U.S. Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise

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The U.S. Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise is a committee within the Library of Congress, established by Congress in 1955 after the late Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. bequeathed a portion of his estate to the United States in 1935. The Congress used the gift to create a garden on the grounds of the U.S. Supreme Court and to establish the Committee to document and disseminate the history of the Court. The Committee is composed of five members - the Librarian of Congress and four additional members appointed by the President to serve eight-year terms. [1] As of October 2020, the Commission has published ten volumes detailing the history of the Supreme Court. [2]

Contents

History

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died on March 6, 1935; his will contained the following residuary clause,

“All of the rest, residue and remainder of my property of whatsoever nature, wheresoever situate, of which I may die seized and possessed, or in which I may have an interest at the time of my death, I give, devise, and bequeath to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” [3]

The value of the bequest was roughly $263,000 at the time of Holmes's death and it was President Franklin Roosevelt who recommended the gift be used to document and promote the law. In 1938 a committee of three Congressmen, three Senators, and three Supreme Court members recommended four options for the gift. The options were: (1) establish a collection of legal literature in the Library of Congress, (2) turning Holmes residence into a permanent memorial, (3) publishing Holmes writings, or (4) creating a memorial park in Washington dedicated to Holmes. Congress approved the third and fourth recommendations in 1940, however, World War II pre-empted execution of the plans. The matter was finalized in 1955 with Public Law 84-246 which established the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise to publish an official history of the Supreme Court. The Committee has four members appointed by the President as recommended by the Association of American Law Schools, the American Philosophical Society, the American Historical Association, and the Association of American Universities, with the Librarian of Congress serving as ex officio chairperson. [4] The series has not been published in volume order. The first published were Volume 1: Antecedents and beginnings to 1801 and Volume 6: Reconstruction and reunion, 1864-88 in 1971. Published in 2023, the most recent history is Volume 10: The Taft Court. A volume covering the Earl Warren court was expected in 2017, but has yet to be published. [1]

Bibliography

History of the Supreme Court of the United States series:

Related Research Articles

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning enforcement of the Espionage Act of 1917 during World War I. A unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., concluded that Charles Schenck, who distributed flyers to draft-age men urging resistance to induction, could be convicted of an attempt to obstruct the draft, a criminal offense. The First Amendment did not protect Schenck from prosecution, even though, "in many places and in ordinary times, Schenck, in saying all that was said in the circular, would have been within his constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done." In this case, Holmes said, "the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." Therefore, Schenck could be punished.

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Lessee of Ashton v. Ashton, 1 U.S. 4 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued when Pennsylvania was still a British colony. It is among the first decisions that appear in the first volume of United States Reports.

Hewes v. M'Dowell, 1 U.S. 5 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, issued when Pennsylvania was still a British colony. It is among the first decisions that appear in the first volume of United States Reports.

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Nixon v. Long, 1 U.S. 6 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, issued when Pennsylvania was still a British colony. It is among the first decisions that appear in the first volume of United States Reports.

The King v. Haas, 1 U.S. 9 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued when Pennsylvania was still a British colony. It is among the first decisions that appear in the first volume of United States Reports, and is among the earliest appellate court reports in North America. It is also one of the first reported appellate cases to apply the writ of habeas corpus, then an established principle of English law, in the English colonies that later became the first thirteen states of the United States of America.

Lessee of Albertson v. Robeson, 1 U.S. 9 is a decision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, issued when Pennsylvania was still a British colony. It is among the first decisions that appear in the first volume of United States Reports.

Chicago Board of Trade v. Christie Grain & Stock Co., 198 U.S. 236 (1905), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which upheld sales of American grain for future delivery provided for by the rules of the Chicago Board of Trade of the state of Illinois. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. delivered the majority opinion of the court, in which he wrote:

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Mifflin v. R. H. White Company, 190 U.S. 260 (1903), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the authorized appearance of a work in a magazine without a copyright notice specifically dedicated to that work transfers that work into the public domain. Its opinion was also applied to the next case, Mifflin v. Dutton.

George Edward White is an American legal historian, tort law scholar, and the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law.

References

  1. 1 2 "Constitutional Scholar Maeva Marcus to Edit Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise Supreme Court History Series". Library of Congress. Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "History of the Supreme Court of the United States series (catalog record)". Library of Congress catalog. Library of Congress. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Annual Report of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise, 1956-57". HathiTrust. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Christie, George C. (May 1972). "First Two Volumes of Holmes Devise History of the United States Supreme Court Are Published". American Bar Association Journal. 58: 494–497. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
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