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Student-Created Material in Historical & Special Collections
Historical & Special Collections (HSC) contains a wide range of material that documents the history of Harvard Law School, including material created by HLS students. This guide contains a growing list of collections and individual items that were created by students during their time at HLS.
Ready to do some research?
If you're interested in doing research about student organizations and student life, start by searching HOLLIS, the Harvard library catalog, and HOLLIS for Archival Discovery, the centralized access point to search across manuscript collections at Harvard. Be sure to check out HOLLIS Images, Harvard's dedicated image catalog.
Have questions about finding resources? Check out Harvard Law School Graduates: A Biographical Research Guide for additional sources related to the history of HLS or send us an email at specialc@law.harvard.edu.
Ready to look at material in the HSC reading room?
Fill out the Historical & Special Collections appointment request form or email us directly at specialc@law.harvard.edu. Appointments in the Root Room, the Historical & Special Collections reading room, are available Tuesday-Friday from 10:00-5:00. Closing and special hours can be found on our website.
Highlights from the HLS Ephemera Collection
Interested in exploring ephemeral material such as flyers and invitations? Check out the Harvard Law School Ephemera Collection finding aid for more information.
Image Credit: BLSA Black History Month Events Calendar; February 1994; Harvard Law School Ephemera Collection. Historical & Special Collections. Harvard Law School Library.
Image credit: Sweeny Todd Flyer; 1994; Harvard Law School Ephemera Collection. Historical & Special Collections. Harvard Law School Library.
Material Created by Individual Students
Student Papers
A comprehensive guide to HLS student papers can be found here. There are several broad categories of papers that you may explore:
- LL.M. Papers and Theses
- S.J.D. Dissertations
- J.D. Papers
- Includes third-year papers, seminar papers, and prize papers.
Many of these papers are available in the circulating collection or in DASH, Harvard's institutional repository. To see a paper that is listed as a part of the "Red Set," please contact Historical & Special Collections at specialc@law.harvard.edu or fill out the appointment request form to view the paper in the Root Room, the Historical & Special Collections reading room.
Diaries, Letters, and Class Notes
- Class NotesHistorical & Special Collections holds the class notes of over 250 HLS students. The notebooks span from the 1820s to 1985 and include notes taken in a wide range of courses including contracts, property, constitutional law, suretyship and guaranty, and public utilities.
Each student's class notes can be found by searching in HOLLIS by doing a “Browse by Call number – other” and entering “Class Notes Collection”.. - Diary kept while a student at Harvard Law School, 1856, January 1-March 22. byPublication Date: 1856Diary detailing John Marshall Vanmeter's daily routine, course of study, moot courts, expenditures, extracurricular activities, etc. Laid in is a letter addressed to his brother, dated June 1856.
- Diary of James W. Boyden, 1845-1846 byCall Number: HLS MS 4486Publication Date: 1845-1846James Woodbury Boyden graduated Harvard College (A.B.) 1843; Harvard Law School (LL.B.) 1846; admitted to Hampshire County (Mass.) Bar 1846.
Detailed diary of Boyden's activities at Harvard Law School and elsewhere, kept from February 1845 through May 1846. Bound in at end of volume are "Records of the 'Royall Club' Dane Law School" for March 16-May 18, 1846 ([21] p.); Boyden was secretary and records are in his hand. - Letters byPublication Date: 1911Letters written by Harvard Law School student, Albert F. Burt, class of 1914. Recipients include his father, mother and two brothers. The subject matter includes life at the Law School, both social and academic, as well as living in Cambridge.
- Letters from America from R.Y. Jennings : written during the academic year spent at the University of Harvard 1936-37. byPublication Date: 2009Robert Yewdall Jennings won a Choate fellowship to attend Harvard University during the academic year 1936–1937, and attended classes at Harvard Law School. He later became a professor of international law and served on the International Court of Justice.
Find something that we missed?
This list is by no means comprehensive and we add to it every chance we get! If you come across an item or collection in Historical & Special Collections that was created by HLS students and that you feel should be added to this LibGuide, please feel free to alert us to it. Send us an email at specialc@law.harvard.edu.
Highlights from Student Letters and Diaries
This page of James W. Boyden's diary recounts a trip to Beverly, MA to attend a wedding.
Image Credit: Diary of James W. Boyden, 1845-1846. Manuscript. HLS MS 4486. Historical & Special Collections. Harvard Law School Library.
This photograph of HLS student Robert Yewdall Jennings was taken on a road trip during the 1936-37 academic year. The trip is documented in a series of letters that were transcribed and then donated to Historical & Special Collections. Additional images, including a reproduction of Jennings' passport photo, were also included alongside the transcribed letters.
