Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1937-1971

The Black papers are especially comprehensive for his tenure on the Supreme Court and for information about Alabama and New Deal politics between 1926 and 1937. The Supreme Court File contains a Nomination File, Case File, Judicial Conference Administrative File, and Office File. Read more detailed information in the Scope and Content Note in the finding aid.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1970-1994

Although the collection chronicles almost every phase of Blackmun's judicial career, the bulk of the material highlights his service as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, 1959-1970, and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, 1970-1994. The Supreme Court File, 1918-1999, comprising over ninety-five percent of the collection, documents Blackmun's twenty four years of service as an associate justice. The series is divided into ten subseries: Appointment Books, Correspondence, Case File, Dockets, Briefs, Certiorari Memoranda, Subject File, Speech and Engagement File, Writings File, and Law Clerks File. See the Scope and Content Note in the finding aid for detailed information about how each of these subseries is arranged.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1956-1990

The papers of William J. Brennan (1906-1997), span the years 1945-1998, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1956-1990. The collection represents his public service as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from his appointment in 1956 to his retirement in 1990. Part I contains most of Brennan's Case File and a small Miscellany series. Part II is organized in the following series: Case File, Case Histories, Correspondence File, Members of the Court, Law Clerks, Administrative File, Speeches, Writings, and Events, and Miscellany.

The Case File in part I is arranged chronologically by the Court's annual October terms, 1956-1989. Material is arranged in an administrative file and opinion file within each term. The Case File in part II is similarly arranged in an administrative file
and opinion file. Read more detailed information about the various series and their arrangement in the Scope and Content Note in the finding aid.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1945-1958

Burton's diaries begin in 1941 and continue through 1963 covering his service as senator and associate justice. They are a rich and comprehensive record of his personal activities, the work of the Supreme Court, and conversations with members of the Court and numerous other government figures. The General Correspondence series documents Burton's aspirations for a federal judgeship.

The Supreme Court File documents the judicial activities of Burton and his fellow justices from 1945 to 1958. Material covering this aspect of his career is organized by correspondence, a case file, and a miscellany file. Read more detailed information regarding the Supreme Court series in the Scope and Content Note of the finding aid.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1864-1873

Correspondence, memoranda, diaries, speeches, writings, financial and legal papers, biographical material, and other material pertaining to Chase's service as a U.S. senator from Ohio, as a member of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, as U.S. secretary of the treasury, and as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1903-1922

Included in the General Correspondence are items relating to Day’s activities as a federal judge, as a Supreme Court justice, his service with the State Department, and his affiliation with the Republican Party. The Subject File contains little material relating to his time as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. A scrapbook, 1900-1919, in the Scrapbook series contains clippings about Day and addresses by him.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1939-1975

When Douglas retired from the Supreme Court in November 1975, he had served on the bench longer than any previous justice. His Court files are the most extensive in the collection. Records from 1938 to 1952 are in the Supreme Court File in Part I and those from 1953 to 1975 are in Part II . The files contain correspondence, memoranda prepared by the justices, memoranda prepared by law clerks, drafts and final opinions, docket books for each term, and printed matter. The case files are preceded by an office file consisting of applications for employment, memoranda exchanged between Douglas and his staff, scheduling and planning files, general information about the operation of the Court, and the law clerks file which contains various assignments given to the clerks and a file of correspondence Douglas exchanged with his former clerks over the years.

Case files are arranged by October term and sequentially within by docket number. Cases carried over to the next term were assigned new numbers for each court term until 1971 when all cases retained the court year prefix assigned when they were first entered on the court docket. For some court terms lists of conversion numbers are included at the front of the docket William O. Douglas Papers 6 books. Assignment lists, argument lists, conference lists, docket books, and memoranda by the Court are generally grouped at the beginning of each October term. Douglas divided his case files into three major categories: argued cases, office memoranda (also called certiorari memoranda), and opinions. The argued case files include office or certiorari memoranda, memoranda and notes Douglas made at the weekly conferences recording the votes of the justices, and opinions prepared by other justices. The office memoranda file contains law clerks' summaries of issues in cases generally denied certiorari. The opinion files consist of cases in which Douglas wrote the opinion for the court or a dissenting or concurring opinion. The opinions, kept in a format that allows one to follow the stages in the drafting process, contain handwritten, typewritten, and various printings of opinions, circulations to the other justices, Douglas' conference notes, memoranda prepared by law clerks, including initialed opinions indicating that the clerks had reviewed or edited the various printings, occasional letters from attorneys or the public pertaining to the cases, and printed matter.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1811-1835

