When U.S. District Court judge Gerhard A. Gesell passed away from liver cancer in February 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg reached out to his widow, Peggy Gesell, immediately. “I count it my great good fortune to have spent time in his fine company,” the then U.S. Court of Appeals judge wrote. “May you continue in life…
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Ryan Reft: The John Paul Stevens Papers at the Library of Congress
In his 2019 memoir, The Making of a Justice, John Paul Stevens playfully recounted seating arrangements for conferences, the regular meetings of the justices to discuss Supreme Court matters and cases, during his first few terms. Seated to the right of Bill Brennan and to the left of Bill Rehnquist when his turn to speak…
Jonathan W. White: The Personal Papers of Judges
When I was in graduate school at the University of Maryland, I worked as an intern with the Federal Judicial History Office at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. Then, after completing my Ph.D. in 2008, I held a one-year position as an assistant historian in that office. The projects I worked on broadened…
Cathleen Cahill Reviews Taranto and Zarnow, Suffrage at 100
Stacie Taranto and Leandra Zarnow, ed., Suffrage at 100: Women in American Politics Since 1920 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020). Review by Cathleen D. Cahill, Penn State University. This exciting collection is well-timed and well-done. It is part of the rich body of scholarship inspired by the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment as scholars…
Susan Bartie, “William Twining, Harry Arthurs, and Histories of Academic Lawyers”
In 2019 William Twining and Harry Arthurs, academic lawyers whose careers peaked during the second half of the twentieth century, published memoirs revealing the central motivations and forces underlying their intellectual endeavour.[1] Their books are a source of great nourishment, provoking readers to think deeply about the central challenges of the discipline and what might…
In this Issue (September, 2020)
This issue of The Docket offers original research articles, interviews and commentaries. We want to thank Jack Del Nunzio, a remarkable MA student in Public History at American University, for his help in commissioning and editing the great majority of this issue. Thanks also goes to Professor Eric Lohr and Dean Max Paul Friedman of…
2020 Preyer Scholars Prize Winner Profile: Smita Ghosh
Every year, the American Society for Legal History awards the Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars Prize to one or more scholars “at the beginning of their careers” to acknowledge significant, original research “on any topic in legal, institutional and/or constitutional history.” The prize includes an honorarium to reimburse costs of attending the annual ASLH annual meeting….
2020 ASLH Preyer Prize Winner Profile: Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez
Every year, the American Society for Legal History awards the Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars Prize to one or more scholars “at the beginning of their careers” to acknowledge significant, original research “on any topic in legal, institutional and/or constitutional history.” The prize includes an honorarium to reimburse costs of attending the annual ASLH annual meeting….
Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States–an interview with Julia Rose Kraut
In August, 2020, The Docket had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Julia Rose Kraut about her new book, Threat of Dissent: A History of Ideological Exclusion and Deportation in the United States, which was published by Harvard University Press (2020). The Docket [TD]: For those who are unfamiliar, could you please describe what you…
Peter Charles Hoffer: Reflections on Bernard Bailyn
I am grateful to Gautham Rao for the chance to write some recollections of Bernard Bailyn. Can it be said that a nonagenerian passed away suddenly? Well, that is what it felt like—for somehow I assumed that he would always be there, a benign and awesome presence whose shadow fell over the whole of early…