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A few books from the Rare Book Room at The University of Iowa College of Law Library.

Program in Law and History

Overview

The University of Iowa has a proud tradition of scholarship and teaching in the field of legal history. Among the many legal historians who have taught at the University of Iowa are Professors Percy Bordwell (d. 1970), Donald Sutherland (d. 1986), and Henry Horwitz (emeritus 2004). The Program in Law and History, founded in 2009, builds on this tradition by bringing together faculty and students to foster teaching and research and/or teaching at the intersection of law and history.

For an article on the Program, click here.

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Events

The Program in Law and History will host the following events:

Workshops (for faculty):

Richard Helmholz, University of Chicago
Monday, September 19, 2011, Noon

Emily Kadens, University of Texas
Monday, October 10, 2011, Noon

Kristen Stilt, Northwestern University
Monday, April 2, 2012, Noon

William Novak, University of Michigan
Monday, April 26, 2012, Noon

Donald W. Sutherland Memorial Lecture in Legal History
The Lecture honors the memory of Donald W. Sutherland, the late Carver Professor of History and Law at the University of Iowa.

The inaugural Sutherland Lecture was given in 2011 by Professor Thomas P. Gallanis of the University of Iowa, on the topic - The Evolution of the Common Law.  A video podcast in .mp4 format is available here.

We are delighted to announce that the next Sutherland Lecture will be given by Professor Linda Colley CBE, who holds the Shelby M.C. Davis 1958 Professorship in the Department of History at Princeton University.  Professor Colley will deliver the lecture at a date to be determined in Fall 2013.

 

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Faculty

The Program in Law and History includes the following faculty, in alphabetical order with their fields of research in legal history:

  • Randall Bezanson
    Constitutional history; history of the freedom of the press
  • Arthur Bonfield
    History of publishing and free speech in early modern England
  • William Buss
    History of American influence on the Australian constitution
  • Lois Cox
    Notable American trials of the 20th century
  • Ann Estin
    History of the family; history of gender
  • Thomas Gallanis
    English legal history; Continental European legal history; history of procedural law
  • Laura Gotkowitz
    Latin American law and justice in the 20th century
  • N. William Hines
    History of the Iowa law school; history of legal education
  • Herbert Hovenkamp
    History of American law and economic thought
  • Carolyn Jones
    History of taxation in America
  • Linda K. Kerber
    History of women/gender and the law
  • Michael E. Moore
    Medieval canon law; medieval kingship and political culture
  • Kevin Mumford
    History of race, sexuality, and culture; legal history of race and homophobic discrimination
  • Angela Onwuachi-Willig 
    History of anti-miscegenation statutes; history of the multiracial family
  • Jacki Rand
    Federal Indian policy and law
  • John Reitz
    Continental and comparative legal history; history of institutions relating to the rule of law
  • Alexander Somek
    Constitutional history; history of legal scholarship
  • Ahmed Souaiaia
    Islamic legal history
  • Allen Steinberg
    American social, legal, and urban history; the history of criminal prosecution and criminal law in American cities
  • Elke Stockreiter
    Islamic law and gender in colonial and post-colonial Africa
  • Lea VanderVelde
    American women's legal history; history of slavery; frontier history
  • Gerald Wetlaufer
    Theories of law and systems of belief in 20th century American law

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Joint Degree Program

At Iowa, JD students are able to develop joint degree programs with most graduate colleges and departments in the University. The cross-crediting feature of the joint degree program allows students to receive the JD and another graduate/professional degree by taking 12 to 24 hours (equivalent to one or two semesters) less course work than would be necessary if the two degrees were pursued independently. For more information on the Joint Degree Program, click here.

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Library Resources in Legal History

The Rare Book Room in the Library of the College of Law houses rare and irreplaceable books, manuscripts, and special collections. The Law Library owns two significant antiquarian collections. The first is the Leist collection, consisting of German, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Canon Law volumes. The Law Library purchased the 3,000 volume Leist Collection in 1920.

The second rare book collection is from the estate of William Gardiner Hammond, the first Chancellor (Dean) of the University of Iowa College of Law. The Hammond Historical Collection contains about 1,200 volumes of early English and civil law materials.

The Rare Book Room is located on the Law Library's third floor, and provides special climate control and fire protection for its priceless contents.

For more information, click here.

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The following links are to legal history web pages outside the University of Iowa.

Searchable Primary Sources

Anglo-American Legal Tradition (AALT)
Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England
British Tracts, 17th-19th Centuries (University of Missouri)
Bureau of Land Management: General Land Office Records
Harvard Law Library Digital Collections
Henry III Fine Rolls
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties
Justinian's Code Annotated (University of Wyoming)
London Lives 1690-1800: Crime, Poverty and Social Policy

Official U.K. Legislation 1267-Present

Old Bailey Sessions Papers
Seipp’s Abridgement of Year Book Cases
St. Louis Circuit Court Historical Records
Triangle Legal History Seminar: Legal History on the Web
U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1875
Yale Law School Avalon Project

Organizations and Centers

American Society for Legal History 
Ames Foundation
European Society for Comparative Legal History
H-Law
Institute for Constitutional History
Law and Society Association

Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte
Selden Society    

Journals and Blogs

Journal of Legal History
Law and History Review
Legal History Blog
Legal History Review   

List of Legal History Journals [pdf]

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Contact

Professor Thomas Gallanis
Room 454, Boyd Law Building
E-mail thomas-gallanis@uiowa.edu
Phone 319-335-9018

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