Politics / Law
Zolton Ferency
1922–1993 · lawyer, political activist, professor
Detroit-born son of a Hungarian-American family who chaired the Michigan Democratic Party, ran for governor in 1966 and later founded the left-wing Human Rights Party.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Lansing, Michigan
aged 70- Birth name
- Zolton Anton Ferency
- Detroit years
- 1922–1950s
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ferency grew up in a Hungarian-American family in Detroit, served in World War II and earned his law degree at the Detroit College of Law after studying at Michigan State. He rose through Democratic politics to chair the state party from 1963 to 1968, and in 1966 he was its candidate for governor, losing to George Romney. Breaking with the party over the Vietnam War, he founded the Human Rights Party in 1970 and became its first president, before returning to the Democrats in 1976. A perennial candidate, he ran for governor five times and for the Michigan Supreme Court three times. From 1971 to 1990 he taught criminal justice at Michigan State University, and he served on the East Lansing city council until his death in 1993.
Highlights
- Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, 1963–1968
- Democratic nominee for governor of Michigan, 1966
- Founder and first president of the Human Rights Party, 1970
- Professor of criminal justice at Michigan State, 1971–1990
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1940s–1950s
Detroit College of Law
Closed · 1891–1997
Downtown Detroit law school where Ferency earned his law degree; it moved to East Lansing in 1997 and became Michigan State University College of Law.