SPECIAL COLLECTION AND ARCHIVES

Room 401
 The Special Collections and Archives  Reading Room

On November 4th, 2002, the Special Collections and Archives Division of the Law Library opened. The Law Library Archives is the first new archives at Howard University since the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center opened nearly ninety years ago.

The Archives’ goal is to acquire, and make available for public use, manuscripts, printed materials, and visual materials that document the history of the law in general and that of the Howard University School of Law in particular. Specifically, the Archives collect materials relating to civil rights litigation and legislation. The Archives’ largest collection is the Phineas Indritz Papers. Mr. Indritz was a local area lawyer, who dedicated much of his time to civil rights causes. Much of his papers relate to civil rights cases in the District of Columbia and Montgomery County starting in the 1940’s. Some files relate to swimming pools and other recreation facilities run by the U.S. government in the District of Columbia, theaters, and lists of places of public accommodation such as bowling alleys. Indritz organized “test teams,” of African Americans and Whites, which he sent to various venues to record how they were served. Indritz orally argued the Restrictive Covenant Case in 1948 before the U.S. Supreme Court. In other civil rights cases he crafted the strategy, often in combination with others, and wrote amicus briefs. He also worked very closely with Thurgood Marshall, and Charles Hamilton Houston.

The Archives also houses several other special collections, including the papers of former and current faculty, EEOC materials, and an extensive historic law book collection. Although most of the materials are not yet available for public use, the Archives hopes to have most of the materials available within two years.
 
Currently, the Archives has a staff of two. Seth Kronemer, a Certified Archivist, heads the  archives. He is assisted by Jonathan Lear, who is a 2L at the Law School. For more information, or to make an appointment, please call (202) 806-8304.

	Guidelines for Using Special Collections - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Information for Potential Donors - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Finding Aids [Fats Waller and Phineas Indritz]		Information for contributing photos on Howard School of Law website

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