He never talked about his disability; he just talked. You waited because whatever he had to say was important and worthwhile. I often mused about what his long distance telephone bill must have been for he called whomever—never mind their social or political rank--whenever he had an idea. Patience was not his long suit. He didn’t call to chat; he called to test out his thinking—and yours--or to give you advice or instructions. He never bothered to learn to do email. He preferred direct human contact.
While national and local newspaper obituaries heralded his political and judicial record-- invariably quoting famous men-there were other sides to this man whose political friends and enemies called him “Heaney” and whose law clerks reverently referred to him as “the Judge.” He respected and admired strong women, beginning with his wife, Eleanor. He appreciated the fact that DFL women were the backbone of the party. In the 1950s many young and older married women were not in the paid labor force. They had, or made, time for political party work and found it intellectually and socially satisfying. In many party units the chairwomen were the unacclaimed leaders.
With Heaney's support, Dorothy Jacobson, a Macalester college professor and state DFL chairwoman, became Governor Freeman's top policy aide when he was elected in 1954. As DFL national committeeman, Heaney supported Senator Humphrey’s appointing Eugenie Anderson, DFL national committeewoman, as a U.S. ambassador, although he didn't support her when she sought DFL endorsement as a candidate for U.S. Senate. Instead, he supported Rep. Gene McCarthy. Back in Duluth he recruited and supported a young Duluth mother’s run for the state legislature and recruited me, then a young mother of four, as a state DFL vice-chairwoman. All this preceded the advent of the 20th century women’s movement. While judge, he mentored a group of Duluth women in developing an affordable housing project called Town View. Years later, the proceeds of its sale endowed a scholarship program at the University’s Humphrey Institute. He also instituted a child care center in the Duluth federal courts building, an unusual development for its time.
Desegregation of the public schools for Judge Heaney was not just a judicial action. For years he monitored desegregation efforts in the St. Louis public school system and co-wrote a book about it. He also wrote an article about the first black federal judge. As a University of Minnesota regent he was dedicated to making his alma mater not only a superior institution but available to young people of limited means. To his dying day he rued the fact that too many students, especially law students, ended up with huge loans. He and Eleanor endowed numerous University scholarship programs and have asked that memorials be to them.
But politics was his primary passion. He was part of a small group who, after the merger of the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties, built the new DFL party into a major force in Minnesota politics during the last half of the 20th century. I recall his once musing that about it took only about 25 people to organize this new party and begin to elect state and national officials. He could be contemptuous of people who spurned politics or gave up on it. He thought of political participation as a noble effort and believed its purpose was good public policy. His innumerable phone calls were aimed at that end. For him law and politics defined the world. If you didn’t like what was going on, get busy. Individual effort made a difference—and you better get busy when Heaney called.
The ultimate organizer, perhaps nothing illustrates his commitment to freedom and justice for all than the huge bevy of law clerks he chose and mentored. He taught them that the law was not an adversarial occupation but an obligation to make history. There is a magnificent story to be told about this crew of almost 100 talented individuals whose respect and reverence for this man is a legacy of which anyone could be proud. Meanwhile, those of us who knew him and were recipients of his phone calls will treasure and trade stories of this great man who spurred us all on.
Arvonne Fraser is the trustee of the DFL Education Foundation
Read more:
- Heaney's obituary in the Star Tribune
- A shorter obit by Lori Sturdevant of the Star Tribune
- An obit and article by Doug Grow at Minnpost
- How Gerald Heaney might have changed the course of history by Albert Eisele
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