AKA Henry Dixon Cowell

Born: 11-Mar-1897
Birthplace: Menlo Park, CA
Died: 10-Dec-1965
Location of death: Shady, NY
Cause of death: unspecified

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Bisexual
Occupation: Composer

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: New Musical Resources

Cowell was arrested on sodomy charges in 1936 after a 17 year old boy claimed to be his special friend. With the expectation to receive a light sentence and psychiatry, Cowell pleaded guilty to oral copulation with the minor, but the moral climate plus adverse newspaper publicity (dubbing him "California's Oscar Wilde) at the time forced the judge to issue a fifteen year sentence. After his release in 1940, he worked for the government and subsequently was granted a full pardon. In 1943 he became a music editor with the Office of War Information.

Father: Harry Cowell
Wife: Sidney Robertson (m. 1941)

    University: University of California at Berkeley
    Professor: New School for Social Research (1932-52)
    Professor: Columbia University

    Sodomy charged 22-May-1936
    Oral Copulation with a 17yo boy
    Inmate: San Quentin State Prison (1936-40)
    Pardoned 1942

Author of books:
New Musical Resources (1919, music theory)

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