Riesenfeld Center Workshop: The Woodart Collection

In the Riesenfeld Center, one of the most interesting small archives is the Woodart Collection, consisting of eleven documents related to the remarkable life of Anna Petronella Woodart. Born into slavery in 18th-century Jamaica, Woodart was manumitted in 1756 by her father, a wealthy English plantation owner, and named in his will as his only natural daughter and sole heir to his fortune. In 1760 and 1762, Anna was granted full English rights and privileges in Jamaica and England, and was soon married, at about age seventeen, to an English merchant named James Williams, an arrangement that likely was made by her guardians and the estate's trustees. Anna had several children with James and appeared to live comfortably, in part due to an annual income from the estate. The Woodart collection sheds important light on the terms of Anna's marriage, she and her husband's property and her father's (and uncle's) estates. But much is still unknown about her life and children, even the places of her residence, some of which may come to light with additional research. 

  
Several weeks ago, attendees from UMN's Center for Premodern Studies (CPS) and the University Libraries visited the Riesenfeld Center for a discussion of the Woodart Collection, as part of CPS's workshop series, "Interrogating Archives." The archive raised interesting questions for the participants regarding Anna's family and children and the still unknown information about her life. It also raised important questions about Anna's freedom and legal agency, since she was part of a family property strategy and one that led to Anna and her husband becoming the owners of enslaved people, creating a complex and difficult legacy. The Woodart Collection has also been used by several scholars and referenced in publications, including an article by Brooke Newman and a book by Daniel Livesay. We hope that the good discussion will be a stimulus to further work and reflection, not least because interesting parts of Anna's story are yet to be told. Many thanks to the workshop's participants for their comments and to my colleague Sophia Daley for co-hosting the archives session. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

Monday, December 8: Finals Study Break!

Come out Monday, December 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., for a study break during finals! 

Grab coffee and freshly baked donuts outside the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center in N30.  

The Rare Books Center is on the Subplaza, at the end of the hallway past Common Grounds and Student Orgs in N20.

When: Monday, December 8, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Where: Outside the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center (N30, subplaza level). 

What: Coffee and donuts!

Good luck on finals, and best wishes for the holidays from the Law Library!

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.

Tuesday, November 11: Law Library Movie Night!

All are invited to the Law Library and Riesenfeld Center's fall 2025 Movie Night, on Tuesday, November 11, from 3:30 to 6 p.m.!

Enjoy pizza, popcorn, candy and pop, and an evening of classic cinema, featuring Inherit the Wind (1960)! 

What: Inherit the Wind (1960), 

When: 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11

Where: Room 20 (subplaza) 

There will be a short quiz for two Law School sweatshirt prizes afterwards, and brief discussion of the movie's fidelity to the trial.

Inherit the Wind (1960) brought The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes (1925) to cinematic life, portraying the battle between Darwinian evolution and creationism in a form that captured the fireworks of the landmark courtroom showdown between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.   

Don’t miss this memorable film that (sometimes with inadvertent, campy humor) fictionalized the trial that shook a nation.

The screening is part of the Library and Riesenfeld Center's commemorations of the Scopes Trial and its yearlong exhibit currently open in the Riesenfeld Center.

Wednesday, October 29: Halloween Open House!

All are invited to the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center's special Halloween Open House on Wednesday, October 29, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.! 

Come out to see spooky treasures from our collection, including books on witchcraft trials, macabre murders, the fate of 'bloody' hanging judges, and manuals of judicial torture - and pick up free snacks, drinks, and Halloween candy!

Come out in costume and get a picture on our Tumblr page!

When: Wednesday, Oct. 29th, 12 p.m - 3 p.m.
Where: Riesenfeld Rare Books Center*
What: Rare books, snacks, drinks, candy and costumes!

*The Center is in N30 on the Subplaza, on the hallway past Legal Grounds Cafe and N20.) 

New Riesenfeld Center Acquisitions: Clarence Darrow

The Riesenfeld Center recently acquired several items to add to its preeminent collection of letters, publications and trial material from the career of legendary defense attorney, Clarence Darrow (1857-1938). A new letter from Darrow concerns a dinner party held in 1931 to honor Lincoln Steffens, the noted American journalist, with an image of the seated attendees in New York. An enclosed list of attendees shows that Darrow was still associated with many of the journalists late in his career that he had known much earlier, including his old friend Steffens. Darrow's friendships and associations with journalists like Steffens and H. L. Mencken helped considerably to promote his trials and the social issues on which he frequently spoke and debated, often to large crowds across the country. Present at the tribute dinner was also Edward Bernays, a pioneer of American public relations and political psychology who contributed significantly to the war efforts in WWI and WWII. 

Another is a copy of "Big" Bill Haywood's autobiography (1929), with original illustrated dust jacket and formerly owned by women's rights activist Clarina Michelson. The feared Haywood was one of Darrow's important clients, a founding member of the International Workers of the World (IWW, or "Wobblies") and a controversial American labor leader. Darrow successfully defended Haywood against a murder charge in 1907, cementing his reputation as perhaps the nation's foremost defense attorney. The Library and Riesenfeld Center's Darrow Collection also features a partial transcript from the famous murder case, the separately-printed closing arguments of the prosecution and defense, and letters related to the case. As a renowned labor lawyer during the first half of his career, Darrow defended Eugene Debs and prevailed in several high-profile cases that are part of the Library's extensive Darrow Digital Collection. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

New Library Digital Exhibit: The Scopes Trial at 100

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center are pleased to announce the release of a new digital exhibit:

“Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100” 

The digital exhibit commemorates the centennial anniversary of one of America’s most storied courtroom dramas, The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes. The 1925 trial of John Scopes, accused of violating a Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution, became a national sensation and the focal point of a public debate over the roles of science and religion in public education. The digital exhibit highlights the Law Library’s preeminent collection of famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow’s letters, publications, photographs, and trial materials. The digital exhibit also preserves and builds upon a physical exhibit that is open in the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center throughout 2025. The new digital site adds to and expands the series of digital research sites and exhibits that are available as part of the Library's digital special collections. 

The new digital exhibit features more than forty items drawn from the Riesenfeld Center's rare books collection, including letters, original trial documents, witness statements, inscribed books, speeches, and debates. In addition, there are daily trial summaries and transcripts, and timelines that contextualize the Scopes trial within a larger debate on the history of evolutionary thought and the roles of science and religion in American public education.  

“Evolution on the Stand: Revisiting the Scopes Trial at 100” was created by Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections Ryan Greenwood, Archives & Digital Collections Associate Sophia Daley, Digital Technology Specialist Joy Brown, and Associate Director for Access Services & Digital Initiatives Michael Hannon.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections