History of Harvard Law School & Harvard University—Selected Sources

The following is a selective list of sources with historical information about Harvard Law School and Harvard University. Directories and periodicals with information about the faculty, students and curricula are included.

To find additional sources about the Law School, use the following links to subject searches in HOLLIS Classic:

• Harvard Law School -- alumni
• Harvard Law School -- buildings
• Harvard Law School -- curricula
• Harvard Law School -- faculty
• Harvard Law School -- history
• Harvard Law School -- students

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL HISTORY—SELECTED SOURCES

• The Centennial History of the Harvard Law School, 1817-1917 (1918) (Reading Room, Reference & Special Collections Reference KF 292 .H34 H37x 1918, Google Books)
• The Development of Harvard University Since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929 edited by Samuel Eliot Morison (1930) (Harvard Depository) (See chapter 30, The Law School 1817-1929)
• The High Citadel: The Influence of Harvard Law School by Joel Seligman (1978) (Reading Room KF 292 .H34 S44)
• History of the Harvard Law School and of Early Legal Conditions in America by Charles Warren (1908) (Reference Desk & Special Collections Reference KF 292 .H34 W3 1999, Google Books, Making of Modern Law)
• The Law at Harvard: A History of Ideas and Men, 1817-1967 by Arthur E. Sutherland (1967) (Reading Room & Reference Desk KF 292 .H34 S9)
• Logic and Experience: The Origin of Modern American Legal Education, 1800-1920 by William P. LaPiana (1994) (Reading Room KF 272 .L27 1994)

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL FACULTY & ALUMNI—SELECTED SOURCES

• Alumni/ae in Action: Harvard law School Graduates in Public Interest and Public Sector Work (1991, 1994) (Reference & Red Set KF 292 .H3 A52) (Produced in 1991 and 1994 only. Survey responses of "a day in the life" of alumni working in public interest settings. Respondents are from a wide range of graduating classes.)
• Alumni Directory of the Harvard Law School (1958-) (Reference, Reference Desk & Special Collections Reference KF 292 .H3 A8325) (Published every five years. Continues the Quinquennial Catalogue of the Law School of Harvard University. Contains a comprehensive list of faculty since founding. Up to 2001 edition, list included officers.)
• The Deans of Harvard Law School
• Directory of Black Alumni/ae (1983) (Reading Room, Reference Desk & Red Set KF 292 .H3 A57x 1983) (Non-cumulating updates published in 1989 and 1997. Lists black graduates of Harvard Law School since the first in 1869.)
• Harvard Law School Class Reports, 1883- (Red Set KF 292 .H3 A62) (Lists class members and current employment at publication. Occasionally includes brief biographical statements. Generally published every five years. For some classes, less or more often.)
• Harvard Law School Faculty (1992-) (Reference Desk & Red Set KF 292 .H325 A835) (Faculty directory with pictures. Published annually since 1992.)
• Harvard Law School Faculty & Staff (1987-2007) (Harvard Law School Faculty & Staff) (Red Set KF 292 .H325 A833) (Faculty and staff directory with pictures. Published annually since 1987. Ceased with 2006/2007 issue.)
• Harvard Law School Faculty Directory (Current faculty contact information, research interests, appointments, education, and representative publications.)
• The Harvard Law School ... With portraits of Members of the Faculty, and a biographical record and portraits of representative living graduates by Eliot Norton (1897) (Red Set, Google Books) (Most of the book is made up of portraits and brief blurbs on the lives of then living HLS alumni, but Norton does include a brief history of the School.)
• Harvard Law School Year Book (1938-1978), Harvard Law School Yearbook (1979-) (Reference & Red Set KF 292 .H33 A3) (Began 1938, not published 1942/1943-1944/1945. Includes membership of student organizations and journals and faculty.)
• HLS Alumni Who Became Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court
• The Inception of Modern Professional Education: C.C. Langdell, 1826-1906 by Bruce A. Kimball (2009) (Reading Room KF 368 .L36 K56 2009) (The first full-length biography of the School's first Dean, with much information on the history of the School.)
• Quinquennial Catalogue of the Law School of Harvard University (1817-1953) (Reference, Special Collections Reference & Red Set KF 292 .H3 A8325), Google Books) (Lists alumni from 1817-1953. Lists faculty from founding until 1953. Continued in 1958 by the Alumni Directory of the Harvard Law School.)
• Women at Harvard Law School: Alumnae Directory, 1953-1987 (1988) (Reference & Special Collections Reference KF 292 .H3 A8326x) (Lists alumnae from 1953 to 1987. For some, includes brief personal statements and career biographies.)

