Top of page

Category: Law Library

Ada Deer: Advocate for Tribal Sovereignty

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

This Native American Heritage Month, we honor the significant figures in history who contributed to civil rights and the law. Ada Deer, Menominee, was an activist, tribal leader, social worker, government official, professor, and community activist, all in service to her community. In the process of trying to make improvements in the quality of Native …

Descansos: Roadside Memorials

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

In late October and early November, people of Hispanic heritage remember their lost loved ones with ofrendas, colorful memorials to the dead that are decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds, papel picado, candles, favorite foods of the lost ones, and more. This time tends to be a celebration more than a mourning; when building an ofrenda …

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Constitution

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

The United States commemorates Constitution Day on September 17, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. Celebrations usually include readings and discussions of the history of the document and its writing and influences. Many say that the United States, one of the oldest continuous democracies in the world drew influence for …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Sympathy for the Devil– Pic of the Week

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

This post contains research contributed by Ilya Dines. In the Law Library, we are working to make our rare books collection more widely available via blog posts and digitization, so that it can be found and used by researchers and the public. Some aspects of these materials are mainly noticed by historians, legal scholars, philosophers, …

Doctrine of Discovery, Until Otherwise

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

On March 30, 2023, the Vatican issued a joint statement repudiating the “doctrine of discovery” and terra nullius. The doctrine of discovery was used as the legal foundation for taking the land of Indigenous people by Europeans, and for the establishment of residential schools; as Justice Marshall wrote, “The European governments asserted the exclusive right …

Dr. Mabel Ping Hua Lee’s Push for Suffrage

Posted by: Jennifer Davis

May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month, when the Law Library celebrates the accomplishments that Asian and Pacific Islander Americans have made to American history, society and law. Dr. Mabel Ping Hua Lee, a twentieth-century Chinese American economist, was also a suffragist and a women’s rights advocate who worked within the Chinese American community …