Correspondence, financial and legal papers, genealogical material concerning the Duvall family, and other papers.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1796-1800

The papers of the family of Oliver Ellsworth (1745-1807) span the years 1762-1907 and contain letters and financial and legal papers documenting Ellsworth's personal life and professional career, records relating to the administration of his estate, and family papers consisting of correspondence, legal documents, and printed matter.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1939-1962

A considerable amount of material relating to the Supreme Court, for the most part in photocopied
form, is scattered throughout the Library's collection of personal papers and is supplemented by his Supreme Court files which he gave to the Law School of Harvard University. The Manuscript Division holds a copy of the microfilm edition of the Harvard Law School collection.

Frankfurter's correspondence with Louis Dembitz Brandeis is a rich source for study of the judicial process, and particularly of the Supreme Court, since Frankfurter was one of the few people off the court with whom Brandeis discussed court matters. The Miscellaney series includes a memorandum of conversations with Brandeis records commentary on Supreme Court personalities and their judicial philosophies.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1888-1910

Letters to Fuller from judges on the lower federal courts such as Hugh L. Bond, William H. Brawley, Walter Quintin Gresham, William L. Putnam, and Charles H. Simonton document the federal judiciary following the Court of Appeals Act of 1891.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1993-2019

The collection consists of three parts and some topics and time periods are common to all parts. The majority of papers in Parts I and II documents Ginsburg's efforts as an advocate for women's rights prior to her career as a federal judge and an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Part III relates chiefly to Ginsburg's tenure as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Restrictions apply.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1962-1965

The Supreme Court File represents Goldberg's tenure as an associate justice on the Court from 1962 to 1965. The series contains case files, certiorari memoranda, correspondence, notes, and speeches. Draft opinions, memoranda, and notes comprising the Case File subseries reflect the intellectual and legal interaction among the justices during the opinion-writing process.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1877-1911

The papers are organized in two parts. The Legal File in Part I treats Harlan's law career from its beginning through his years on the Supreme Court, including cases in which he was attorney or judge. In the Legal File of Part II are contracts, notes, receipts, and a few briefs relating to cases or clients.The General Correspondence series in parts I and II contain letters concerning Harlan's appointment to the Supreme Court.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1902-1932

Chiefly letters (1903 February 21-1932 September 30) from Holmes to American diplomat Lewis Einstein. Also includes notes on the Holmes-Einstein correspondence, letters (1908-1920) from Holmes to Dorothy Upham Vaughan and Thomas Wayland Vaughan, clippings, and other papers.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1930-1941

The Correspondence series includes a Supreme Court subseries, which reflects Hughes' reflects his public role as chief justice. Correspondence concerning controversial cases heard by the Supreme Court is in the Subject File series. Some scrapbooks in the Miscellaney series contain information concerning Hughes' appointment as Chief Justice.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1941-1954

Jackson's papers are complete for his years on the U.S. Supreme Court except for the 1945 term when he was United States Chief of Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials. The files of cases are arranged chronologically by October term and contain summaries of the issues prepared by Jackson's law clerks, drafts of opinions, circulated opinions, final opinions, correspondence and memoranda exchanged between the justices, correspondence from the public, and printed matter. An alphabetical card file index to the cases is included at the end of the papers. Except for 1946, Jackson did not maintain separate docket books for the court terms; instead, pages from docket books are generally incorporated in the case files.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1776-1809
Letterbook, 1779-1782 (of photostats from the original in the Huntington Library), and miscellaneous other letters and documents.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1910-1914

Correspondence and telegrams, some written while Lurton was attending the University of Chicago (1857-1886) and while he was a prisoner in Camp Chase, Ohio, and at Johnson Island Prison during the Civil War.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1967-1991

The majority of Marshall's papers document his career as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1961-1965; as United States Solicitor General, 1965-1967; and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1967-1991.

