The Judson House

Built in 1892, the Judson House is the former home of Frederick Newton Judson, an attorney, public intellectual, and prolific writer whose efforts shaped government practices at every level, from the St. Louis Board of Education and public school system to the future United Nations. A legal reformer in the Progressive Era, Judson defended labor rights during a 1912 railroad strike and was appointed to the National War Labor Board during World War I. His home on Washington Avenue was designed by the St. Louis architectural firm of Grable & Weber, and the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Judson House is a private residence and event venue, offering limited-access live music concerts and outdoor art exhibits on Fridays and Saturdays. Along with other cultural organizations in the Grand Center neighborhood, the Judson House participates in the First Friday Art Walk program. From April through November, visitors can enjoy viewing art exhibits on the first Friday evening of each month.

Frederick Newton Judson (1845 - 1919) was born in St. Mary's, Georgia, and moved with his parents to Bridgeport, Connecticut. While in Connecticut, he worked as a freelance journalist and teacher at local schools, including the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven. He graduated as class valedictorian from Yale University in 1866, before relocating to Nashville, where he met the heiress, Jane Eakin, whom he later married. Together, they moved to St. Louis, where Judson completed a law degree from Washington University School of Law in 1871. Since he had already finished most of his legal studies on his own, Judson was able to complete a law degree in only one year. From 1871 to 1873, he served as a private secretary to Missouri Governor Benjamin Gratz Brown, who was known for his involvement in preventing Missouri from seceding from the Union at the onset of the Civil War. Beginning in 1872, Judson lived with his wife and young daughter in a home that was eventually demolished in St. Louis's exclusive Lafayette Square neighborhood, where he entered private practice as an attorney. He also took a faculty position as a lecturer in comparative jurisprudence at Washington University's School of Law, where he stayed until 1910.

In 1878, Judson was elected to the St. Louis Board of Education for Public Schools, and he assumed a proactive role. First, he drafted a policy stipulating that any funds amassed from public school properties should be set aside for educational uses, such as improving the school curriculum, rather than being used for the purchase of new school properties. He was also determined to rout out corruption on the Board's Building Commission, which was rife with political alliances that undermined the best interest of the city's public schools. A decade later, Judson began presenting papers and speaking in front of other local boards, committees, and clubs, before moving on to bigger audiences of national commissions and associations to advance his progressive ideas. He gave his first presentation ("What Shall We Teach?") to the Commercial Club of St. Louis in 1887. This was followed by his speech on "The Liberty of Contract Under Police Power," presented to the American Bar Association in 1891. In addition to his role as a civic reformer, Judson gained an excellent reputation as attorney specializing in business and tax law, serving as the lead counsel to the St. Louis Merchants' Exchange.

As his public profile continued to rise, Judson commissioned the St. Louis architectural firm of Grable and Weber to design a new home in the French Renaissance Revival style. In 1892, the home was built adjacent to an existing carriage house on Washington Avenue. From this new home base, Judson became the chair of the St. Louis Bar Association, and he served on the Citizens' Nonpartisan Committee, where he advocated for a reform of the city's election laws. He also called for the formation of a new Civic Federation to advance the "philanthropic, industrial, and moral interests" of the city, with the goal of ensuring an honest municipal government and "the highest welfare of its citizens." Due to his concerns that the Board of Education was still wracked with corruption, the Civic Federation implemented civil service testing procedures, while calling for greater transparency regarding municipal policies and practices. His efforts attracted the attention of the president of Harvard University, who lauded Judson's work and recommended that other cities follow suit.

Next, Judson focused on progressive tax reforms, attempting to check the power of industry leaders and the city's business elite. Speaking to the St. Louis Round Table Club, he presented a paper titled "Justice in Taxation as a Remedy for Social Discontent." In 1900, Judson joined the National Civic Foundation, which sought to facilitate discussion between industrial leaders such as Andrew Carnegie and conservative union leaders such as Samuel Gompers, the president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). This led to Judson's involvement in several major railroad disputes, including one case involving the Wabash Railroad Strike, in which he helped union leaders win important victories. President Taft thereafter appointed Judson to the Office of Special Counsel to the U.S. Government, where he was tasked with investigating the practices of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company. Due to his prolific body of work that included lectures, writings, legal cases, and special assignments, Judson was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Missouri and Yale University.

When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked industrial experts from the National Independent Conference Board and union leaders from the AFL to nominate a few men to serve on a National War Labor Board (NWLB). The objective was to create a federal agency capable of mediating between the conflicting interests of capital and labor. Former President Taft was among those nominated, and he in turn asked Frederick Judson to serve as his alternate. After Taft departed from active participation in the group, Judson was permanently installed as co-chair in his place. In 1918, the National War Labor Board drafted a document outlining its guiding principles, which included the rights of workers to organize, to negotiate working conditions, and to earn a living wage. Although the fighting in Europe ceased in November 1918, the Board continued its operations until August 1919. While labor historians debate the extent to which the NWLB's decisions impacted union activities in the decades that followed, some view the brief existence of the NWLB as legitimating the struggle of labor like never before.

In 1919, Judson made a final public appearance, speaking in favor of the League of Nations, a precursor to the United Nations (UN). He also signed an American Bar Association report in support of the peace treaty ending World War I, and he continued serving on the National War Labor Board until the illness that led to his death at age 74. The New York Times called Judson "one of the most prominent attorneys and legal authors in the country." Although the Senate voted against the U.S. joining the League of Nations a few months later (and much of the momentum was lost), Judson's legacy was that of a progressive legal reformer who had a hand in shaping municipal government, federal government, and even the future UN. After his home was sold, it was converted into a boarding house during the 1930s, similar to other residences on the street amidst the Great Depression. The property contained an eclectic mix of residents, including a theater singer, vaudeville comedian, and chorus girl, reflecting the changing character of midtown, as the neighborhood came to include entertainment venues and businesses. While the property remains a private residence today, limited-access concerts and outdoor art exhibits are held on site, offering a new chapter for this historic home. The Judson House enjoys proximity to the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis, located directly across the street.

Frederick Newton Judson House - Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places, National Archives. March 17th, 2008. Accessed February 21st, 2023. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63821113.

Homepage, Judson House Events. Accessed February 21st, 2023. https://judsonhouseevents.com/.

Faculty (Law School Archives), Digital Commons, WUSTL. Accessed February 21st, 2023. https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=4&article=1001&context=hatchet&type=additional.

Reft, Ryan. "World War I: Workers Greet Labor Day 1918 with Optimism", LOC. August 30th, 2017. Accessed February 21st, 2023. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/08/world-war-i-workers-greet-labor-day-1918-with-optimism/.