Name
Schachter, Oscar, 1915-2003 (Interviewee)
Weiss, Thomas G. (Thomas George), 1946- (Interviewer)
Title
Oral history interview with Oscar Schachter, 2001
Abstract
Early years: 1932-1936 student at City College; editor-in-chief of Columbia Law Review; Career: 1939 job in the Wage and Hours Division of the Department of Labor; job at Federal Communications Commission Law Department; 1942 State Department job concerning wartime financial controls, civil administration in the Balkans; 1943 assistant general counsel of United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Ad ministration (UNRRA); 1946-1947 UN secretary of the Legal Committee on Atomic Energy; 1946-1953 UN legal advisor; dispute settlement for Economic Commission for Europe; 1953-1966 director of the General Legal Division; 1955-1970 evening lectures at NYU and Yale law schools; 1963 Hague lectures on law, politics, and action at UN; 1966 job at United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR); 1975 tenure as faculty in Columbia University's Law School and Political Science department; president of American Society of International Law (ASIL); author of Charter Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs; Themes: New Deal intellectual community; publishing articles as UN staff member; accusations of leftist sympathies and homosexuality against UN members during McCarthy era; errors of Secretary-General, Hammarskjöld; government and NGO support of social and economic rights; Article 62, racial discrimination against Japanese-Americans, and immigration legislation; UNRRA and development abroad; environmental and resource management; Mekong River Commission; sovereignty, human rights, and resources; relationship between UN and NGOs; customary law and human rights; UN Staff College; limitations of research; compensation and civil service; Foreseen UN challenges: armed forces and authorization, equality and resources for the poor, and democracy and international order
Collection Name
United Nations intellectual history project (UNIHP)
Subjects
International law; Human rights; Non-governmental organizations; Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945; Environmental management; International organization; United States Intellectual life 20th century; Schachter, Oscar, 1915-2003; Hammarskjöld, Dag, 1905-1961; Columbia University Faculty; United Nations Officials and employees; United Nations History; United Nations Institute for Training and Research; United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration; Mekong River Commission
Format
oral histories; sound recordings
Genre
Interviews
Date
2001
Note (Biographical)
Director of Research, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
Note
Interviewed by Thomas G. Weiss on September 6, 2001
Note (Provenance)
Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Gift, 2009
Language
English
Library Location
Columbia Center for Oral History, Columbia University
Catalog Record
13685173
Persistent URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-gnc7-s131
Related URLs
Available digital content for this interview.