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J. Steward Davis: Dickinson Law’s First African American Graduate

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J. Steward Davis, 1914 Microcosm

Because there is no record of Clarence Muse graduating from the Law School, the honor of becoming the first African American to graduate from Dickinson Law falls to J. Steward Davis, Class of 1914.  Davis also held the distinction of being the first African American class valedictorian at Dickinson Law.

Davis was a graduate of Harrisburg High School and attended Dickinson College before entering the Law School.  After graduation, he moved to Baltimore, where he was admitted to the Bar.  Davis served in World War I, and thereafter, returned to Baltimore where he become a highly successful trial lawyer.

Davis mysteriously vanished on April 15, 1929.  It was reported that on that morning, Davis left home for work, but never arrived.  An investigation revealed that he had bought a train ticket for New York City and spent the night there.  It was rumored, but never corroborated, that Davis had fled to avoid being disciplined for misappropriating funds.  Davis was never seen or heard from again.1

1 Charles Madden, J. Steward Davis:  The Vanishing Star, Maryland State Archives, https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/014400/014469/html/davis_extended_bio.html (last visited Jan. 31, 2020).

Black History Month: Ibram X. Kendi

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*Tonight’s program has been cancelled, and will be re-scheduled in the near future. Penn State Dickinson Law is co-sponsoring a timely program this evening featuring Professor Ibram X. Kendi, a National Book Award-winning author and historian. Tonight’s discussion, the first of Dickinson Law’s events celebrating Black History Month, will highlight his views on the reality of racism in America today. A book sale and author signing with follow the presentation.  Visit the Law Library to view the display of Kendi’s books which are the foundation of tonight’s lecture.

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: E184.A1K344 2019
In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi takes readers through a widening circle of antiracist ideas–from the most basic concepts to visionary possibilities–that will help readers see all forms of racism clearly, understand their poisonous consequences, and work to oppose them in our systems and in ourselves. Kendi weaves an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science with his own personal story of awakening to antiracism. This is an essential work for anyone who wants to go beyond the awareness of racism to the next step: contributing to the formation of a just and equitable society.

Stamped from the Beginning : The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: E185.61.K358 2016
Award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues that racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit. As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation’s racial inequities. In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking and, in the process, he gives us reason to hope.

The Black Campus Movement : Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965-1972 by Ibram X. Kendi
Call Number: LC2781.R65 2012
This book provides the first national study of this intense and challenging struggle which disrupted and refashioned institutions in almost every state. It also illuminates the context for one of the most transformative educational movements in American history through a history of black higher education and black student activism before 1965.

Issa Tanimura

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Issa Tanimura is believed to be Dickinson Law’s first international student.  Tanimura was born on May 1, 1866 in Hagi, Japan.  He attended school in Tokyo before leaving Japan for the United States, where he attended the Centenary Collegiate Institute in Hackettstown, New Jersey.

In 1887, Tanimura met the Rev. Dr. George E. Reed, who would become President of Dickinson College.  It was this meeting that led to Tanimura’s decision to devote his life to promoting Japanese-American relations.  Tanimura went on to attend Yale, before making the decision to attend Dickinson Law, likely having been influenced to do so as a result of his meeting with Reed.

Tanimura was secretary of his class during his senior year at Dickinson Law.  While attending Dickinson Law, Tanimura also organized a Japanese-themed carnival to raise funds for the Law Library.  The carnival was a huge success, expanding the Law Library’s collection to over 800 volumes.  The new additions to the Law Library were inscribed, and considered to be a part of the “Japanese Memorial Law Library.”

Tanimura graduated from Dickinson Law in 1892 and received his Certificate to Practice Law in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.  However, it appears that he never actually practiced law.  Instead, Tanimura returned to Japan, where he was appointed Commissioner of Commerce in 1893.  Tanimura continued, during his lifetime, to travel throughout the United States and Europe.  He also continued his lifelong goal of promoting Japanese-American relations, by unofficially serving as a resource, in Japan, of information regarding the American people.

