One Law Family’s Generational Demonstration of Giving Back
Several years after his 1978 death, I. Goodman’s wife, Pauline Cohen, chose to honor his memory by endowing in 1980 the I. Goodman Cohen Lecture Series in Trial Advocacy at Wayne State Law School. While Cohen was not a Wayne Law grad – he attended the Detroit College of Law, now part of Michigan State University’s Law School – his involvement in Detroit’s legal community, and Pauline’s own participation in Detroit civic and political affairs, made Wayne State the lecture series’ logical home.
Over forty years later, the I. Goodman Cohen Lectureship remains a thriving endeavor and is further distinguished in being the first endowment in Wayne Law’s history. And just as Pauline Cohen established that endowment in memory of her husband, so her children, Dennis and Ina (Wayne Law JD ’74), endowed the Pauline Cohen Internship at Levin Center in 2017 in honor and in memory of their mother. Revenue from the endowment helps support Wayne Law students who receive federal internships through the Levin Center.
Such generational endowments are uncommon and, in this case, what connects them to Wayne Law and it’s students is the desire to recognize and honor different members of one family for distinctly different yet equally notable achievements in law and civic affairs.
Admitted to the Michigan State Bar in 1931, I. Goodman Cohen went on to gain admittance to multiple district courts and, in 1962, to the US Supreme Court – on the motion of Archibald Cox, former US Solicitor General serving in John F. Kennedy’s administration and special prosecutor during the Watergate hearings.
Pauline met her future husband through her brother, an attorney, so the law not only brought the couple together but remained a common thread throughout their marriage, even to the degree of dinnertime conversations on legal issues, according to Dennis and Ina. Those conversations were undoubtedly influential in Ina’s decision to follow in her father’s footsteps professionally, although Pauline’s influence was clearly no less powerful.
A Wayne State College of Education grad, Pauline’s avocation was civic engagement and political activism. As a keen supporter of educational and cultural institutions – including her alma mater Wayne State University, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Historical Museum, the Detroit Library, and the Detroit Institute of Arts (where as a teenager she watched Diego Rivera paint his famous mural) – she exhibited an unwavering commitment to the city. When the wave of urban migration to the suburbs hit Detroit, Pauline and Goodman reversed the trend by moving the family from northwest Detroit back to the downtown area. She served 25 years as a Democratic precinct delegate and with her husband was invited to the 1960 Presidential Inauguration (a late jury verdict prevented them from attending).
As a champion of individual rights, especially for impoverished and underrepresented groups, Pauline monitored political coverage in Detroit and northern Ohio media during Presidential elections. She combatted residential redlining, was selected as a delegate to the 1968 Democratic Presidential Convention (but declined due to disagreement about the supported candidate), helped develop election strategies for local elections including referenda on Detroit Board of Education school bond issues, participated in pro-choice demonstrations in Lansing, worked on the Model Cities Program in Detroit, and helped revise the Detroit City Charter in 1974.
Her civic and political connections were legion – from hosting former Governor G. Mennen (“Soapy”) Williams at her home, to John Dingell, Carl Levin, and former Michigan Secretary of State Richard Austin. Austin was the first African American elected to that position, the first to win election to any statewide office in Michigan excluding the Supreme Court, and was the longest-serving Secretary of State in Michigan history.
By any measure, Pauline Cohen’s civic achievements are remarkable, and while Dennis and Ina also remember her fondly as a mother and caregiver, their Pauline Cohen Endowed Internship at the Levin Center reflects an extraordinary legacy. In a joint statement, they write that “We’re delighted to honor our mother with this Endowment at her alma mater. Given her intense interest in politics, and her love of research, we believe she would have enjoyed being an intern in DC and making meaningful contributions to oversight on a US House or Senate committee.”
Were Pauline Cohen alive today, she would certainly be making her voice heard in the halls of Congress as well as locally. Wayne Law and Detroiters seeking the betterment of society owe a debt of gratitude to Pauline’s tireless efforts, and to Dennis and Ina Cohen for making certain those efforts are never forgotten.
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