Student Prize Contest: Morris L. Cohen Essay Competition

The Legal History and Rare Books Section (LHRB) of the American Association of Law Libraries, in cooperation with The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., announces the annual Morris L. Cohen Student Essay Competition. The competition is named in honor of Morris L. Cohen, late Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School. Professor Cohen’s scholarly work was in the fields of legal research, rare books, and historical bibliography.

The purpose of the competition is to encourage scholarship in the areas of legal history, rare law books, and legal archives, and to acquaint students with the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and law librarianship. Essays may be on any topic related to legal history, rare law books, or legal archives. The competition is open to students currently enrolled in accredited graduate programs in library science, law, history, and related fields. Both full- and part-time students are eligible. Membership in AALL is not required.

The winner will receive a $1,000 prize from The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., and will present the essay at an LHRB-SIS sponsored webinar. The winner and runner-up will have the opportunity to publish their essays in LHRB-SIS’s online scholarly journal Unbound: A Review of Legal History and Rare Books.

The submission deadline for the competition is 11:59 p.m., June 30, 2026 (EDT). Please see more information about the contest below, including the application package:

Cohen Essay Contest Flyer

Cohen Essay Contest: Full Contest Information

Cohen Essay Contest: Application

New Donation: The Travels of Clarence and Ruby Darrow

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center have recently received a wonderful new donation of letters to and from Ruby Darrow, and memorabilia related to Clarence and his wife Ruby's travels together abroad, particularly during 1929 and 1930, during an important period in their lives. The new donation, generously gifted by Elva Paulson, a relative of Ruby Darrow, adds to the Law Library's extraordinary collection of material related to Clarence Darrow's life and career and sheds further light on Clarence and Ruby's lives. 

The group of letters associated with Ruby reveal family details, such as support she offered for her young nephew's writing career, and some add to a small collection of material from Ruby's life after Clarence passed away in 1938. The collection of travel memorabilia documents Ruby and Clarence's travels to Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, particularly from 1929 and early 1930, and includes hundreds of postcards picturing locales that they visited, as well as itineraries, a passport, casino tickets, menus, photographs, hotel brochures, and more. Some of the material can be correlated by location to letters written and received by Darrow at the time. 

During the period when they were travelling, the Darrows were significantly affected by the "great" American stock market crash, beginning on October 24, 1929, which ended the "Roaring Twenties" and triggered the Depression. The growing reality of the new financial environment and anxiousness surrounding it appear in some of Clarence's letters, particularly those written to his son, Paul, which are housed in the Library's Darrow Collection. In letters from abroad, Darrow instructs Paul to look after family business arrangements, and receives word from other family members on how the crash has affected them. 

The Library's Darrow Collection holds more than one thousand letters to and from the great American trial attorney, as well as publications by and about Darrow, photos, selected case material, books from Darrow's library, and a small archive of documents from Ruby's later life. The new letters and travel memorabilia are a great addition to the Darrow collection and will enrich our knowledge of Clarence and Ruby. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

Law Library and Riesenfeld Center Wins Award

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Rare Books Center has recently received an award from the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). In recognition of the Riesenfeld Center’s digital exhibit, "Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100," the Academic Law Libraries Special Interest Section (ALL-SIS) of AALL has awarded the Library its 2026 Digital Publication Award, honoring the exhibit’s significant contribution to legal literature that is born and remains digital. The Law Library has the unique honor of receiving four awards in the past six years from AALL for digital and print media that highlight its special collections. 

"Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100" explores the history and legacy of the famed 1925 Scopes Trial as seen through the Law Library’s unique special collections. The exhibit emphasizes the role played at trial by Clarence Darrow, drawing upon the Library’s preeminent collection of Darrow’s letters and other writings, and also showcases the depth of the historical legal resources in the Library’s Riesenfeld Center. The site includes original court documents from the trial, speeches, debates, and other publications that shed light on its proceedings and aftermath, as well as detailed trial summaries and timelines to trace the longer history of a heated debate over the role of evolution in public education. 

The digital site was created by Michael Hannon ('98), Associate Director for Special Collections & Digital Initiatives, Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections, Joy Brown, Law Library Digital Technology Specialist, and Sophia Daley, Archives and Digital Collections Associate. 

Wednesday, April 15: Celebrate Clarence Darrow's Birthday!

Come out and celebrate Clarence Darrow's birthday with the Law Library, next Wednesday, April 15!  

Pick up cake and donuts in honor of Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), America's legendary defense attorney. Don't forget to take a quiz about Darrow's life and career for prizes, and take a selfie with the legal giant. 

When: Wednesday, April 15, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: Law Library lobby

What: Birthday cake, donuts, coffee, tea, and prizes!

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center holds the preeminent collection of letters to and from Darrow, as well as works by and about the great attorney. For more information about Darrow, including some of his most famous cases, please see the Library's award-winning Darrow Digital Collection.

Early State Law Collection Cataloged

The Library and Riesenfeld Center has an exceptionally strong collection of colonial American law and early state laws. These materials include an extensive set of colonial session laws, which forms the basis of these treasures. In addition, pamphlets and political works from the Revolutionary era, state constitutions (on which the Constitution is based), and early law reports and practice guides substantially chart the development of the American legal system from the colonial period through the early republic. Early US state material is also a historically valuable and interesting area in the collection. Considered as falling within a state's territorial period, and up through about 1875 or at least within ten years of statehood (if statehood was achieved later), these texts are represented in the Center's collections by foundational constitutional documents and legislative debates, the earliest session laws, rules of order, procedural manuals, treatises, addresses and reports by the government, as well as case reports.  

This important collection has been cataloged over many years, a project that has recently been completed. Cataloging librarian and rare books cataloger Sarah Yates, along with (now retired) cataloger Claire Stuckey, have heroically cataloged these materials to accurately describe the Library's collection and make it more discoverable, sometimes with notes about the material reflecting the uniqueness of our volumes. 

Much of the material has strong interest for state and national history. As an example, a volume of Rhode Island session laws from 1779 provides extensive details about state militia forces, payments, and mobilization during the Revolutionary War. Another volume of laws from Vermont in 1789, contemporary with the first American Congress, features handwritten descriptions of a boy's work in the fields along with hand-drawn images. 

Pictured here is also an interesting volume of city ordinances from New York (1799), regulating a host of activities, from selling meat and bread to keeping animals off the streets (on the latter of which, see a notable article by Henrik Hartog). The signature on the title page of the volume is "Jacob de la Montaigne," an alderman of the city who with other council members passed the ordinances. De la Montaigne was also an alderman in 1804, when the city council among other provisions suspended the law prohibiting the ringing of bells at funerals, in order to mourn the death of famous New Yorker Alexander Hamilton. Taken together, the state volumes with their unique associations and annotations form a rich collection. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

Wednesday, April 1: Rare Books Open House!

Come out to the Riesenfeld Center's open house for April, next Wednesday, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.!

Enjoy snacks and drinks, and see treasures from the library's rare books and special collections! 

When: Wednesday, April 1, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center*
What: Rare books, bagged snacks and treats, and refreshments!

(*The Riesenfeld Center is in N30, on the subplaza past Student Orgs. in N20.) 

Wednesday, March 4: Rare Books Open House!

Come out to the Riesenfeld Center's open house for March, next Wednesday, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.!

Enjoy snacks and drinks, and see treasures from the library's rare books and special collections! 

When: Wednesday, March 4, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center*
What: Rare books, bagged snacks and treats, and refreshments!

(*The Riesenfeld Center is in N30, on the subplaza past Student Orgs. in N20.)