Hazel Alberta Colclaser (February 19, 1911 – July 7, 2010) was an American aviation lawyer and foreign service officer. She was also involved in early efforts to shape space law.

H. Alberta Colclaser
A smiling young white woman with coiffed dark hair
H. Alberta Colclaser, from a 1947 newspaper
Born
Hazel Alberta Colclaser

(1911-02-19)February 19, 1911
DiedJuly 7, 2010(2010-07-07) (aged 99)
Occupation(s)Lawyer, foreign service officer
Known forSpecialist in international aviation law

Early life and education edit

Colclaser was born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Levi (Lee) A. Coclaser and Bertha Margaret Lear Colclaser.[1] She graduated from the College of Wooster in 1933.[2] She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University Law School in 1936,[3] and a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Columbia Law School in 1939, with a focus on international aviation law.[4]

Career edit

Colclaser worked for the United States Department of State as a specialist in international aviation law for 34 years, beginning in 1939 as an assistant to Green Hackworth.[5] She was a foreign service officer at American embassies in Paris and Ottawa. In Paris for the 1946 Peace Conference,[4][5] she contributed to the rewriting of international aviation policies for post-World War II Europe.[2][6] She was the one of three American representatives and the only woman on the legal committee of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).[7][8] She was also involved in early federal discussions about space law.[9][10]

Colclaser was awarded the department's Superior Service Award in 1966, After she retired from government work, she was an administrator at the College of Wooster.[11] She received an honorary doctorate from the College of Wooster in 1965,[12] and was named a Distinguished Alumna of the college in 1983.[1] She was a member of Phi Delta Delta, an organization for women lawyers, and held a pilot's license.[4][7] In her eighties, she visited Antarctica,[3] and was a volunteer counselor helping other senior citizens with medical bills.[13] She was a life member of the American Society of International Law.[14]

In 1997 she gave an oral history interview to Jane Bickford, for the Columbia University Law School alumnae oral history collection.[15] She established the H. Alberta Colclaser Scholarship Fund at Case Western Reserve University, for women students studying international law.[3]

Publications edit

  • "The New International Civil Aviation Organization" (1945)[16]
  • "Jurisdiction in Private International Air Law Cases" (1951)[17]
  • "Civil Aviation: Current Legal Problems in the International Field" (1951)[18]
  • "The Juridical Status of the Air Space above the Territorial Sea" (1958)

Personal life edit

Colclasser died in 2010, aged 99 years, near Wooster, Ohio.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "In Memory". The Foreign Service Journal: 60–61. October 2010.
  2. ^ a b Snyder, Jean. "Wooster Alumna Colclaser Shines in Field of International Aviation" The Wooster Voice" (December 16, 1948): 1.
  3. ^ a b c "Financial Spotlight: Alumna Ahead of Her Time Will Influence Women for All Time" Turning Point (Winter 2011): 10.
  4. ^ a b c Shine, Mary (1947-01-05). "U.S. Aviation Office's Legal Adviser Makes Plane Piloting Her Hobby". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. p. 35. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "East McKeesport Girl at Paris Conference". Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. 1946-08-16. p. 17. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "U.S. Delegations to International Conferences". Department of State Bulletin. 33: 440. September 12, 1955.
  7. ^ a b "Expert in Aviation Law Pilots Plane as Hobby". The Gazette. 1954-09-27. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Dettmers, Elsie (1949-06-10). "Helicopter Use Predicted by Commuters Tomorrow". The Gazette. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ United States Congress Senate Special Committee on Space and Astronautics (December 31, 1958). Space Law, a Symposium Prepared at the Request of Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson. pp. 135–138.
  10. ^ Fenwick, C. G. (January 1958). "How High is the Sky?". American Journal of International Law. 52 (1): 96–99. doi:10.2307/2195673. ISSN 0002-9300. JSTOR 2195673. S2CID 147281019.
  11. ^ "People Make News". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1972-11-01. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "5 to Get Honorary Degrees". News-Journal. 1965-05-30. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Robb, Donna (1995-07-30). "Older Adults in Wayne Get Help with Medical Bill Paper Chases". The Akron Beacon Journal. p. 115. Retrieved 2022-07-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Back matter". American Journal of International Law. 86 (4): b1–b20. October 1992. doi:10.1017/S000293000001085X. ISSN 0002-9300.
  15. ^ Jane Bickford, "Oral history interview with H. Alberta Colclaser" Columbia University Law School alumnae oral history collection.
  16. ^ Colclaser, H. Alberta (1945). "The New International Civil Aviation Organization". Virginia Law Review. 31 (2): 457–478. doi:10.2307/1068715. ISSN 0042-6601. JSTOR 1068715.
  17. ^ H. Alberta Colclaser, "Jurisdiction in Private International Air Law Cases" Michigan Law Review 49:8(1951).
  18. ^ Colclaser, H. A. "Civil Aviation: Current Legal Problems in the International Field" Federal Bar Journal 12(July 1951): 81-90.