The Supreme Court File, 1967-1991, constitutes by far the largest part of the collection. Documenting Marshall's twenty four years as a Supreme Court justice, the series is divided into four subseries: General Correspondence, Case File, Dockets, and Miscellany. The Case File subseries, 1967-1991, consists of administrative and opinion files and are arranged chronologically by term, October through late June or early July, and therein numerically by docket number. Exceptions to this order include opinions and other documents generated after July which are usually filed in the previous court term, i.e., an opinion written in August 1979 is filed in the October 1978 term. As in the Solicitor General series, docket numbers of the appellate and in forma pauperis cases from 1967 to 1970 were supplemented by a two-digit prefix number supplied by Manuscript Division staff to assist in identifying the term in which cases are located.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1829-1861

McLean’s service on the United States Supreme Court, 1829-1861, is documented in the Correspondence, Legal File, and Printed Matter series. Noteworthy is a volume containing McLean’s notes on oral arguments made before the Court in 1830, including cases argued by John MacPherson Berrien, Francis Scott Key, David Bayard Ogden, Roger Brooke Taney, Daniel Webster, and William Wirt.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1862-1890

In his correspondence, Miller comments on a broad range of political and judicial issues, including Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860, Reconstruction and relations between North and South, various judicial appointments, the nomination of John Marshall Harlan to the Supreme Court, Republican Party politics, and Miller's service on the electoral commission appointed by Congress to decide the disputed 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden.

Miller, who served on the Supreme Court from 1862 until his death in 1890, relates news of the court and the status of various cases pending before it. In a confidential letter to Ballinger in 1866, he reports the Court's five to four ruling in the test oath cases striking down loyalty oaths after the Civil War. Miller briefly describes the reasoning in his dissenting opinion in the cases, yet quickly adds, in deference to Ballinger's circumstance as a former Confederate official, that he is "... not sorry that the result is adverse to my opinion, on your account and generally because I think the requirement unnecessarily harsh at present."

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1981-2006

Correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, case files, legal papers, subject files, photographs, and other papers relating chiefly to O'Connor's judicial career. Includes material documenting her service as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court as well as her work in Arizona as a state senator and as a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and of the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Supreme Court files relate to cases concerning abortion rights, affirmative action and discrimination, campaign spending and campaign contributions, the First Amendment and freedom of religion, gender discrimination, and the presidential election of 2000. Includes material relating to O'Connor's appointment as the first woman associate justice and to her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.
Restrictions apply.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1895-1909

The collection contains correspondence to Wheeler H. Peckham from his his brother, Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1838-1909), lawyer in Albany, associate justice of the New York Supreme Court, and justice of the United States Supreme Court. Other papers in the collection relate to Wheeler H. Peckham's unsuccessful nomination to the United States Supreme Court in 1894. His brother Rufus Wheeler Peckham was nominated to the same bench in 1895 and assumed his duties as associate justice in 1896.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1930-1945

Three volumes consisting of correspondence and memoranda relating to Roberts's service on the U.S. Supreme Court. Two volumes include correspondence and memoranda congratulating him on his appointment in 1930. Volume three pertains to Roberts's resignation from the Supreme Court in 1945 and includes facsimiles of his letter of resignation to President Harry S. Truman and the president's letter of response accepting Roberts's resignation.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1943-1949

The Court of Appeals and Supreme Court files include material Rutledge accumulated for those
decisions in which he wrote an opinion or exercised influence. Rutledge kept incoming notes and letters and retained copies of most of his outgoing communications and writings, including intracourt memoranda, working drafts of opinions, case memoranda or certiorari, summaries of lawyers' opinions, and conference proceedings. Although most of this material is in the two court series, important communications about his work as a jurist are also contained in the General Correspondence series. Read more detailed information about materials and topics included in the Supreme Court series in the Scope and Content Note in the finding aid.

The 2018 Addition consists of six docket books pertaining to Rutledge's tenure on the Supreme Court. A docket sheet provides a record of the name and docket number of individual cases and documents the votes by the justices regarding the disposition of the case. The docket books for the October terms 1943-1945 are bound volumes. The docket books for the October terms 1946-1948 are sheets that were filed in large notebooks. Library staff removed the sheets from the notebooks for better preservation. At the front of each volume is an alphabetical index by case title that lists the page number for the case. The majority of the dockets are for appellate cases but original and miscellaneous cases are also included.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1975-2010

Case files, docket sheets, certiorari memoranda, speeches, writings, and other papers primarily documenting Stevens's tenure as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Reflects the transformation of the Court to a more politically conservative institution as well as his evolution from a moderate conservative justice to the leader of the liberal contingent on the Court.
Restrictions apply.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1941-1946

The Supreme Court File contains correspondence, near-print and printed matter, and clippings and is divided into three subseries: Case Files, Correspondence, and General Office Files. The General Correspondence series includes Stone's comments on the large number of addresses and articles sent him by others in the legal profession, and discussions of court matters, the judicial process, legal education, and related subjects. His correspondence with Felix Frankfurter and John Bassett Moore is voluminous and relates mainly to legal affairs.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1812-1845

