An Early English Study Guide (1600)

As finals are nearing an end, the Library and Riesenfeld Center wishes good luck, and a happy holidays, to our students. The year has been a difficult one in many ways, and the pandemic is still with us. None of this has made the study of law easier. Though as the early modern English lawyer William Fulbecke reminds, all things worth doing - and particularly the study of law - are challenging. Fortunately, the going gets easier; Fulbecke writes in A Direction or Preparative to the Study of the Law (1600):

"For though the way were plain, yet to them that know it not, it is hard and difficult. And as the yoke is to the young steer heavy, not because he [ed.: she, he, or any individual!] is not able to bear it, but because he is unacquainted with the carrying of it, so young students [...] are somewhat troubled at the first: yet in continuance of time, by labour and some direction of veterans of the art, they pierce through the thorny fence or bar of these great difficulties..."

Fulbecke has other advice, for example on studying early instead of late, based on astrology and the ancient theory of the humors, which should probably be set aside. But his general encouragement is perhaps not out of place then or now.

Best wishes for a very good end of semester and holidays, and for a happy (and safer, healthier) 2021.

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections 

Early Minnesota Law in the Scholarship Repository

The Riesenfeld Center has a series of early titles on Minnesota law that are now digitized in the Law School's scholarship repository. The Center holds an outstanding collection of early Minnesota law and some of the earliest state imprints. Statutes, orders, and other law-related materials are predominant among the early printed works of each US state, and Minnesota is no exception. 

During the woolly days of Minnesota's territorial government, James Goodhue, printer and editor of the state's first newspaper, also published its first legal works. As the first territorial printer, Goodhue filled an important role, circulating necessary information to a growing population. He was also a colorful character, with sharp opinions and strong politics. In one incident, from early 1851, he heatedly attacked two public figures (one of which was an associate justice on the territorial Supreme Court, David Cooper) in an editorial in his Minnesota Pioneer. The piece drew a sharp reaction: Justice Cooper's own brother confronted Goodhue over it on a St. Paul street. The altercation led to a fight in which Goodhue was stabbed and badly injured, and the other man was shot (both survived).

The early Minnesota law digitized in the scholarship repository is not (yet) the earliest, from the short-lived press of Goodhue, but represents other interesting material from the territorial era and early statehood. Included are a series of attorney general's reports to the legislature, which feature statistics on crime and notes on criminal cases. There is a copy of Minnesota's first constitution, Zebulon Pike's extremely rare 1805 treaty with the Sioux (printed in a government report), and other interesting Minnesotiana, including a grant for railroads and an elections case. We will continue to add early Minnesota law and other material.

I'm very grateful to my colleague, Scott Uhl, the Technology, Innovation & Reference Librarian, for setting up this dedicated section of the scholarship repository for rare collections. Finally many thanks are due to Alec Shaw ('19) for his good work in organizing and scanning these materials. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

Halloween Rare Books Quiz!

Welcome to our Halloween Rare Books Quiz!  

Answer the (mostly) spooky questions below to be entered to win swag from the bookstore!

The most correct entry wins $25 worth of swag from the Law School bookstore (t-shirts, mugs, hats, keychains, etc., or a combination), with a drawing in case of ties. UMN law students only are eligible.

1. How many accounts, published in 1850, do we have in the rare books collection related to the notorious Webster-Parkman murder case? (search library 'catalog only,' and scope 'law library rare books')

2. The image below is from the first English statute to define witchcraft as a felony, passed in 1542 in the reign of Henry VIII.  To read the full penalty here at the end of the act, write out the last three lines correctly (preserving spelling in the text), after "and suffer such peines of death, losse and..."

3. This last item is a (characterically) whimsical gift we recently received from The Green Bag.  Short answer: tell us why these images (cat, dog, flower) were printed on the balloons, using the clues on both sides:

1. Green balloon - Cat - First Amendment - 915 F.3d 1120 (7th Cir.. 2019)

2. Orange balloon - Dog - Patent No. 1,780,104 - 7 F.Supp. 401 (D.N.J. 1934)

3. Yellow balloon - Flower - Trespass - 19 Johns. 381 (N.Y.  Sup. Ct. 1822)

*4. Blue balloon - Ship - Citizenship - 3 Dall. 133 (1795) 

(*Fun bonus question only: this quiz is long enough!)

Two New Library Digital Exhibits: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Center are pleased to announce two new digital exhibits:

"Noted and Notable: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center"

and

"'Böcker Har Sina Öden' (Books Have Their Destinies): Treasures of the Swedish Law Collection at the Riesenfeld Center” 

The digital exhibits preserve and make available online the Riesenfeld Center's spring exhibits, highlighting treasures of the Law Library's special collections. In particular, the items in these exhibits have been chosen for their unusual value as artifacts, including such features as interesting annotations, associations with notable former owners, striking illustrations, beautiful bindings, and other properties that make historical law books fascinating objects that are worthy of study. 