At some point, Tanimura developed an interest in agriculture, specifically sheep husbandry.  He attended a Sheep Fair in 1908 in Ogden, New York, where he met the president of the Wool Association, who had first introduced sheep to Japan.  At this gentleman’s recommendation, Tanimura went on to become an Honorary Fellow in Agriculture at Cornell University.  The first sheep ranch opened in Japan in 1917.  By 1919, there were five ranches in existence.  However, due to a lack of interest on the part of the Japanese government, all but one sheep ranch was ultimately closed.  Nonetheless, Tanimura remained an authority on the topic of sheep husbandry, both in Japan and abroad.  Tanimura also successfully introduced Jersey cows and American grasses to Japan.

Tanimura was a successful author as well, co-authoring and editing many works.  Tanimura is probably best known for authoring General Horace Capron, The Friend of Japan, comprising of his research on the life of General Horace Capron, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, who introduced many modern farming practices to Japan.

Issa Tanimura passed away on February 4, 1961.  He was 94 years old.

The Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo

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The Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo attended Carlisle High School, where she graduated first in her class.  She then earned her B.A. degree, cum laude, from Dickinson College.  In 1959, Judge Rambo entered The Dickinson School of Law as the only woman in her class.  She graduated from the Law School in 1962.

Judge Rambo briefly worked as an attorney in the Trust Department of the Bank of Delaware before returning to Carlisle to enter private practice.  In 1973, she was appointed Assistant Public Defender for Cumberland County.  In 1976, she was appointed Chief Public Defender.  She was the first woman appointed to that position.  In 1976, Judge Rambo became the first female judge in Cumberland County when she was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas.  She ran for reelection in 1978 when her appointed term was scheduled to expire, but she lost the election and returned to private practice.

In 1979, Judge Rambo was appointed to fill a newly-created seat on the bench for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.  She was the first woman to serve in that capacity.  From 1992 to 1999, Judge Rambo accomplished yet another first, when she served as the first female Chief Judge for that Court.  Judge Rambo attained senior status on the Court in 2001.  This year marks Judge Rambo’s 40th year on the bench.

In 1993, the Women’s Law Caucus of The Dickinson School of Law established The Honorable Sylvia H. Rambo Award.  The Award was established to honor, annually, a woman in the legal profession that “has had a distinguished career and who, by example, has made the professional success of other women more likely.”  Judge Rambo was the first recipient of the Award, and it was named in her honor because of her substantial and positive impact on the community.  The 2019 recipient of the Award is The Honorable Mary Hannah Leavitt, Class of 1978, President Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.  A list of prior recipients is available here.

Dickinson Law: Articles of Incorporation

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The exact fate of the Law School after Judge Reed’s passing in 1850 is unknown.  However, it appears that operation of the Law School was suspended for a period of time.  In 1862, Dickinson College conferred upon Judge James Hutchison Graham the Doctor of Laws degree and appointed him as Professor of Law.  However, it is not known whether law classes were held during Judge Graham’s tenure as Professor of Law.  Judge Graham passed away in the fall of 1882, and it does appear that at that time, there was no law school, and no law classes were being taught in relationship with Dickinson College.

In 1889, George Edward Reed was appointed President of Dickinson College.  On January 9, 1890, the Trustees of Dickinson College met.  At this meeting, Reed proposed:

That the President and Executive Committee be authorized to establish a law school in connection with the College if it can be done without expense to the institution, and that permission be granted to allow use of Emory Hall, or such portion of it as may be necessary for the purpose specified.

Burton R. Laub, The Dickinson School of Law:  Proud and Independent (1983)

The Trustees accepted the proposal, and on February 19, 1890, Articles of Incorporation were filed in the Court of Common Pleas in Cumberland County.  By Order of the Court issued on the same day, the Articles were approved, establishing The Dickinson School of Law as a corporation under the Corporation Act of April 29, 1874.  The Articles were then recorded as a Charter with the Recorder of Deeds.

The Articles of Incorporation/Charter sets forth the agreement between George Edward Reed and several individuals, who have become known as the Incorporators of the Law School.  Four of the Incorporators – Governor Andrew G. Curtin, William Penn Orbison, Nathaniel Barrat Smithers and James Patterson Sterrett – were students of Judge Reed.  More information about the Incorporators, including brief biographies, can be found in Burton Laub’s book, The Dickinson School of Law – Proud and Independent.

The original Articles of Incorporation/Charter sets forth, in pertinent part:

1st.  The name of the Corporation shall be – The Dickinson School of Law.

2d.  The purpose of the Corporation is to dispense instruction in the law of the United States and of the Several States of the Union – in international law – in political and Social Science and in allied sciences.

3d.  This instruction shall be dispensed, and the other business of the Corporation, transacted, in the Borough of Carlisle, State of Pennsylvania.

4th.  The Corporation shall be perpetual.

….

8th.  The Corporation shall have power to appoint a dean and faculty of instruction and discipline and upon their recommendation, to confer appropriate degrees and Certificates of Scholarship on students of the School and others.

Certain provisions of the Charter were amended in 1941, but the above provisions, from the original Charter, remained the same.

John Reed’s Advertisement

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Below is the text of Judge Reed’s advertisement for the opening of his Law School, as it appears in the book he kept regarding Law School matters.  The advertisement first ran on January 9, 1834.

Judge Reed’s book

A law department has been established in connection with Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and it has been placed under the sole direction of the subscriber.

The design of the institution is two fold.  I.  To prepare students of law thoroughly for the practice of this profession.  II.  To afford to others the means of such general instruction in the science as is deemed indispensable to every finished scholar, and eminently useful to every American citizen.  The two objects, as far as expedient, will be separately attended to.

The first will embrace a minute inquiry into the science of the law and the technical details involved in the practice of it.  In accomplishing these objects, the severer studies, will be occasionally relieved, by an attention to history and such other branches of general literature, as are intimately connected with the study of the law, and are deemed indispensable, in forming a professional character.

I.  The means of instruction will consist, first, in a methodical course of study of the best books, properly arranged. Secondly, in frequent examinations accompanied with familiar conversations, adapted to the progress and comprehension of each particular law student, and thirdly, in a regular series of lectures.

II.  The practice will be taught first by the examination of approved precedents, and books of practice. Secondly, by presenting fictitious cases, and training the students through all the forms and distinctions of actions, pleas, pleadings, trials, judgements: thus familiarizing them with all the modes of procedure from the inception of a suit to its consummation by final execution.

III.  The application of theory and practice will further be made familiar, by frequent exercises in conducting proceedings in a moot court to be organized for the purpose. Actions will be instituted and regularly prosecuted through all the windings which the skill and ingenuity of the students can suggest and in these prosecutions, regular discussions will be had on debatable points, both orally and in writing.

IV.  A course of collegiate lectures will be prepared for such students of the college and others as may choose to attend them, less in detail, but embracing the general principles of the law as a science, in which the constitutions of the United States and of the several states, our political institutions and the laws derived from, or modified by, their peculiar constitutions, will claim special attention.

Upon the course being satisfactorily finished by law students, and a final examination passed, the degree of “Bachelor of Laws” will be conferred by the Faculty of Dickinson College.

The length of time required to complete the course, will depend in some measure, upon the age and previous amount of preparation of the respective students.  Two years will be generally sufficient for graduates of any respectable college, and others properly prepared.

The College library, with the advantages of the literary societies connected with the College, and their extensive libraries, will be accessible to the law students, the latter at the option of the societies and according to the forms of the respective institutions.  An extensive private law library will be appropriated exclusively to the use of the law school.  The aid of competent assistants will always be secured, where occasion requires it.

Terms

The price of tuition to law students embracing all charges will be seventy five dollars per annum.  (This is for two terms of 5 mos each.)  For collegiate lectures, fifteen dollars a lesson.  For membership in moot court, $15 per annum.  The school will be open on the first day of April 1834 for the reception of students.

John Reed: Dickinson Law’s Founder

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John Reed’s portrait can be found in the entrance of Trickett Hall.

John Reed was born, in 1786, in an area of York County, which later became part of Adams County, Pennsylvania.  He attended Dickinson College, and then studied law under an attorney in Gettysburg.  He was admitted to the bar in 1809.  In 1820, he was appointed President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District, which at the time was comprised of Cumberland, Franklin, Adams and Perry Counties.  Judge Reed is the author of a 3-volume work titled, Pennsylvania Blackstone, being a Modification of the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone with Numerous Alterations and Additions, Designed to Present an Elementary Exposition of the Entire Laws of Pennsylvania, Common and Statute, with a Short Notice of the Judiciary of the United States.

On June 8, 1833, Judge Reed sent the following letter to the trustees of Dickinson College:

Gentleman:
I have contemplated for some time past the opening of a law school in Carlisle:  there is nothing of the kind, I believe in Pennsylvania, and I can’t help thinking it might be made extensively serviceable to the profession.  It has occurred to me, within a day or two past, that some nominal connection with the College would be auxiliary to my views, and that perhaps it might not altogether be without advantage to the institution.  My residence from next spring will be in the immediate vicinage of the College:  I will be provided with a spacious office, and will have abundant leisure, from my official duties, to conduct the operations of a school of the kind I have referred to.  I would not contemplate more than a nominal connection with the College.  I have taken the liberty of suggesting the subject to you; if it is of sufficient importance, or can in any way be brought to bear in favor of the College or myself, I would invite your attention to it.
With sentiments of respect,
Your Obt. Sert.
John Reed

John Reed’s house: the first home of the Law School.

The Board of Trustees responded by establishing a professorship of law “in connection with Dickinson College.”  The law department was to be under the professor of law’s entire control and was “established under the pledge of mutual assistance and cooperation so far as may be practicable and expedient.”  The professor was not to be considered a faculty member of the College, and it was “understood that there will be no expense to the College arising out of the establishment” of the Law School.  However, the faculty at Dickinson College would award an appropriate degree upon students who completed a regular course of study at the Law School, upon recommendation from the professor of law.

Judge Reed’s response to the Trustees was to set forth in a letter dated September 27, 1833, his plans for the establishment of the Law School, including the curriculum and tuition.  This letter would later be mirrored in Judge Reed’s advertisement for the opening of the Law School, which was first published on January 9, 1834.  (In next week’s post, I will share the full text of Judge Reed’s advertisement.)

Judge Reed’s book

Judge Reed maintained a book, in which he recorded information relevant to the Law School, including his advertisement and the signatures of students who enrolled in his school.  This book remains a part of the Law School Archives Collection and is on display in the Law Library.

Judge Reed’s Law School, which later became known as The Dickinson School of Law, opened on April 1, 1834.  He continued in his position as Judge until 1839, when the judicial office expired due to a constitutional change.  He thereafter returned to the practice of law, while continuing to operate his Law School.  Judge Reed passed away on January 19, 1850.

Relic from the Inner Temple

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In 1949, the Dickinson School of Law was presented with one of the most treasured items in the Archives Collection:  a stone from the ruins of the Inner Temple, one of England’s great Inns of Court, which had been largely destroyed during World War II.

Inner Temple Stone

Sometime during the 12th Century, the Military Order of the Knights Templar built a church along the River Thames, which became known as the Temple Church.  Sometime after the abolition of the Order, the Church, along with its surrounding buildings, was occupied by lawyers, and this space evolved into two of the Inns of Court, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple.

Several early American lawyers attended the Inns of Court, including nine signers of the Declaration of Independence.  John Dickinson, from Pennsylvania, who became known as the “Penman of the American Revolution” and for whom Dickinson College was named, also attended the Inns of Court.  Robert F. Boden, The Colonial Bar and the American Revolution, 60 Marq. L. Rev. 1, 3-4 (1976).

Both the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple sustained significant damage during World War II.  Both Temples were struck by German bombs several times during the War.  Fortunately, for the residents of the Temples, preparations had been made, and air raid shelters constructed in 1939, in anticipation of such attacks.  The first bomb struck on September 9, 1940.  This bomb fell into the Thames River, and caused damage to pedestal ornaments and windows.  The first significant damage occurred on September 19, 1940, when the Clock Tower of the Library was struck.  Additional air raids occurred on September 26, October 8, October 16, November 16, December 8, and December 29, 1940.  Attacks continued in 1941 on January 1, January 11, January 15, March 14-15, and May 10-11.  Sir Francis MacKinnon described the attack of May 10-11 as, “London’s worst ordeal of the war.  A huge number of bombs, both high explosive and incendiary, were showered down, and the Temple had its full share of them.”  Sir Francis MacKinnon, ed., The Ravages of the War in the Inner Temple 19 (1945). The destruction of the Inner Temple was now complete.

Inner Temple Stone Plaque

The stone from the ruins of the Inner Temple was presented, in 1949, by the Masters of the Bench of the Honorable Society of the Inner Temple to the Corpus Juris Society of the Law School.  The Master of the Rolls, the Rt. Hon. Lord Greene, had assisted the Corpus Juris Society in obtaining the stone.  The gift was accompanied by a privately printed copy of The Ravages of the War in the Inner Temple, edited by Sir Frank MacKinnon.  T. Edward Munce, Jr., Note, Inner Temple of London Presents Relic, 53 Dick. L. Rev. 283 (1949).  The Inner and Middle Temples were subsequently rebuilt.

Dickinson Law: A History of the Law Library

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In 1833, Judge John Reed approached the Trustees of Dickinson College with the idea of operating a law school out of his home.  The Law School, commonly referred to as Judge Reed’s Law School, opened on April 1, 1834, but suspended operations sometime after Judge Reed’s death.  A letter from Judge Reed indicates that he had “an extensive law library” planned for his Law School.  However, it is unclear what happened to the Law Library’s collection after his death.

Law Library at Emory Hall (1897)

In 1890, the Law School was incorporated, and reopened as The Dickinson School of Law.[1]  The Law School’s home was Emory Hall, which was leased from Dickinson College.  William Trickett, the Dean of the Law School, provided books from his own private collection for the Law Library.  In 1892, Issa Tanimura, a student from Japan, organized a carnival to benefit the Law Library.  The proceeds were used to expand the Library’s collection by over 800 volumes.

Law Library in Trickett Hall (1959)

In 1918, the Law School moved to its present location at the corner of South and College Streets, in Carlisle.  The new building was dedicated, and named Trickett Hall, in Dean Trickett’s honor.  The Law Library occupied a 54 by 60-foot room on the second floor of Trickett Hall and was described in the 1918 Law School catalog as containing around 6,000 volumes.  On June 8, 1940, the Board of Trustees of the Law School authorized the employment of a full-time librarian.  William Dodd, who also served as a professor, was the first one appointed to this position.

Library Research Center (1964)

On November 27, 1962, ground was broken for the addition of a Library/Research Center to Trickett Hall.  The new Library/Research Center was dedicated on May 2, 1964, and in a ceremony on October 14, 1972, was named the Sheely-Lee Library, after Judge W. Clarence Sheely and Dr. Harry Lee, who had served as Presidents of the Law School, from 1940 to 1959 and 1959 to 1962, respectively.

In 1977, ground was broken for the construction of a new Library/Advocacy Center.  This construction increased stack space and student study space, allowing the Law Library to hold up to 120,000 volumes.  The Law Library at the time had over 100,000 volumes in its collection.  The expansion allowed the Law Library to become a United States Government Documents Depository.  The expansion also allowed for the addition of two audiovisual rooms and a Lexis terminal for legal research.  The addition of a Center for Advanced Legal Education to the Law School in 1985 added additional space to the Law Library.