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL PERIODICALS

• Harvard Law School Bulletin (1948-1986), Harvard Law Bulletin (1986-), Harvard Law Bulletin (Online 1997-) (Reference, Special Collections Reference & Red Set KF 292 .H34 A43) (Published since April 1948. Alumni magazine currently published three times per year. Includes class notes, obituaries, and feature articles on HLS alumni. Contents indexed by Index to Law School Alumni Publications.)
• Harvard Law School Catalog (1970-2006), Law School of Harvard University (1878-1970), (Digitized 1970-2006, 1878-1970), Harvard Law School Courses (Online 2007-) (Reference, Special Collections Reference & Red Set KF 270 .H36a)
• Harvard Law School Handbook of Academic Programs & Policies (2005/2006), Handbook of Academic Policies (Online Current Academic Year) (Red Set KF 270 .H36d)
• Harvard Law School Record (1946-1955), Harvard Law Record (1956-2002), Harvard Law Record (2002-), HLRecord.org (2002-) (Reference Vertical File, Special Collections Reference & Red Set K 8 .A738) (1946-1994 Microforms Drawer 791; 1994- present Microforms Drawer 820) (Published since July 1946. Student newspaper currently published 12 times per semester. Cumulative indexes to vols. 37-74 (1963-1982) available in Special Collections.)
• Harvard Law Today (2001-), Harvard Law Today (Online 2001-) (Reference Vertical File & Red Set KF 292 .H34 A466) (Published since September 2001. Alumni newsletter published bimonthly.)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY—SELECTED SOURCES

• Blacks at Harvard: A Documentary History of African-American Experience at Harvard and Radcliffe (1993) (Reading Room & ; Special Collections LD 2151 .B57)
• The Development of Harvard University Since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929 edited by Samuel Eliot Morison (1930) (Harvard Depository)
• The Founding of Harvard College (Reference LD 2151 .M63)
• The Harvard Book (1875) (Electronic version of a two-volume history of Harvard's academic mission, customs, buildings, organizations, and prominent individuals.)
• The Harvard Guide (Historical and current information on Harvard's governance structure, student body, faculty, and finances.)
• Harvard University: History of Named Chairs: Sketches of Donors and Donations (Not owned by HLS, see link for other library holdings.)
• The History of Harvard University (Nineteenth-century legal treatises, Microform Room Drawers 547-570, Making of Modern Law)
• Making Harvard Modern: the Rise of America's University (Reference LD 2153 .K45)
• A Selected Bibliography on Harvard History
• See also The Historian-Autobiographers: Harvard in the Memoirs of its Own History Scholars in the Harvard Magazine (Nov/Dec 2004)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY FACULTY & ALUMNI

• Harvard Alumni Directory (Reference & Red Set LD 2138 .H3) (Published every five years.)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PERIODICALS

• Harvard Crimson (The Harvard College daily newspaper. Published since 1873. See archives.)
• Harvard Magazine (Various titles including Harvard Alumni Bulletin and Harvard Bulletin) (Alumni magazine including class notes and obituaries. Currently published six times per year. 1898-1910, 1910-1969, 1969-1973, 1973 to present. Selected content from May 1996 to present on website.)
• Harvard Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Shelf (Includes Harvard Crimson, 1950- and the Harvard Magazine, 1996-.)
• Annual Reports of the Presidents and Treasurers of Harvard (1826-1995) and Radcliffe (1879-1988)
• Harvard University General Catalogue (Special Collections Reference LD 2121 .A1) (See separate HOLLIS record for 1872 to 1975.)