Image credit: Letters from America from R.Y. Jennings : written during the academic year spent at the University of Harvard 1936-37. Rare Biography (Jennings). Historical & Special Collections. Harvard Law School Library.
Student Organization Material
Student Organization Collections
Most of these collections have been formally processed and a description of the material appears in the archival collection guides below. Most collection guides include a high-level overview of the collection as well as a detailed container list that includes the title of the folders in each box.
Harvard Law School Student Animal Legal Defense Fund Records
This small collection of digital material includes flyers for and photos of events in 2014-2016. Contact Historical & Special Collections for details.
HLS Chancery Club Records, 1926-1962
This collection contains financial, administrative and membership documents for the club, the bulk of which are from 1950-1960. Also included are documents pertaining to the purchase of 9 Chauncy St, which became the home of the Chancery Club in 1959. The collection includes ledgers, correspondence, meeting minutes, and a few photographs.
HLS Choate Club Records, 1955-1967
The Choate Club was founded at the Harvard Law School in 1887 as a chapter of the Phi Delta Phi, a law-school fraternity. In its later years, the Club appears to have been a secret society composed of Law School students and professors, with a focus on social and intellectual stimulation outside of study of the law. The Records of the Choate Club document the history, activities, and interests of the Club. The Club should not be confused with the Law School's Choate Law Club, associated with the Ames Competition for moot court cases. This collection is held at the Harvard University Archives.
HLS Drama Society Records, 1961-1995
This collection consists of the records of the Harvard Law School Drama Society from 1961-1995, including scripts, scores, and materials relating to production. More detailed information about additional material, including photos and memorabilia, is available upon request. Email specialc@law.harvard.edu for detailed collection finding aids.
HLS Forum Records, 1964-2000
This collection contains correspondence relating to Harvard Law School Forum speakers and reel-to-reel, cassette, PCM and VHS tapes and phonograph recordings of the Forum speakers.
HLS Republicans Records, 1986-1990
The bulk of the collection relates to issues of freedom speech stemming from the disruption, and subsequent cancelation of a Harvard Law School Republicans sponsored speech given by former Nicaraguan Contra leader Adolfo Calero in October, 1987.
HLS Student Law Club Records, 1857-1971
This collection mainly contains handwritten and typed records of moot court cases argued by various law clubs at the Harvard Law School. The collection also includes a small amount of materials related to the various clubs, such as correspondence, minutes, and ephemera.
HLS Student Mental Health Association Records
This small collection of digital material includes posters for events in 2015-2016. Contact Historical & Special Collections staff for details.
Records of the Emergency Coalition, 1989-1990
Records related to the Emergency Coalition for Public Interest Placement, formed after the elimination of public interest career counseling at Harvard Law School in August 1989.
Records of the Harvard Women's Law Association
This small collection includes several publications that were collected by the WLA. Contact Historical & Special Collections staff for details.
Superior Court of the Pow Wow Briefs, 1871-1969
Legal briefs and administrative records of the Superior Court of the Pow Wow, a Harvard Law School student organization, dating from its inception in 1870 to 1898. There are also a few records from 1934-1969.
Black Law Students Association
Although there is not a single, formally processed collection of material documenting the Harvard Law School Black Law Students Association (BLSA), there are many publications that have been individually cataloged. Consult the list below to review BLSA publications that are in Historical & Special Collections and one collection from the Harvard University Archives.
- The Blackletter byPublication Date: 1975-1981This publication was continued by the Blackletter Journal.
Full text searchable online. - Building, leading, serving, advocating byPublication Date: 2011
- General information by and about the Harvard Black Law Students Association, 1978. byPublication Date: 1978Contains one poster advertising a cabaret sponsored by the Association, April 29, 1978.
- Materials relating to the Harvard Law School roundtable on the twentieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, 1974. byPublication Date: 1974Contains memorandum, press release, list of roundtable participants, and programs from "Two decades after Brown: a roundtable". The roundtable, held May 2-3, 1974 at the Harvard Law School, commemorated the twentieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and was sponsored by the Harvard Law School, the Charles Houston Alumni Association, and the Harvard Black Law Students Association.
Harvard Environmental Law Society
Although there is not a single, formally processed collection of material documenting the Harvard Environmental Law Society, there are many publications that have been individually cataloged. Consult the list below to review Environmental Law Society publications that are in Historical & Special Collections as well as the Harvard University Archives.
