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Posted by: Jim Martin
Today, January 29, marks the 101st anniversary of the certification by Acting Secretary of State Frank Polk of the ratification by three-quarters of the states of the proposed 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which prohibited in the United States ”the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors.” The adoption of …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Post about Simon Sobeloff, a prominent Jewish legal figure in Baltimore, Maryland, and his contributions to desegregation
Posted in: Guest Post, Jewish American History, Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
The following is a guest post by Elizabeth Osborne, legal reference librarian. Elizabeth wrote last year on the occasion of the retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died on Tuesday at the age of 99. When he retired in 2010, he had served for over 34 years and …
Posted in: Guest Post, In the News, Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Today is the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy by Allied forces during World War II, usually referred to as D-Day. The amphibious and airborne invasions secured a beachhead in northwestern France, which allowed for the rapid build up of forces needed to secure France’s liberation. The invasion was part of an overall strategic plan, Operation Overlord, …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Today marks the 157th anniversary of the Homestead Act becoming law. For a number of years before the Civil War, there had been interest in allocating public lands in the trans-Mississippi west to individual settlers, but for a variety of reasons, including arguments over the status of slavery in the territories and concerns by Northern …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
The end of the baseball reserve clause came to major league baseball players as an early Christmas gift on December 23, 1975, when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that two players, Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, were eligible to negotiate contracts with any team. Prior to this time, major league players were bound under the reserve …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
In the fall of 1848, a one-term congressman from Illinois returned home from Washington, D.C.,via a trip through the Great Lakes. While on the Detroit River, Congressman Lincoln observed the crew of a steamer that had run aground wedge empty casks and barrels under the vessel’s gunwales to increase its buoyancy. The attempt worked and gave …
Posted in: Education, Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
The following is a guest post by Elizabeth Osborne. Beth most recently wrote about the retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Librarians at the Law Library recently returned from the 2018 American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference is an opportunity for legal information professionals to share knowledge and connect with colleagues from across …
Posted in: Guest Post, Law Library
Posted by: Jim Martin
Monday, July 30, marks the 76th anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Navy’s WAVES, the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. During World War I women were accepted into the Navy’s reserve force due to an ambiguity of the law which did not specify that a reservist must be a “man.” The idea was …
Posted in: Law Library