Walter R. Hart was an American judge for the Second Judicial District (Kings and Richmond Counties). [1]
Hart was born on February 27, 1894, in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn neighborhood. [1] He attended a local high school which he left at the age of 13 to work as a law clerk. [1] Later, he earned Regents credits at East New York Preparatory School and graduating from the Fordham University School of Law in 1916. [1] He joined the United States Marine Corps the following year. [1]
Between 1925 and 1937, he was a Brooklyn member of the Board of Aldermen. [1] [2] [3]
As a lawyer, Hart represented building trade unions and bus lines, and served as an impartial adviser in a 1953 transit dispute. [1]
Hart was also a councilman. [4] He led a 1946 council committee investigating racial discrimination in the city. [1] The report, which unveiled discrimination against Jewish, African American, and Italian-American students in post-graduate medical schools, was adopted by the council and President Truman's Commission on Civil Rights. [1]
Hart also contributed to his community as president of the Hebrew Educational Society of Brooklyn from 1949 to 1951. [1]