- Materials and publications. byContents : Harvard Environmental Law Society Bulletin, Vol. 1, Issue[s] 1-2 (September 23, 1976, December 2, 1976) ; E.L.S. Report on Environmental Curriculum and Faculty (May 1980).
- Bulletin (Harvard Environmental Network) byPublication Date: 1992-2001This item is held at the Harvard University Archives.
Cover title: Harvard Environmental Network bulletin
Cover title: HEN bulletin - Green pages (Harvard Environmental Network) byPublication Date: 1990/1991This item is held at the Harvard University Archives.
Harvard Law School Forum
HLS Forum Records, 1964-2000
This collection contains correspondence relating to Harvard Law School Forum speakers and reel-to-reel, cassette, PCM and VHS tapes and phonograph recordings of the Forum speakers.
Records of the Harvard Law School Forum, ca. 1946-1975
Available at the Harvard University Archives.
Unpublished finding aid available at repository.
Women's Law Association
Although there is not a single, formally processed collection of material documenting the Harvard Law School Women's Law Association (WLA), there are many publications that have been individually cataloged. Consult the list below to review WLA publications that are in Historical & Special Collections.
- Newsletter byPublication Date: October 1978, March 1979, 1987-1988, 1990Full text-searchable online.
- Presumed equal : what America's top women lawyers really think about their firms byCall Number: KF299.W6 P74x 1995Publication Date: 1995Available in the Red Set (Historical & Special Collections) and the general circulating collection of the HLS Library.
- Women at Harvard Law school : consider joining us byCall Number: Red Set KF292.H35 W6x 1976Publication Date: [1976]
- Letters, memoranda and articles regarding the Mary Joe Frug parody in the Harvard Law Revue, 1992. byCall Number: Red Set Small Manuscript Collection Box 27, Folder 2Publication Date: 1992Some of this material may be closed for 50 years from the date of creation due to restrictions on university records.
Highlights from Student Organization Material
The Outlaw, a student publication printed and distributed by the Harvard Law Guild, gives us a glimpse of student discourse on campus during the early 1970s.
Harvard Law School Poster Collection
The Harvard Law School Poster Collection includes student- and institutionally-produced posters dating from the early 1970s to the present.
Unpublished inventory available upon request. Email specialc@law.harvard.edu to learn more.
Find something that we missed?
This list is by no means comprehensive and we add to it every chance we get! If you come across an item or collection in Historical & Special Collections that was created by HLS students and that you feel should be added to this LibGuide, please feel free to alert us to it. Send us an email at specialc@law.harvard.edu.
Newsletters and Publications
Overview
Much of the material related to student organizations in Historical & Special Collections has been cataloged individually and is not necessarily brought together into one collection. The links below will bring you to single items related to various official and unofficial student organizations. Organizations that have a large quantity of material have been highlighted in separate sections of this guide.
Student Organization Newsletters and Serial Publications
Much of the material related to student organizations in Historical & Special Collections has been cataloged individually and is not necessarily brought together into one collection. The links below will bring you to single items related to various official and unofficial student organizations. Organizations that have a large quantity of material have been highlighted in separate sections of this guide.
- Analysis of proposed disciplinary regulations byPublication Date: 1977Attribution: [Prison Legal Assistance Project, Harvard University Law School].
- Community 2000 : a blueprint for academic reform at Harvard Law School byCall Number: Red Set Small Manuscript Collection, Box 19, Folder 2Publication Date: 1998"Resolved that the Law School Council adopts the following statement of its views on Academic Reform. Further resolved that, as indicated below, the Law School Council makes certain recommendations to the faculty and the dean."
- Critical perspectives on the Burger court. byPublication Date: 1977Publication issued by a coalition of Harvard Law School student organizations in response to the appearance of Chief Justice Warren E. Burger at Harvard on November 17, 1977.
Contributors include: Chicano Law Students Association; Harvard Legal Aid Bureau; Harvard Law School Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Committee; Prison Legal Assistance Project; Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Committee; Women's Law Association; Women's Law Journal; Harvard Environmental Law Society; Committee on Gay Legal Issues; Harvard Community Against the Death Penalty; Harvard Defenders; Harvard Government Attorneys Project; Committee on Military Justice; Students for Public Interest Law; Black Law Students Association; Harvard Law School Council; Harvard Law Guild. - Harvard Law School : [yearbook]. byPublication Date: 1979-2012
- Harvard Law School year book. byPublication Date: 1938-1978
- La Alianza of Harvard Law School alumni/student newsletter. byPublication Date: 1991
- The Outlaw byPublication Date: 1971-1974
- Outlaw : the newsletter of the Committee on Gay, Bisexual, and Lesbian Legal Issues at Harvard Law School. byPublication Date: 1991-1994
- Proposals for improving public interest placement at Harvard Law School, / 20 April 1982. byPublication Date: 1982Addressed to Dean James Vorenberg, in letter dated 16 April 1982; p. [2].
