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Elizabeth Jennings and the Desegregation of Public Transportation in New York City

February 3, 2016February 2, 2021Historical Society of the New York CourtsUncategorized, Blog, Black History Month, New York Legal History, Notable Cases3 Comments

In 1852, the Third Avenue Railroad Company obtained a franchise to construct and operate a street railway service in parts of Manhattan. The company installed steel rails in the surface of some Manhattan streets and, in July 1853, began a streetcar service consisting of carriages pulled along these rails by horses. Passengers could board or leave the carriages at various points along the route. Some carriages carried a placard “Colored Persons Allowed,” but these carriages ran infrequently and African-Americans were often permitted to board the general streetcars at the discretion of the driver and conductor, provided none of the other passengers objected.

250px-elizabeth_jennings_01 — Elizabeth Jennings Graham

On July 16, 1854, a 24 year old African-American school teacher named Elizabeth Jennings and her friend, Sarah Adams, were on their way to church when they hailed a Third Avenue Railroad Company streetcar. It did not have a placard, and the women were immediately challenged by the conductor. Elizabeth refused to disembark and the streetcar continued on its route until the conductor sighted a police officer and requested his assistance. Between them, the two men roughly removed Elizabeth from the streetcar, and she found herself on the sidewalk with her “bonnet smashed and her dress soiled.” Continue reading

Notes from South Africa: Reflections on Judge Kaye & Legal Reform

January 28, 2016October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsUncategorized, Blog, Judith S. Kaye, Notes From South Africa

Today we are launching a new feature on our blog. Penelope (Penny) Andrews, our Trustee (2013-2016) and continuing Trustee Emeritus, has moved back to her homeland of South Africa to assume the position of Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town. Penny is the school’s first black dean, This follows another “first” for her; prior to assuming this position, Penny was the first female Dean of NY’s Albany Law School. She is a true pioneer with a fascinating story of how she rose in the era of apartheid to become a distinguished lawyer and educator. Here are her thoughts on another noble “first,” Hon. Judith S. Kaye.

Marilyn Marcus Executive Director

(NOTE: This article first appeared in South Africa’s Business Day)

I assumed the position of dean of the University of Cape Town (UCT) faculty of law earlier in January, the school’s first dean who is black. In this capacity, as a woman, I am joining an ever-increasing number of women and people of colour who have the status of being “a first”.

I came of age as a lawyer in SA during the dark days of apartheid. I left SA during the 1980s, an inexperienced, concerned yet optimistic young lawyer. I return to SA with three years of experience as the first female president and dean of New York’s Albany Law School (founded in 1861), and decades of experience as a professor of law at law schools in the US, Australia and Canada. Continue reading

Event Recap: Chief Justice John Roberts on Charles Evans Hughes

December 8, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsUncategorized, Blog, Public Events, Society Event Recap, Supreme Court of the US

Chief Justice John Roberts will not grow a beard. But what else do we know about him? On Friday, November 20th the Society was proud to partner with the Supreme Court Historical Society to host the 4th program in our series “Nominated from New York: The Empire State’s Contributions to the Supreme Court Bench.” This time we examined the legacy of Charles Evans Hughes through a lecture and conversation with his successor, current Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr.

Justice Roberts discussed Hughes’s legacy and tenure as Chief Justice, reflecting on the image he projected as a leader of the third branch of government. As the Wall Street Journal noted, Roberts reflected more on Hughes’s leadership role than his jurisprudence, discussing his path to the Chief Judgeship and his approach to, among other things, FDR’s court packing plan. Among other things, as the WSJ, points out, Hughes also oversaw the court’s move from the basement of the US Capitol building to its current courthouse, a move that Justice Roberts described as fitting for the court’s stature. Continue reading

Garfinkel Essay Scholarship: It’s About the Journey

November 19, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Uncategorized1 Comment

This entry was written by Christine Mooney, a faculty member at Queensborough Community College, CUNY. Since 2009, she has served as a faculty member for students who submit their essays to the Garfinkel Essay Scholarship.

Before I begin, I would like to note that this contest is named in loving memory of David A. Garfinkel, the son of Barry and Gloria Garfinkel. Mr. and Mrs. Garfinkel have generously supported the contest since its inception in 2008. Each year, their financial support of the program has grown. This contest is a legacy to the memory of their son.

I thought it most appropriate to dedicate my first entry on this blog to David. I never had the honor of knowing or meeting David Garfinkel. However, I did have the opportunity the other day to speak with his father, Mr. Barry Garfinkel. I asked Mr. Garfinkel to tell me something about David. Two things were abundantly clear from our conversation. David loved history and sharing his knowledge with others. This contest provides a unique opportunity for community college students to carry out two of David’s passions. It gives them the chance to look at important aspects of our legal history and apply those doctrines to their individual experiences. This type of program is invaluable for community college students. Why? Continue reading

Historic Postcards of New York County Courthouses

November 17, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsUncategorized, Blog

Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt is a retired Judge of the New York Court of Appeals and the President of the Historical Society of the New York Courts. He is also the author (with his wife, Julie) of the 2006 book “Historic Courthouses of the State of New York: A Study in Postcards.” The images featured in the book are now available on the Society’s website and this post is an introduction to this project.

History can be told through books, diaries, oral traditions, and even art. And as we have learned, through post cards. They tell a story of time and place, like photographs, but often with interesting commentary on the other side of the card.

There is of course a written history of our courthouses, but as the saying goes, (by way of paraphrase) one image is worth a thousand words. Browsing through an old antique shop some years ago I ran across a pile of post cards, marked 10 cents each, sitting on an old desk. Looking through the stack I encountered a courthouse or two and was charmed by the imagery. From then on, and whenever in a used whatever shop I would look for the inevitable shoe box that held these little treasures. Thankfully, they captured an era a century before our present epoch in which a greeting is sent by text. Continue reading

Emergence of the Common Law, The Anglo-Saxon Dooms, 601-1020 AD, Part 2: Dooms of the Kingdom of Wessex

November 5, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Early Legal History, The Rule of Law

In 725, the Kingdom of Kent lost its predominance in Anglo-Saxon England and the center of power moved to the Kingdom of Wessex. The kings of Wessex gradually expanded the area under their rule through annexation and conquest and, by the year 821, a large part of England was under the governance of the Crown of Wessex.

The Dooms of Ine (c 670-728 AD)

Laws of King Ine, Courtesy British Library

Ine, King of Wessex, issued Dooms in the year 694. Unfortunately, none of the original manuscripts survive and the sole version available to us today is annexed to a later document, the Dooms of Alfred the Great. In that version of Ine’s Dooms, the first several clauses relate to the Catholic church and seek to promote the practice of Christianity. Other dooms include penalties for fighting, stealing, slave trading and murder. Procedurally, the Dooms addressed the administration of oaths and perjury, and widened the definition of a surety by removing the requirement that person acting as surety be a member of the accused’s Maegth (kindred). New dooms relating to land usage and tenures indicate a fundamental change taking place in Anglo-Saxon society as it became more agrarian. Continue reading

The Jackson List: Miss Willard’s English Reading List (1910)

November 3, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsThe Jackson List, Blog, Education, John Q. Barrett

The Jackson List is a newsletter written by John Q. Barrett (Professor of Law at St. John’s Law School & Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow at the Robert H. Jackson Center) on the life & career of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. We are happy to occasionally reproduce entries from The Jackson List here that touch on New York history and Justice Jackson’s ties to Western New York. To get all of The Jackson List entries see Professor Barrett’s site here or send a “subscribe” email.

In 1909, Robert H. Jackson, age 17, graduated from the high school in his boyhood hometown, Frewsburg, New York. That Fall, he began to commute northward by trolley each day—about six miles—to Jamestown, New York. He attended Jamestown High School as a senior, taking subjects that had not been offered in Frewsburg.

At Jamestown High School, Robert Jackson came to be influenced, deeply, by an English teacher, Miss Mary Willard. He took her courses in English and English History. He also studied with her outside of class. In 1910, she gave him a carbon copy of a typed, four-page list of recommended readings—it became, as he wrote on it, “Property of Robt. H. Jackson.” Soon thereafter, Miss Willard gave him a mimeographed copy of a retyped, slightly longer version of the list—an expanded edition, it seems. Continue reading

Western New York Women Pioneers in the Law: Upcoming Program at SUNY Buffalo (11/5 @ 5:30PM)

October 29, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, New York Legal History, Public Events

This post is by Peter D. Cantone, Associate at Phillips Lytle LLP.