The collection consists of bound volumes of personal, legal, and professional correspondence regarding cases at law, questions before the Supreme Court, the teaching of history and law, and the development of Harvard Law School.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1922-1938

Correspondence, diaries, legal files, notes and memoranda, scrapbooks, speeches, and printed matter document Sutherland’s career as a United States congressman and senator, and as an associate justice on the United States Supreme Court. Correspondence covers the Supreme Court packing plan controversy of 1937.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1921-1930

The General Correspondence and Scrapbooks series contain correspondence and related materials for Taft's Supreme Court period.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1836-1864

Correspondence, writings, legal files, and miscellany. Includes correspondence with Thomas Ellicott, Andrew Jackson, and Amos Kendall concerning the rechartering of the Bank of the United States and a manuscript by Taney reflecting his opposition to the renewal. Other subjects include Francis Scott Key, the Dred Scott case, and slavery.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1823-1843

Correspondence, legal notes, and other papers relating primarily to various Supreme Court cases and to personal affairs. Of particular note is Thompson's draft of his dissenting opinion in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831).

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1910-1937

Nominated by fellow Cincinnati Law School alumnus William H. Taft to the United States Supreme Court in 1910, Van Devanter’s legal expertise had been honed in the frontier environs of Cheyenne, Wyoming. During the 1920s, his abilities as a negotiator elicited the praise of Taft and other justices on the bench who appreciated his legal precision and courtroom thoroughness. In the 1930s, however, Van Devanter’s conservatism put him at odds with the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1937, he resigned his seat. By then he had spent approximately forty years in federal service, including six as assistant attorney general in the Department of Interior and seven more as a judge on the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth District.

Students of the judiciary will be particularly interested in the extensive communications between Van Devanter and other federal judges, especially those on the Eighth Circuit Court. Prominent among the jurists who confided in him are Elmer B. Adams, John C. Pollock, John A. Riner, and Walter R. Sanborn. Other major correspondents include several from the Department of Interior, where Van Devanter, as a specialist in public lands and Indian affairs, built on his already acquired knowledge of these fields. Some of the letter writers who stand out in the collection as a whole are Charles F. Amidon, A. C. Campbell, William C. Hook, Frank B. Kellogg, John F. Phillips, William V. Rooker, Luther M. Walter, and Sylvester G. Williams.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1874-1888

The papers of Morrison Remick Waite (1816-1888) span the period 1818-1933, with the bulk of the material relating to his position as chief justice of the United States between 1874 and 1888. The collection contains letterbooks, correspondence, docket books, Supreme Court assignment sheets from 1877 to 1888, and manuscripts and proofs of Supreme Court and circuit court opinions.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1953-1969

Papers dating chiefly from Warren's appointment as chief justice and relating principally to his activities with the Supreme Court and to the various landmark decisions identified with his tenure (1953-1969) in such areas as civil rights, race relations, criminal procedure, legislative reapportionment, freedom of speech and press, and church-state relations.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1962-1993

Part I of the collection contains numerous opinions written by White on the social, political, and economic issues that came before the court during the 1962-1983 court terms. Files in Part II focus on cases brought before the Supreme Court between the 1984 and 1992 court terms.

The collection contains opinion files and administrative files arranged chronologically by court term. The opinion files document cases considered by the court with memoranda and drafts of majority opinions, dissents, and concurrences that were circulated among justices. While the circulations are typed or printed, many contain handwritten notes and other marginalia made by White or his clerks. The opinion files are segregated by appellate, miscellaneous, and original dockets. Beginning with the 1970 term, the miscellaneous docket was replaced by the in forma pauperis docket.

Administrative files consist of case assignment lists, circulation records, conference lists, schedules of court hearings, decision statistics, per curiams, and some docket sheets. In addition, there are numerous memoranda and reports generated by various officers of the court, including the administrative assistant to the chief justice, administrative officer, clerk, legal officer, librarian, marshal, nurse, personnel administrator, public information officer, and reporter. The files also include information on selected cases, especially in topical files such as "capital cases" and "drug cases." See the Scope and Content Note in the finding aid for more detailed information on White's cases.

Tenure on U.S. Supreme Court: 1845-1851

Although there is relatively little in the papers pertaining to Woodbury's years on the Supreme Court, his early years as student, lawyer, judge, and governor are covered most completely in the General Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, and Journals and Diaries files. His memoranda on self examination, personal reflections, and an autobiographical sketch done in 1817 provide insight into his formative years.