One Hundred Years of AALL History
1936–1945
Prepared by Frank G. Houdek
Spring 2006
1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945
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1936
January . . . Beginning with volume 29, no. 1, Law Library Journal is for the first time published separate and apart from the Index to Legal Periodicals, following a recommendation of the Roalfe Plan. It will be published separately thereafter.
February 12 . . . Dr. George S. Godard, a charter AALL member and one of the ten who attended the first Annual Meeting at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, in July 1906, dies at his home in Hartford, Connecticut. State librarian of Connecticut for thirty-five years, Godard was president of AALL (1910–12), a member of the Executive Board (1916–21), and a longtime member of the Committee on the Index to Legal Periodicals and Law Library Journal. “His profound loyalty to his profession was shown when, in spite of illness, he went to the meeting in Denver in June, 1935 and presided as toastmaster at the Joint Banquet and thus kept unbroken a record of thirty-five years of consecutive attendance at annual meetings” (29 LLJ 42).
February 23 . . . Dr. George E. Wire, like Godard a charter member and one of the ten present at Narragansett Pier, dies at the age of seventy-seven. He earned an M.D. degree in 1883 and a law degree in 1895. He became librarian of the Worcester County (Mass.) Law Library in 1898, continuing there until 1929 when he retired “in obeisance to the civil service law of the state” (29 LLJ 113). Wire served on the AALL Executive Board in 1910–11.
August 20–22 . . . The 31st Annual Meeting is held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at Langdell Hall, Harvard Law School, and at the Old State House in Boston. Nine-four individuals are in attendance at the meeting (29 LLJ 258–60), a highlight of which is a trip to Concord and Lexington on August 22, followed by a dinner at the Wayside Inn, established in 1716.
1937
January . . . AALL receives a grant of $5000 from the Carnegie Corporation for “support of its program.” The Executive Board decides to devote the entire sum to the support and expansion of the Law Library Journal. Seeking such financial assistance from a foundation is yet another important goal originally suggested by the Roalfe Plan of 1930 that has now been achieved.
June 21–26 . . . For the first time in its history, AALL meets in New York City, convening the 32nd Annual Meeting at the Hotel Roosevelt, “a Grand Dame of Madison Avenue since 1924.” Serving as chair of local arrangements is Franklin O. Poole, librarian of the Bar of the City of New York, charter member of the Association, and a former president (1912–14), secretary, and treasurer.
October . . . Ten law librarians (including former AALL president William R. Roalfe) meet at the University of North Carolina and agree to organize the North Carolina Law Librarians. This group is destined to become AALL's first chapter in 1940. Its name is subsequently changed to the Carolinas Chapter and finally to the Southeastern Association of Law Librarians (SEAALL) in 1954.
Regardless of . . . proximity, each library, librarian, and institution [in North Carolina] stood as a separate unit and operated on its individual standards. The Librarians felt hopelessly isolated professionally. . . . [Those forming the North Carolina Law Librarians decided] . . . that meeting several times a year in the interest of fellowship, exchange of ideas, and cooperative projects would go far toward boosting the morale of the profession. — Sarah Leverette & Lucile Elliott, “History of the Carolina—South Eastern Chapter, 1937–1955,” 49 Law Libr. J. 180, 180–81 (1956).
October 13 . . . Association members are saddened and shocked by the death of Arthur James Small, law and legislative reference librarian, Iowa State Library, (1896–1937), and AALL's first president (1906–08) and guiding light. His memorial notes that “[t]hroughout the many years which have passed since he presided over the first meetings of the American Association of Law Libraries, A. J. Small endeared himself to hundreds of librarians, who respected him for his thorough knowledge of law books and his keen appreciation of problems of law library administration” (30 LLJ 527).
December 29 . . . Acting upon a recommendation from AALL, the Association of American Law Schools amends its Articles to require that each member school have “a qualified librarian, whose principal activities are devoted to the development and maintenance of an effective service” (31 LLJ 13).
1938
May . . . William Roalfe, writing as chairman of the Committee on the Expansion Plan, indicates in an article in Law Library Journal that of the twenty-four proposals contained in the plan adopted by the Association in 1934 (27 LLJ 132–46), “there are only two recommendations upon which no specific action has been taken” (31 LLJ 111). The areas yet to be implemented are engaging in research about the special problems facing law librarians and conducting a nationwide survey of all law libraries.
June 28–July 1 . . . AALL holds its 33rd Annual Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota. One of the featured programs is presented by Hobart R. Coffey, law librarian, University of Michigan, on “The Use of Microfilm in a Law Library” (31 LLJ 252). For those who haven't yet seen “reading and production machines in operation, . . . some of these machines [are] on exhibit,” and a demonstration of their use is offered at the end of the program.
