We remember with great fondness and respect artist and civil libertarian Mort Epstein, who passed away November 20.
Mort was the patriarch of a multi-generational ACLU family that included children Jesse and Gene and granddaughter Brenna, who interned with the ACLU. Mort fought censorship, he fought against war as a veteran himself, and he fought racism. He was a brilliant artist, designer and woodworker.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Mort spent his youth and early adulthood in the New York City area. He met his future wife Marion Miller while attending Cooper Union in New York. They married after graduation, and during World War II Mort served in the U.S. army as a designer and model maker.
Mort and Marion moved to the Cleveland area after the war, where they launched careers in art and design. In the late 1940s his son Jesse and daughter Gene were born.
Mort’s interest in social justice issues was wide ranging, and included advocacy on behalf of fair housing, racial equality, and anti-Semitism. His activism grew out of personal experiences with discrimination and bias. He used his artistic talents to support these causes, creating brochures, signs, films and other materials to promote the organizations working on these issues.
Mort joined the Cleveland Chapter of the ACLU in the 1950’s when it focused on defending civil liberties of citizens accused of political subversion. In the 1970’s, he and son Jesse produced a film entitled “Fourth Right” about the Fourth Amendment, which focused on the right to privacy. Funded by a private donor, the film was distributed by the ACLU of Ohio. In 2007, Mort donated 97 works, both by his wife Marion Epstein and works of his own, for sale to benefit the ACLU of Ohio Foundation.
In addition, Mort was a founder, with Carl and Lou Stokes, of Fair Housing, Inc., and he worked for low-income housing through Habitat for Humanity.
The spark that was his activism and creativity will continue to light the way for us.
Read
Mort Epstein's obituary from
The Plain Dealer .
Read a profile of Mort Epstein that appeared in the Cleveland Jewish News in 2007 as Mort celebrated his 90th birthday.
In 2009, Mort received the Cleveland Arts Prize’s
Lifetime Achievement Award for Design.
If you would like to make a gift to the ACLU of Ohio Foundation in memory of Mort,
visit our Donate page .