Homer Stille Cummings (April 30, 1870 – September 10, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician who was the United States Attorney General from 1933 to 1939. He also was elected mayor of Stamford, Connecticut, three times before founding the legal firm of Cummings & Lockwood in 1909. He later served as chairman of Democratic National Committee between 1919 and 1920. Early life and career Cummings was born on April 30, 1870, and graduated from the Heathcote School in Buffalo, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the Sheffield School of Yale University in 1891, and completed his degree at Yale Law School two years later. Practicing law in Stamford, he joined with Charles D. Lockwood in 1909 to form Cummings & Lockwood, remaining a partner in the firm until 1933. Three years after entering private practice, Cummings supported William Jennings Bryan's 1896 presidential bid. Connecticut (Silver) Democrats nominated him for Secretary of State. As a Progressive whose oratorical skills made him a dramatic trial lawyer, Cummings seemed a natural for the political arena. In 1900, 1901, and 1904, Cummings was elected mayor of Stamford. His two tenures as mayor were served from 1900–1902 and again from 1904–1906. At the time of his first election, he began a quarter-century of service as a committeeman from Connecticut with the national Democratic party. As mayor, he helped construct and improve streets and sewers, reorganized the police and fire departments, and secured a shorefront park that later was named for him. Nominated for Congressman-at-large in 1902 and for U.S. Senator in 1910 and 1916, Cummings lost all three races by narrow margins. During the 1912 campaign, he directed the Democratic speaker's bureau from Washington, D.C., then served as vice-chairman of the national committee from 1913 to 1919. He served as chairman for the next two years. During the period from 1914 to 1924, Cummings served as the state attorney for Connecticut in Fairfield County. During his last year as county prosecutor, a vagrant and discharged army soldier, Harold Israel, was indicted for the murder in Bridgeport of Father Hubert Dahme, a popular parish priest. Despite police evidence that included a confession and a .32 revolver, which the suspect had and which produced a fired cartridge consistent with the bullet in the deceased, Cummings conducted a thorough investigation of the crime. He eventually found Israel innocent and dropped the indictment. In