July 1 . . . Helen Moylan, law librarian, State University of Iowa, is the second woman elected to serve as president of AALL.
October 4 . . . The name of the North Carolina Law Library Association, established in 1937, is changed to Carolina Law Library Association at its fall meeting at the University of North Carolina when Ophelia Strickland, law librarian of the University of South Carolina, accepts an invitation to become a member. “It is the hope of the . . . Association that later its membership will be expanded further to include law librarians of all the southeastern states” (31 LLJ 357).
November . . . The “Current Comments” column of Law Library Journal notes that
Frances Farmer, A.B. 1931, LL.B. 1933, recently appointed Law Librarian of the T. C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond, is a new member of the American Association of Law Libraries. Following her graduation with honors from the Law School of the University of Richmond, Miss Farmer served as secretary to the Dean of the Law School until June, 1938. She completed Mr. [Miles] Price's course in Law Library Administration during the 1938 summer session at Columbia University and in September of this year was appointed Law Librarian to succeed Professor William T. Muse, formerly faculty member in charge of the library, who is now devoting his entire time to teaching.
Farmer will leave Richmond in 1942 for the University of Virginia, where she will enjoy a long and illustrious career (1942–76). She will serve AALL as secretary (1952–56) and president (1959–60).
1939
February 6 . . . The Law Library Association of Greater New York adopts a constitution and bylaws at its third dinner meeting, held at the Hotel Wentworth in New York City. (32 LLJ 97) President Lawrence H. Schmehl, librarian of the New York County Lawyers' Association, presides at the meeting, attended by thirty-five members and guests. Professor Karl Llewellyn of Columbia University Law School will speak to the group at its next dinner meeting on April 10.
April 18 . . . The organization meeting of the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. is held at the Hotel Twenty-Four Hundred, with thirty-seven librarians in attendance. AALL Executive Secretary Helen Newman presides at the meeting. The group is formally organized on May 31, 1939, with forty-six charter members signing the Constitution. John T. Vance, law librarian of Congress, is elected the Society's first president.
July 1 . . . In Chicago, AALL members board specially reserved Pullman cars of the Overland Limited to travel to the 34th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Many visit the Golden Gate International Exposition upon their arrival on July 4.
July 5–8 . . . Eighty-one individuals (32 LLJ 378–79) attend the Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The meeting is headquartered at the Hotel Empire, where room rates are $4 per day for single room (1 person); $5–6, double room (2 persons, double bed); and $6–8, double room (2 persons, twin beds).
July 5 . . . The constitution and bylaws are amended to provide for the creation and governance of chapters of the Association. (32 LLJ 257–66).
December . . . The 1939–40 edition of Directory of Teachers in Member Schools, published for the Association of American Law Schools by West Publishing Company, contains for the first time the names and biographies of the law librarians of member schools regardless of whether they are accorded faculty rank in their schools. (33 LLJ 26)
Also during the year, “the University of Washington School of Librarianship announces a new one-year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Law Librarianship. . . . The students are selected by the dean of the law school and the law librarian [Dr. Arthur S. Beardsley] from graduates who have completed the law course at the University of Washington Law School, or from institutions of equal standards, and who can qualify for admission to the School of Librarianship. The curriculum consists of courses in Classification and Cataloging, Bibliography and Reference, History of Books and Libraries, Advanced Legal Bibliography, Ordering and Accessioning of Law Books, Legal Reference and Research, and Law Library Administration” (32 LLJ 430).
1940
March . . . Beginning with volume 33, no. 2, paid advertising is accepted for Law Library Journal for the first time. Not surprisingly, one of the first advertisers is the H.W. Wilson Company of New York City, publisher of the Index to Legal Periodicals. Yearly contracts are also made with the West Publishing Company and the Banks-Baldwin Company. A whole page ad on the inside front cover or back cover is $50 per issue; a whole page ad on the back of the table of contents is $40 per issue, $25 for a half-page ad in the same location.
May . . . “Reference Question Clearing House,” forerunner of what will become the popular “Questions and Answers” column, makes its first appearance in volume 33, no. 3, of Law Library Journal. The column is edited by Margaret Hall, currently reference librarian at Columbia University Law School Library (1937–49), who will eventually become librarian and associate professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. The first column (33 LLJ 97) includes a form that is to be used on a 3x5 card in contributing questions and solutions for publication in the clearing house.
June 29 . . . The membership votes to approve the admission of the Carolina Law Library Association as AALL's first chapter. At the same meeting, the membership follows the recommendation of the Executive Committee and approves a motion to extend an invitation to Archibald MacLeish, the Librarian of Congress, to join the Association as an honorary member (which he subsequently does).
