At times, the Law Library receives questions about the Law School’s past. To assist with these questions, the Library has created a new guide, GW Law School History.
Use links on the left side of the guide to navigate its contents. Icons next to a title link directly to resources. Several Law School chronologies and compiled histories are highlighted on the “Getting Started” page of the guide.
JACOB, the Library’s online catalog, can be used to locate historical law school materials in the Library’s collection. One of the challenges in locating these materials is that the Law School name has changed a number of times over the years—Columbia University Law School, National University, National Law Center, and GW Law School. Using the subject links listed in the guide can facilitate research. Some early Law School materials are found in the University’s Special Collections Research Center. These include yearbooks and photo collections.
The Law Library’s digital collection of Law School newspapers, Amicus Curiae, The Advocate, and the Nota Bene, can be searched by keyword(s) or browsed. Use these collections to find information about the beginnings of an academic program or news about the work of a clinic. Other types of historical materials included in the guide are oral histories, collections of professional papers, course bulletins, and academic program materials. The GW Law School History Archive Finding Aid describes materials housed in the Law School archives, such as historical documents and ephemera, including yearbooks, law school catalogs, directories, programs, announcements, law school publications such as magazines and newsletters, copies of examinations, and photographs. For assistance with the Library’s archival collections, AskUs!
Post authored by: Germaine Leahy
