Thursday, November 20: 80th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials

Join the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center and Human Rights Center on Thursday, November 20, for an open house and display commemorating the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Nuremberg Trials on November 20, 1945. 

The open house and display will feature material from the Center's archives related to St. Paul native Horace Hansen, a lead prosecutor at the Dachau Trials, as well as information about Minnesota legal professionals with connections to the Nuremberg trials.

Bagged snacks and drinks will be provided.

What: 80th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials Open House

Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center, N30*

When: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday, November 20

* The Center is located on the Subplaza, past Legal Grounds Cafe.

New Exhibit Open House: Wednesday, Feb. 12

All are invited to an open house for our new Law Library exhibit:

"Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100"

When: Wednesday, February 12, from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center (N30, Subplaza level, past Legal Grounds and Student Orgs. in N20).

Snacks, fruit, and refreshments will be served!

One of our most storied courtroom dramas, the 1925 Scopes Trial became a national sensation and the focal point of a public debate over the places of evolution and religion in public education. At trial and on appeal, the defense team aimed to test the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that prohibited teaching that humans were the product of Darwinian evolution, or similar theories of human descent. 

Raising profound questions concerning the freedom of religion, free speech, and due process, the trial did not overturn the anti-evolution law, but thrust contemporary tensions between science and fundamentalism further into the national consciousness. Over the past century, the Scopes Trial has continued to influence public discourse about the teaching of evolution and the role of religion in public schools. For its impacts in the courtroom and classroom, the Scopes Trial remains an important chapter in American history.

“Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100,” commemorates the centennial of the case, inviting viewers to revisit the trial’s cultural context, as well as its prominent figures, issues, and legacy. The exhibit also highlights the role played at trial by famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow, and the University of Minnesota Law Library’s preeminent Clarence Darrow Collection, more than 1,000 letters written by and to the great trial attorney, together with speeches, debates and other material by and about Darrow. Drawn from this collection, the exhibit features letters, books, pamphlets, cultural artifacts, and a trove of court documents from the case. 

“Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100” was curated by Ryan Greenwood, Sophia Charbonneau, Joy Brown, and Michael Hannon.