December . . . The first edition of the List of Law Libraries in the United States and Canada, published for the Association through the courtesy of Commerce Clearing House, is distributed to members of the Executive Committee at its midwinter meeting in Chicago. Copies will be mailed to all members of the Association in February 1941. Currently titled the AALL Directory and Handbook and in its 45th edition, it has been continuously published by CCH ever since.
1941
June 23 . . . Carol D. Billings, future AALL Executive Board member (1989–92) and president (1994–95), is born. Billings will also serve as president of two chapters, NOALL and SEAALL, and chair two special interest sections (State, Court & County Law Libraries and Social Responsibilities) and the AALL Centennial Celebration Special Committee. Nonetheless, she will say that “[m]y major accomplishment was bringing off the National Conference on Legal Information Issues” (98 LLJ 330), held in Pittsburgh, July 15–20, 1995, in conjunction with the 88th Annual Meeting.
June 27–30 . . . In response to suggestions of members that AALL meet at a resort hotel, the Association holds its 36th Annual Meeting at Old Point Comfort, Virginia. According to the meeting announcement, “within twenty miles drive of The Chamberlin Hotel [where the meeting is held] are many of the shrines of colonial Virginia, including Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown” (34 LLJ 26). Although not found in the official proceedings, William S. Johnston, librarian of the Chicago Law Institute, notes in his report to the Institute's Executive Committee that the “Friday evening social hour [featured] movies shown by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Dennis [and] songs by Mr. John Vance [Law Librarian of Congress and AALL president, 1933–34]” (34 LLJ 334).
June 27 . . . Executive Secretary Helen C. Newman reports that although fifty new members joined the Association in 1940–41, the net gain was ten, bringing the total membership to 485.
November 12 . . . Patrick E. Kehoe, who will follow Carol Billings as AALL president in 1995–96, is born. He also will be a member of the Executive Board (1985–88), chair the Program Committee for the 1992 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, and serve as business manager of Law Library Journal from 1975 to 1991. Of his AALL work, Kehoe will write: “I doubt if there are many opportunities in life as exhilarating, exciting, and satisfying as . . . serv[ing] on AALL's Executive Board and especially to be AALL's president” (98 LLJ 333).
1942
June 22–25 . . . Seventy-six individuals attend the Association's 37th Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With World War II underway, the published attendance register (35 LLJ 430–31) lists participants who are currently in the military service: Helen Boyd, Social Security Board; Forrest S. Drummond, University of Chicago Law Library; and Lewis W. Morse, Cornell Law School Library.
June 22 . . . The petition of the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. to become a chapter of AALL is approved at the 37th Annual Meeting, making it the second regional law library group to be accorded chapter status, following the Carolinas Law Library Association in 1940.
July 2 . . . Margaret A. Leary, who will represent AALL as president in 1988–89, after serving on the Executive Board from 1983 to 1986, is born. Leary, who will begin at the University of Michigan Law Library as assistant director in 1973 and become director in 1984 (in which position she remains today), also will serve as program chair for the 1982 Annual Meeting in Detroit, chair of the SIS Steering Council, and president of the Minnesota Association of Law Libraries.
November . . . Volume 35, number 6 of Law Library Journal contains a letter from President Bernita J. Long, law librarian, University of Illinois, to the membership in which she announces the resignation of Helen C. Newman as editor of the Journal after eight years of service. Long notes that “under [Newman's] careful guidance, it has developed from a small quarterly journal published in conjunction with the Index to Legal Periodicals to a bi-monthly periodical” (35 LLJ 505). Volume 28, Newman's first as editor, contained 338 pages; volume 35, her last, will contain 522. Jean Ashman of Indiana University Law Library is appointed the new editor. She will serve form 1943–46, editing four volumes.
1943
February 6 . . . Franklin O. Poole, librarian of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York since 1905 and charter member of AALL, dies in New York City at the age of seventy. Poole served the Association in countless ways: secretary (1906–12), treasurer (1906–11), president (1912–13), Executive Board member (1917–18), and, most notably, chair of the Committee on the Index to Legal Periodicals from 1915 to his death. Such service was only natural, since, as noted in his memorial, “[h]is family produced the pioneer and vastly important Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, the forerunner of that noble group of indexes which today makes accessible to scholars the periodical literature of all kinds” (36 LLJ 1).
February 24 . . . President Bernita Long of the University of Illinois appoints a Committee on Aid to Libraries in War Areas to cooperate with a committee of the American Library Association whose “purpose is to purchase, collect, and store copies of American periodicals of a scientific, technical or scholarly nature for libraries in war areas whose subscriptions have been interrupted by the war, or whose collections have been destroyed by enemy action” (36 LLJ 162). AALL's committee is chaired by Elizabeth Finley.
March 20–21 . . . At its midyear meeting in Chicago, the Executive Committee decides to cancel the 1943 Annual Meeting due to a recommendation of the Director of Defense Transportation “that all meetings of groups whose activities are not closely related to the war effort be deferred” and the “sense of uncertainty in regard to future developments” (36 LLJ 2).
The annual meeting has always been one of the most stimulating and enjoyable phases of the Association's work and it was with a feeling of regret that the Committee reached its decision. We shall miss the opportunity of working together, of meeting old friends, and of acquiring new ones. It will require additional effort on the part of every member to maintain the work of the Association; but the Committee believes that where it is possible you will continue your cooperation and interest during this period of emergency as you always have done in the past. — Announcement by AALL President Bernita J. Long, 36 LLJ 38
April 11 . . . John T. Vance, Law Librarian of Congress since 1924, AALL president in 1933–34, and the first president of the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., dies in Lexington, Kentucky at the age of 58. Eldon R. James, law librarian of Harvard from 1923 to June 1942 (at which time he was elected an honorary life member of AALL) and also a past president of the Association, will be appointed to succeed Vance later in the year (36 LLJ 91).
August . . . The Committee on New Members reports that AALL's membership has surpassed five hundred for the first time, reaching a total of 501 for 1942–43.
1944
February . . . In the first of four issues for the year (down from its normal six issues due to financial constraints), Law Library Journal features a “Who's Who in Law Libraries” profile of Frederick C. Hicks, librarian of the Yale Law School Library since 1928, and former librarian at Columbia Law School (1915–28). Hicks was the first academic law librarian to serve as president of AALL (1919–21). The article is accompanied by a long bibliography of books and articles by Hicks.
Picture a quiet gentleman of Napoleonic stature but minus the pomp, imbued with human interest and understanding, and with a kindly nature. Think of him also as a lover of the arts, and as a person possessed of an overwhelming zeal for learning and progress. There you have a true likeness of the Dean of Law Librarians—Professor Frederick Charles Hicks. — Lawrence H. Schmehl, 37 LLJ 19
July 14–15 . . . For the second year in a row, no Annual Meeting is held due to the travel restrictions imposed because of the war effort. However, the Executive Committee meets at the La Salle Hotel in Chicago. Attendees include President Alfred A. Morrison, librarian at the University of Cincinnati Law School, President-elect William S. Johnston, librarian of the Chicago Law Institute, and Executive Secretary Helen C. Newman, associate librarian, U.S. Supreme Court Library. A motion to waive the dues of members in service for the duration of the war is passed unanimously.
1945
June 27–28 . . . After a two-year hiatus because of the war, Annual Meetings resume with the 38th in Rochester, N.Y. However, under regulations of the Director of Defense Transportation, the Association is permitted to hold the meeting only if no more than fifty persons attend. (According to the published register, there are forty-four individuals in Rochester.) That the war-time flavor remains is further evidenced by the programming, including a panel discussion on “Law Libraries in the War” (38 LLJ 87) and a report on “Aid to Devastated Libraries in War Areas” by Sidney B. Hill, librarian of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (38 LLJ 102).
November 1 . . . Executive Secretary Helen C. Newman, AALL's first paid staff member, resigns her position, which she has held since 1935. Her friend Bernita Davies, former AALL president, will write of Newman's devotion to AALL during this period: “[T]o some the AALL and Helen Newman are synonymous. Her work in it has been untiring and invaluable. . . . Week after week for many years, she set aside Saturday and Sunday for the Association's work” (39 LLJ 18). Helen Helmle, law librarian of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, New York City, is appointed by the Executive Board to fill the vacancy.
Also during the year, three future presidents of AALL are born. Laura (Lolly) Gasaway, born February 24, will serve as president in 1986–87, after chairing the program for the 1978 Annual Meeting in Rochester. An expert in the intellectual property field, she also will chair the Copyright Committee on multiple occasions, as well as the Special Committee to Advance the Fair Use of Electronic Information Resources in Law Libraries and by Law Librarians. Judy Meadows, born June 5, will serve as president in 1997–98, after having been AALL treasurer from 1992 to 1995. She will also chair the State, Court and County Law Libraries SIS and serve as president of the Western Pacific chapter. Robert L. Oakley, born November 6, will serve as president in 2000–01, after having been on the Executive Board from 1991 to 1994. After chairing the Special Committee on National Information Policy, Oakley will be appointed AALL's Washington Affairs Representative in 1990, a position he continues to hold.