Erich Cramer Stern (February 8, 1879 – February 18, 1969) was an American attorney, educator, and Republican politician whose early life also left a
notable record of late-nineteenth-century LGBTQ history.Queer Places:
Harvard University (Ivy League), 2 Kirkland St, Cambridge, MA 02138
12 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Forest Home Cemetery, 2505 W Forest Home Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53215, United States
Erich Cramer Stern (February 8, 1879 – February 18, 1969) was an American attorney, educator, and Republican politician whose early life also left a
notable record of late-nineteenth-century LGBTQ history.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 8, 1879, to Carl G. and Alma Cramer Stern, he grew up in Milwaukee alongside his sister, Julia, attending local public elementary schools and the German-English Academy.
In the late 1890s, Stern moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University, where his personal writings captured his deep emotional and romantic yearnings for other young men. During his freshman year, living at 12 Oxford Street in Cambridge, he initially struggled academically with coursework in Latin and physics while provisionally admitted. He formed intense friendships with fellow students and longed for romantic love. He fell for a classmate named Sam Thurber, gushing over moments of closeness like sharing three daily meals, taking a bicycle trip to Roxbury to meet Thurber's family, and accepting an invitation to spend Thanksgiving at the Thurber home. Unable to confess his true feelings to Thurber, Stern eventually confided his romantic attraction to men to a student living across the hall in February of his freshman year. Although the neighbor initially warned that he should not speak of such things, the neighbor became much friendlier, and a month later, the two shared a intimate moment on Stern's couch, marking the start of a six-month relationship. As a sophomore, Stern gained regular student status, moved to 84 Perkins Hall, and volunteered at the Denison House settlement program.
After completing his undergraduate degree at Harvard in 1901, Stern earned his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1904. He expanded his education in Europe by studying at the University of Berlin and earning his doctorate degree from the University of Paris in 1905. Returning home, he was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar in 1905 and established a legal practice in Milwaukee.
Stern engaged actively in public service and academic life over the following decades. He served on the Milwaukee Common Council as an alderman from 1908 to 1010 and represented his district as a Republican in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1910 to 1912. He also taught law at Marquette University during the 1910s. On March 8, 1930, Stern married prominent Milwaukee artist and lecturer Lucia Karker, who gained recognition for her avant-garde geometric designs, modern collages, and textiles. Stern lived out the remainder of his long career in Milwaukee and passed away on February 18, 1969, at the age of ninety. He was laid to rest at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.
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