"Böcker Har Sina Öden' (Books Have Their Destinies)," was curated by Professor Eric Bylander, who has been twice a visiting professor at the Law School and is Distinguished University Professor at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University. "Noted and Notable: Treasures of the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center" is still open by appointment for viewing in the Riesenfeld Center.  

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

 

New Law Library Digital Exhibit: "Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice"

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

"Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Selected Materials from the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center"

The digital exhibit preserves online the Riesenfeld Center's new fall exhibit, which aims to continue a number of important and ongoing conversations at the Law School regarding race and the law. In particular, the exhibit draws on the extensive collections at the Riesenfeld Center to highlight important moments in the Black American struggle for racial justice, from the 19th and 20th centuries. The exhibit considers historical legal cases, legislation, and events that saw civil rights denied, limited, and advanced, from early anti-slavery movements, to the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 60s, and projects for police reform in the 1980s.  

The physical exhibit is also open by appointment this fall. For additional information on particular items in the exhibit, please see recent blog posts (here and here). For more information, please contact Ryan Greenwood (rgreenwo@umn.edu; 612-625-7323).

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections

New Library Exhibit: "Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice"

The Law Library is pleased to announce a new exhibit now open in the Riesenfeld Rare Books Research Center:  

"Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Selected Materials from the Riesenfeld Rare Books Center"

Despite founding ideals of freedom and common civil rights, the United States has a long history of systemic racial disenfranchisement. Many forms of exclusion and control based on race have been enforced by American law, deeply affecting the lived experience of minority communities. The unequal treatment of diverse racial and ethnic populations endures today, continuing to challenge us to critically examine our practices and beliefs and to recommit ourselves to a more fair and equal society.

"Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice" highlights material in the Center's collections related in particular to the Black American struggle for equal rights, as seen in historical cases, legislation, and the evolving aims and achievements of civil rights movements. The exhibit calls attention to historical exclusion, to moments of progress, and to ongoing obstacles faced by communities of color as they have sought racial justice. It is hoped that historical perspectives will stimulate further reflection on the scope of these challenges and help us to envision a future in which rights are fully and equally protected for all.

The exhibit is open by appointment, and a digital version of the exhibit will be released this fall.  For more on particular items in the exhibit, see several recent blog posts (here and here).  For more information, please contact Ryan Greenwood (rgreenwo@umn.edu; 612-625-7323).

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections 

Upcoming Exhibit: Commission on the Harlem Riot, 1935

In our upcoming fall exhibit, "Law and the Struggle for Racial Justice," several items are reports and petitions that reflect on the causes and remedies of social injustice. All of these, including a subcommittee report written in the wake of the Harlem riot in 1935, offer recommendations for reform that still resonate today.   

The Harlem riot of 1935 has been called by several scholars the first modern race riot. A Black Puerto Rican youth, Lino Rivera, was apprehended by a Harlem, New York, shop employee for stealing a penknife. The boy bit the employee but was later released by police. A false rumor that Rivera had been beaten to death in the shop led to a riot the same night, during which more than one hundred were injured and arrested, and three African Americans were killed. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia set up a biracial commission of noted figures to investigate the causes of the riot, likely at the recommendation of Walter White, then secretary of the NAACP.

The commission included Eunice Hunton Carter, the first African-American woman prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's office; Morris Ernst, co-general counsel of the ACLU; A. Philip Randolph, the prominent labor and civil rights leader; and Countee Cullen, the poet and novelist, among others.    

The commission set up several subcommittees, tasked with reports in areas including Crime and Police, Housing, Education and Employment Discrimination. More than 150 witnesses testified at a series of public and private hearings before the commission. 

Published a year later, the resulting report was more than 100 pages. It outlined the events of March 19th that led to the riot and recommended reforms by the City government in Harlem in relation to housing, health care, education and policing. 
  

The subcommittee report displayed in the upcoming exhibit is a separate typescript addressed to Mayor LaGuardia by Arthur Garfield Hays, a noted lawyer and the subcommittee chair. One other copy of the report is recorded, held at the New York Public Library. The report discusses the events of the riot and subsequent incidents involving police. Just as the overall report acknowledged the professionalism of many officers involved in the events, the subcommittee report thanks the police chief and several officers for cooperating with the investigative commission. 

Nevertheless, the report addresses the incidence of police brutality during and after the riot, citing particular officers for avoidable and unnecessary deaths and other instances of violent misconduct. Among remedies, the subcommittee recommends that police be better trained on the limits of their authority to use force and on due process rights; that rapport with the community should be fostered rather than antagonism; and that greater accountability was necessary. Regarding the last, the report recommends the creation of a biracial committee in Harlem to receive and evaluate complaints of police misconduct, then to report them directly to the office of the Commissioner of Police. The subcommittee advises that resulting criminal misconduct cases be punished not only internally but turned over to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution. The report concludes by arguing, as the general report would examine in greater detail, that in Harlem the wider social inequalities faced by the Black community in relation to housing and rent, employment and schools also had to be addressed in order to restore social order. 

   - Ryan Greenwood, Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections