HISTORICAL SOCIETY of the NEW YORK COURTS

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A look at what's happened recently and what's ahead for the Society ...

CLE PROGRAMS / What's Ahead

Rescheduled 2012 Stephen R. Kaye Memorial Program
A Tour of Our Beautiful Courthouses: Preserving, Protecting and Defending Them

June 10, 2013 (Rescheduled from October 30, 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy)
The New York City Bar - Program Information & Guest Registration

Solicitors General and the Supreme Court: The New York Influence
With Justice Elena Kagan, Jeffrey P. Minear, Counsel to the US Chief Justice and Professor John Q. Barrett, St. John's University School of Law

October 25, 2013 / The New York City Bar

CLE PROGRAMS / What We've Done

Pro Bono Legal Services in New York: The Past & Future

February 19, 2013
The New York City Bar

The Bartlett Commission, Reshaping the Law: A 50 Year Retrospective and an Enduring Legacy

A Conversation with John R. Dunne, Hon. Richard J. Bartlett, and Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt / September 2012

Scales of Justice: An Evening of Live Music and Copyright Law

Lecture by Robert W. Clarida accompanied by Ted & Lesley Rosenthal / May 2012

Our Partnership with the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society

Nominated From New York: The Empire State's Contributions to the Supreme Court Bench

John Jay: A Family Affair with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Lecture by letter readings between Jay and his wife Sarah / May 2011

Thurgood Marshall: "Mr. Civil Rights" with Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Lecture by Prof. Randall Kennedy followed by a discussion with Hon. George Bundy Smith / February 2012

Our Partnership with the NYS Archives Partnership Trust (November 2011)

2011 Stephen R. Kaye Memorial Program
Lincoln, the Civil War, and Freedom of the Press: New York Divided Lecture by Harold Holzer followed by discussion with eminent jurists. Broadcast on C-Span

Oral History

      

Our Oral History project has made great strides. We have captured the oral histories of all of the living retired Judges of the New York Court of Appeals. We are proud to say that we have completed the histories of our two living Former Chief Judges Judith S. Kaye and Sol Wachtler. We are also developing a video library of the histories of members of the New York Bar who stand as legal luminaries. This rich content will someday be made available to the public, and we are working hard to prepare these important resources.

EDUCATION INITIATIVES

David A. Garfinkel Essay Contest

This annual contest invites SUNY and CUNY community college students from across the State to write an original essay on specified topics of legal history.

• • 2008: The Courts and Human Rights in New York: The Legacy of the Lemmon Slave Case

• • 2009: The New Netherland Legal System and the Law of 21st Century New York

• • 2010: The Evolution of Justice Along the Erie Canal

• • 2011: The Legal Legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

• • 2012: The Blue and the Grey: New York During the Civil War

• • 2013: Cyberspace and the Law / What are Our Rights and Responsibilities? See the Winners Here

Bard High School Early College

The Society has provided grants to Bard High School Early College, a public school with campuses in Manhattan and Queens, to develop classroom curriculum and to teach its students about the role of the courts in a civil society...how to administer justice and preserve the rule of law. It is designed to reach a diverse population of New York City public students in middle and high schools.

Publications / Our Books

Opening Statements: Law and Jurisprudence in Dutch New York by Julia and Albert M. Roseblatt, a collection of essays exploring how the Dutch influenced jurisprudence, to be published by SUNY Press June 2013
Pre-Order Available Now!

The Judges of the New York Court of Appeals: A Biographical History (Fordham University Press 2007)

Historic Courthouses of the State of New York: A Study in Postcards by Julia and Albert Rosenblatt (Turner Publishing Company 2006)

Judicial Notice

Issue 9 coming Spring 2013

The Society publishes bi-annually Judicial Notice a journal of articles of historical substance and scholarship that uniquely focuses on New York legal history. It includes writings by distinguished historians, attorneys, and others, both professional and amateur, with a passion for the subject.

Featuring Articles on: Abraham Lincoln and Freedom of the Press, Charles Evans Hughes, Margaret Sanger's fight for birth control, and Rutgers v Waddington

2013 Calendar

The Society's 2013 calendar, 100 Years Ago, 1913, explores the events and individuals that shaped the year of 1913 in legal history. From the impeachment trial of Governor William Sulzer to the growing importance of cases involving new inventions such as the automobile, this calendar looks at 1913's continuing influence.