Reproduced from typewritten copy. - Raza review : news of the Chicano and Latino community at Harvard Law School. byPublication Date: 1980-1981
- Summer Reports byPublication Date: 1965Contents : Summer Reports, 1965, 1966 ; Report on Summer Jobs in Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and Poverty Law, 1967.
Harvard Law Record - student newspaper
The Harvard Law School Record is the oldest law school-affiliated newspaper in the United States. It has gone through a number of small names changes; from September 2002-2008 the name on the masthead was "The Record." It includes Law School, national, and international news; scholarly articles; op-eds written by Harvard Law School students, professors, and guest contributors. Over the years, it has also published several special editions, including an annual April Fool's Day issue, orientation issue, and career guides. From fall 2011 through 2014 the Harvard Law Record ceased print publication and was exclusively online. In September 2015 print publication resumed with a new volume numbering system.
Search digitized issues of the HLS student paper (July 1946-November 2001)
- Search the full text of the Harvard Law Record by using the full text search box, which is in the upper-right corner of the ListView page.
- Users can also select individual issues from the ListView page to view in the Harvard Library Viewer. Once in the Viewer, users can search the full text within the opened issue.
More recent issues (2002-present) can be found by searching HLRecord.org. Generally speaking, online content for the The Record is not organized by issue. As of spring 2020, the following issues can be viewed in their entirety in the "PRINT" section of the Harvard Law Record website.
- 2015-2016, issues 4-11
- 2016-2017, issues 1-4
- 2019-2020, orientation issue and issue 2
Web Archives
Accessing Student Material
Ready to schedule a research appointment?
To consult student-created material held by Historical & Special Collections, contact us via email at specialc@law.harvard.edu or use our online appointment request form. Appointments are available Tuesday-Friday between 10:00 and 5:00. Special hours and closings can be found on our website.
Hope to see you in the Root Room!
Photograph by Brooks Kraft.
Donating Student Material
Why Share Records with Historical & Special Collections
- Preserve your organization’s contribution to campus life.
- Avoid re-inventing the wheel when new leadership takes over. Smooth the leadership transition, work more efficiently, and help document your institutional memory.
- Ensure that the material is properly taken care of in the event that current platforms are no longer used or storage media becomes obsolete.
What kinds of student organization records can be donated to Historical & Special Collections?
- Constitutions, charters, and by-laws
- Meeting minutes
- Flyers
- Organization newsletters, anthologies, journals
- Emails and other correspondence
- Institutional histories
- Audio/visual material: photographs, video
What kind of records are not typically accepted?
- Material with personally identifiable information (PII): social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, etc.
- Financial records, checks, receipts
- Trophies and plaques
What's involved in the donation/transfer process?
- Organize and select material you would like to share with HSC.
- Contact HSC at specialc@law.harvard.edu.
- Review your content with HSC staff. We’ll work with you to determine which records would be appropriate to share with or transfer to HSC.
- Sign a deed of gift outlining any restrictions on access for your donation and any material donated in the future.
- Provide contextual information about the documents.
- Share electronic documents and/or transfer physical documents.
When should we donate records?
Your organization can share records with us at any time! We recommend that you think about doing so during office/locker clean-outs, leadership transitions, or between semesters.
Understanding the Deed of Gift
Before sharing records with Historical & Special Collections, all donors must sign a deed of gift. The deed of gift requires a description of the material and provides an opportunity to place restrictions on access to material.
Tips for Student Organizations
- Document your activities: save meeting minutes, flyers, and publications.
- Keep records in one central place.
- Store physical records away from dampness, dust, and excessive heat and sun.
- Think about how you manage your electronic records: are they saved in a central location such as a shared Google Drive account? Who has access to it? Do you have a system for organizing the files?
- Develop a routine of transferring records when new leadership takes over. Avoid having to “reinvent the wheel” when there is turnover in leadership!
- Have ideas or information you want future organization leaders to know? Create a document or succession plans. Consider writing yearly reflections.
- Designate among your leadership a position responsible for organizing files and creating a folder structure. Perhaps this could be your group’s historian, secretary, or vice president.
- Do an audit of your records and record-keeping practices. Establish group norms around documentation.
To quote our friends at the University of Illinois Student Life and Culture Archives… “When in doubt, don’t throw it out!”