Historical & Special Collections

HLS Library Event: Fifty Years After Furman: The Death Penalty in America

Wednesday March 22, 4 to 5 pm WCC 2019 Milstein West Open to HUID holders Join the HLS Library for a fireside chat moderated by HLS’s Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law Carol Steiker, featuring professors Mugambi Jouet (Associate Professor, USC Gould School of Law), Corinna Barrett Lain (S. D. Roberts & Sandra Moore Professor of Law, University …

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HLS Library Event: Scholars and Artists Discuss the Death Penalty

Tuesday March 7, 4 to 5 pm WCC 2019 Milstein West AB Open to HUID holders Join the HLS Library for a conversation moderated by Harvard’s 300th Anniversary University Professor Martha Minow, featuring professor John Bessler from the University of Baltimore Law School, Boston-based photographer Lou Jones, and painter/artist/writer Antonio Martorell. This event is part of the Library’s …

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Exhibit – Visualizing Capital Punishment: Spectacle, Shame, and Sympathy

Open to HUID holders in the Caspersen Room, Langdell Hall, weekdays 9 to 5 through June 2023; and open to all online. This Harvard Law School Library exhibit explores the power of visual imagery to change minds about the death penalty. Drawing from material in the Library’s Historical & Special Collections, the exhibit tells a story in three …

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Welcome Back to HLS!

Happy New Year! We hope you had a relaxing break and that 2023 is getting off to a good start. The Library reopens Tuesday, January 3, 2023, and we look forward to seeing and working with you this semester. You can find the Library’s hours here. This charming illustration is a view of the Treasure Room (now called …

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Library Event – Capital Punishment: Where We Stand, 10/12 @ 4 pm

Join Professor Carol Steiker and the HLS Library for a conversation about the state of capital punishment today, followed by a reception and a chance to view the Library’s exhibit: Visualizing Capital Punishment: Spectacle, Shame, and Sympathy. Wednesday, October 12, 4:00 pm HLS Library Seminar Room 232 Reception at 5:00 pm in the Caspersen Room Open to all …

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Forest Greenery, ca. 1325

Here in New England we are surrounded by greenery this time of year, which brings to mind these charming illustrations from an early manuscript compilation of English statutes. The Charter of the Forest, enacted in 1217, was considered a companion to Magna Carta and appears directly after it in this volume. The Charter re-established for free men rights …

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Rebooting the Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Digital Suite

After ten years, we are saying goodbye to the Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Harvard Law School Library Digital Suite. We are hard at work creating a new digital experience using the Harvard Library CURIOSity platform. CURIOSity will provide a searching and browsing experience across all Holmes collections that will be more accessible and mobile friendly. We hope to …

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Congratulations, HLS Graduates!

Congratulations to law school graduates at HLS and elsewhere! You have accomplished great things during a difficult few years, and we are so excited to celebrate your day with you. While you are making your own memories this weekend, enjoy this HLS Commencement image from fifty years ago, featuring Karen J. Orlin and others from the class of …

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Storm Alert: HLS Library Closed January 29, 2022

Anticipating tomorrow’s blizzard, the Harvard Law School Library will be closed on Saturday January 29, and will reopen at noon on Sunday January 30, 2022. 24/7 access to the second floor of the Library is available to HLS students during this time. Stay safe and warm out there! This scene of a house in winter is from an …

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Happy New Year from Your HLS Library!

Welcome to 2022! All of us at the Harvard Law School Library hope you had a fun, relaxing, and restorative holiday, and we are excited to see you in the new year. Because the university has transitioned to remote learning for January term, the HLS Library will be open on a reduced schedule of weekdays 9 to 5, …

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