In 1997, The Dickinson School of Law began its merger with the Pennsylvania State University.  This merger was completed in 2000.  On January 23, 2008, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for what would be an extensive makeover of the Law School’s Carlisle location.[2]  During construction, the Law School and Library were moved to a temporary location in Carlisle.  The additions that had been made to Trickett Hall over the years were demolished and replaced with a new building, named Lewis Katz Hall, in honor of Lewis Katz, a philanthropist, businessman and alum, who donated $15 million dollars to the Law School.  The exterior of Trickett Hall was restored and the interior received a complete makeover.

The Law Library was moved into Trickett Hall and renamed the H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Law Library in honor of H. Laddie Montague, Jr., Class of 1963, who donated $4 million dollars to the Law School.  Faculty and staff moved into the new space on December 21, 2009, and students resumed classes there on January 11, 2010.  The Library occupies space on all three levels of Trickett Hall, with a variety of options for students to study either individually or in groups.  Individuals seeking quiet study may choose to do so at reading tables on the second floor, carrels on the bottom level, or at a variety of soft seating locations throughout the Library.  Students who wish to study in groups may reserve time in one of the Library’s group study rooms, which are equipped with Mersive Solstice pods for wireless display connectivity and collaboration.  The Law Library is particularly excited about the recent launch of its digital repository, Dickinson Law IDEAS.

[1] While many believe that the Law School was part of Dickinson College, the two were in fact separate institutions.
[2] Meanwhile, ground had broken on January 18, 2007 for the construction of a law school building at University Park.  While that building was under construction, students attended classes elsewhere on the University Park campus.  Classes resumed in the new building on January 9, 2009.  This building, which houses Penn State Law, is named after Lewis Katz, and the Law Library is named after H. Laddie Montague, Jr.

Dickinson Law: Emory Hall (1890-1917)

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Emory Chapel was born out of a split in the Methodist Church congregation in Carlisle.  In the 1850’s, relations between college-oriented members and the rest of the congregation had become tense, and the college members made the decision to split from the Church.  In 1857, the college congregation acquired the lot at the northeast corner of South West Street and West Pomfret Street as the new location for their church.  The Victorian Gothic structure, designed by Thomas Balbirnie, became known as Emory Chapel, in memory of Robert Emory, the second Methodist president of Dickinson College.

From 1863 to 1866, Emory Chapel served a second purpose by holding classes for the Emory Female College, which was established as a wartime effort to further women’s education.  Sometime during the 1870’s, the two Methodist congregations reunified, with services moving from Emory Chapel to another location.  Dickinson College assumed the debts of Emory Chapel in 1877 and used the space for its Grammar School until 1886.

By the time then-President George Reed, of Dickinson College, offered the use of Emory Chapel to The Dickinson School of Law, the Chapel had fallen into a “very dilapidated state.”  William C. Allison, Esq. provided the funding to restore the Chapel into the Law School’s home.  The building was described as “admirably adapted for its purposes” in the 1890-1891 Catalog.

Class in Emory Hall

Emory Hall opened for classes on October 1, 1890.  However, it soon became apparent that despite the improvements made to the building, a new home for the school was required.  The Law School occupied Emory Hall through 1917, before moving to its new home, Trickett Hall, in January 1918.  Emory Hall was thereafter sold and torn down.

Law Library at Emory Hall

Those who attended the Law School while it was housed in Emory Hall remembered the building with fondness, as noted by this quote in the 1918 Microcosm from the Class of 1917’s historian, William P. Burke:

“We feel proud to be classed among those who pursued an entire law course in the “old” law school.  When the next term opens, our successors will enter a fine, new, thoroughly equipped law school building.  But no newness of structure, no change of equipment, and no increase in physical attractiveness of any other building can obliterate the pleasant memories of our three years in the “old” law school.  Such memories are impressed to remain.”

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