{{short description|American politician, attorney, and educator}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Charles Russell Clason | image = CharlesClason.jpg | state = [[Massachusetts]] | district = {{ushr|MA|2|2nd}} | term_start = January 3, 1937 | term_end = January 3, 1949 | preceded = [[William J. Granfield]] | succeeded = [[Foster Furcolo]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1890|9|3|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Gardiner, Maine]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1985|7|7|1890|9|3|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] | spouse = | profession = | alma_mater = [[Bates College]]<br>[[Georgetown University]]<br>[[University of Oxford]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | allegiance = {{nowrap|{{flag|United States of America}}}} | branch = [[File:Flag of the United States Army (unofficial proportions).svg|border|20px]] [[United States Army]] | service_years = | rank = [[File:Army-USA-OR-09c.svg|17px]] [[Sergeant major]] | battles = [[World War I]] | mawards = [[King Albert Medal]] }}
'''Charles Russell Clason''' (September 3, 1890 – July 7, 1985) was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Massachusetts]] and an [[Lawyer|attorney]]. Clason was born in [[Gardiner, Maine]]. He attended [[Bates College]], and received his law degree from [[Georgetown University]]. Clason went on to [[Oxford University]] as a [[Rhodes Scholar]].
He worked for the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] and the [[United States Department of Education]] in 1913 and 1914. He served as a sergeant major in the Coast Artillery in the [[United States Army|Army]] in [[World War I]]. He was a member of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium in 1914 and 1915 and was decorated with the [[King Albert Medal]].
Clason was a law instructor at [[Northeastern University, Boston|Northeastern University]]'s [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] campus from 1920 to 1937. During this time, he served as [[assistant district attorney]] of the western district of Massachusetts (1922–1926) and then [[district attorney]] (1927–1930).
He was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in [[U.S. House elections, 1936|1936]], and served six consecutive terms. After he lost the 1948 election to [[Foster Furcolo]], Clason became dean of the [[Western New England College School of Law]], located in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]].
In 1988, the Western New England College School of Law honored Clason by naming a speaker series in his honor. The Clason Speaker Series provided a venue for 4-5 legal experts each year to present works-in-progress on current legal topics through lectures.
==References== * {{CongBio|C000473}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Charles R. Clason}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=2 |before=[[William J. Granfield]] |after=[[Foster Furcolo]] |years=January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1949}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clason, Charles R.}} [[Category:1890 births]] [[Category:1985 deaths]] [[Category:Bates College alumni]] [[Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni]] [[Category:Northeastern University faculty]] [[Category:Western New England University faculty]] [[Category:Legal educators]] [[Category:American Rhodes Scholars]] [[Category:People from Gardiner, Maine]] [[Category:Methodists from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Educators from Maine]] [[Category:20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]