Approximately 300 miles separate Buffalo and the surrounding areas from Court of Appeals Hall in Albany, but jurists and legal pioneers from Western New York have nonetheless played a crucial role in our New York State legal history. From Judges on the Court of Appeals to politicians on local and national stages, Western New York has produced no shortage of legal luminaries who have helped shape our legal system. Indeed, Western New York’s proud legal heritage includes such names as John Roberts, Robert H. Jackson, Frank H. Easterbrook, Grover Cleveland, and Millard Fillmore. And the region’s impact on our own Court of Appeals is a tradition that continues to this day: Two of the six currently sitting Judges of the Court are Western New York residents who routinely traverse the length of Interstate 90 to travel to our State’s capitol when the Court is in session.

Next Thursday, Western New York’s contributions to our legal heritage will be center stage in a new program about five “first” women who all hailed from the region: the first woman admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the first woman admitted to practice law in New York State, the first woman to argue before the Court of Appeals, the first woman District Attorney in New York State, and the first African-American woman elected to the United States Congress. As a fitting tribute, remarks about these pioneering women will be given by some of their present-day counterparts from the region, including Hon. Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., Hon. Paula L. Feroleto, Hon. Erin M. Peradotto, Michelle Henry, Prof. Bernadette Gargano, Michael B. Powers, Esq., and Congressman Brian Higgins. Continue reading

Emergence of the Common Law, The Anglo-Saxon Dooms, 601-1020 AD, Part 1: Dooms of the Kingdom of Kent

October 27, 2015October 24, 2018Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Early Legal History, The Rule of Law

This post is by Frances Murray, former librarian of the New York Court of Appeals and expert on legal history. This is the first post in a series on the development of the rule law.

In his seminal work, The Nature of the Judicial Process, U. S. Supreme Court Justice and former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal Benjamin Nathan Cardozo wrote of the land of mystery when constitution and statute are silent, and the judge must look to the common law for the rule that fits the case. He is the “living oracle of the law” in Blackstone’s vivid phrase.

The New York jurist Chancellor James Kent, known as the father of American jurisprudence, described the process by which the common law grew into use by gradual adoption, and received, from time to time, the sanction of the courts of justice, without any legislative act or interference. It was the application of the dictates of natural justice, and of cultivated reason, to particular cases. In the just language of Sir Matthew Hale, the common law of England is “not the product of the wisdom of some one man, or society of men, in any one age; but of the wisdom, counsel, experience, and observation, of many ages of wise and observing men. Continue reading

The 100th Anniversary of Judge Matthew J. Jasen’s Birth: A Commemoration

October 20, 2015December 11, 2020Historical Society of the New York CourtsBlog, Court of Appeals Judges1 Comment

On December 13, 1915, Matthew J. Jasen was born in Buffalo, New York. In a public career that spanned much of the 20th century, his achievements were remarkable, including service as a United States Judge in post-war Germany, and 18 years as an Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals where he authored more than 800 signed opinions. In later years, he served as Special Master by appointment of the United States Supreme Court. His deeply principled jurisprudence, personal warmth and abiding commitment to the rule of law have been recalled and celebrated many times, including by his friends and colleagues such as Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, Judge Albert M. Rosenblatt, and Judge Eugene F. Pigott, Jr., as well as his law clerks (including two Historical Society trustees, Michael B. Powers and John J. Halloran, Jr.). For its part, the Historical Society has prepared this biographical sketch.

For this Centennial, the Historical Society is pleased to provide access to rare video footage of the ceremony at Court of Appeals Hall in Albany, New York on the occasion of Judge Jasen’s retirement. On December 17, 1985, the Court of Appeals opened its doors to a television crew from the PBS/WMHT program, “Inside Albany,” who filmed the Judge’s retirement ceremony in the Court’s library and an interview with the Judge in his chambers. The Historical Society extends its appreciation to WMHT, and Syracuse University, for preserving the episode and making it available to the Historical Society for the benefit of the historical record. Continue reading