ontario. Lily

had been one of Fred's many friends from his years at Queen's

University.

Fred had hoped to end his days with Lily in Kingston; however,

Canadian immigration laws proved to be insurmountable.