The Remarkable Life of Albert Haskell, Jr.

Using a remarkable cache of scrapbooks kept by Albert Haskell, Jr. through his lifetime, Martin A. Sweeny narrates a fascinating story of unwavering dedication to the public good. As a lawyer, politician, civic organizer, and economic developer, Haskell never turned away from an opportunity to do something beneficial for others.

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The Remarkable Life of Albert Haskell, Jr.: The King of Crown City is the first comprehensive portrait of the Cortland, New York schoolboy who forged a path of his own that garnered him a reputation in New York State and the Northeast of the nation as an accomplished lawyer, politician, banker, civic organizer, supporter of higher education, and promoter of industrial expansion.As a district attorney, Haskell crossed paths with the prohibition government agents, murderers, white slavers, members of the “Black Hand” gang, and the Ku Klux Klan. He successfully prosecuted those who were part of a tubercular cattle scandal. As a state assemblyman, he was an advocate for the state’s dairy farmers during the violent milk strikes in the 1930s. Haskell co-founded a chapter of Rotary International in 1919 and played a pivotal role in the 1950s in making the place of his birth “the typewriter capital of the world.” Based on a trove of scrapbooks assembled by Haskell through his lifetime and kept by his grandchildren, this biography reveals exactly why Haskell’s life of integrity and public service merits the title of “King of ‘Crown City.’”