The William T. Gossett collection chronicle his professional career as a lawyer and businessman as well as those many public service activities in which he was active. The collection was received in two accessions, 1981 and 1997. The 1981 accession, the largest of the two, consisted of the following series: Vita; Speeches, Articles, and Statements; Professional Activities; Topical Files; Public Service Files; Hospitals and Organizations; Colleges Universities, and Schools; and Personal Correspondence. The smaller 1997 accession included these series: Biographical and Personal Materials; Speeches, Articles, and Statements; Photographs; and Twentieth Century-Fox. There was some slight overlap in the content of the two accessions, particularly in Gossett's speeches and articles. No attempt was made, however, to intersperse this similar material.
William T. Gossett was a nationally known lawyer whose legal, business, and philanthropic efforts spanned more than fifty years of professional and public service. Gossett was born in Gainesville, Texas on September 9, 1904 and spent his youth in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He attended Coe College (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), the University of Utah (A.B., 1925), and Columbia University (LL.B., 1928).
Gossett married Elizabeth Evans Hughes, daughter of Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, in 1930. He practiced law in New York for eighteen years, from 1929 to 1947, including service with Bendix Corporation as General Counsel (1945-1947) and Director (1946-1947). Gossett joined Ford Motor Company in 1947 and served as General Counsel, Vice President, Director, and Member of the Executive Committee from 1947 to 1962. He resigned in 1962 to devote more of his time to government and public service. Gossett served as counsel to the Detroit law firm of Dykema, Wheat, Spencer, Goodnow, and Trigg (1964-1970) and as partner in the firm of Dykema, Gossett, Spencer, Goodnow, and Trigg (1970-1977).
William T. Gossett held several important positions within the legal fraternity. He served as President of the American Bar Association (ABA) from 1968 to 1969, was a member of its House of Delegates, and participated in many ABA committees. Gossett was also President of the American Bar Foundation (1964-1966), Secretary (1958-1960), and Chairman (1960-1962) of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, Director and President of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (1961-1964), Director (1961-1965) of the American Judicature Society, Director of the Council on Legal Education in Professional Responsibility, Director and co-organizer of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (1968-1969), Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and a member of the Institute for Judicial Administration --American Bar Association Joint Commission on Juvenile Justice Standards.
Public service concerns included appointment as Deputy Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, with the rank of Ambassador (1962-1963), membership on the Federal Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries (1968-1969; 1973), the National Advisory Committee on the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) Legal Services Program (1967-1973), and the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (1964-1966). Gossett served on the board of trustees of many educational institutions: Atlanta University, Columbia University, Morehouse College, and the Cranbrook Foundation. Interests in the Michigan area included Harper-Grace Hospitals, the Metropolitan Detroit Council of Churches, New Detroit, Inc, the Economic Club of Detroit, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Gossett was honored by the American Jewish Congress, the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Detroit Council of Churches and many colleges and universities for his humanitarian efforts.
Gossett also served as the Chairman of the National Board of the United Negro College Fund, Inc. (1961-1967), Trustee (1935-1947) and President (1946-1947) of the Riverside Church in New York City, and as a member of the National Advisory Council for the University of Utah. Private business interests led him to serve as the Director of Dart Industries, Inc. and the One William Street Fund, Inc. Gossett was on the Executive Committee and held the position of Chairman Emeritus with Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. He also was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the American President's Life Insurance Company (1965-1967).
William T. Gossett died July 20, 1998.
