Archives and Special Collections
92 Snell Library
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Boston, MA 02115
(617) 373-2351
archives@neu.edu

Archives and Special Collections Finding Aids

Printable Finding Aid. Back to Browsing Version.

• Givelber, Daniel

• Hall, David

• Meltsner, Michael

• O'Toole, Thomas J.

• Scott, Susan

• Spieler, Emily

• Tsoulas, Diane

• Givelber, Daniel

• Hall, David

• Meltsner, Michael

• O'Toole, Thomas J.

• Scott, Susan

• Spieler, Emily

• Tsoulas, Diane

• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law

• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law -- Alumni and alumnae

• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law -- Admissions

• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law -- Building

• Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law

• Career development -- Massachusetts -- Boston

• College publications -- Massachusetts -- Boston

• College student newspapers and periodicals

• Education, Cooperative

• Educational fund raising

• Law schools -- Massachusetts -- Boston

• Public interest law -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Massachusetts

Scope and Content Note

This collection documents the administrative and educational activities of the School of Law from 1960 through 2011. The records are arranged into seven series: Office of the Dean, Development, Admissions, Cooperative Education, Placement and Career Services, Publications, and Media. This arrangement parallels that of collection A6, which contains earlier records from the School of Law, from 1900 to 1998. Researchers should be aware that there is some chronological overlap between this collection and A6.

Series 1. Office of the Dean includes materials generated for accreditation by the American Bar Association, material relating to the Academic Committee, Advisory Council, the Black American Law Student Association, and the dean searches of 1984 and 1993. Of special interest are several reports, including: a "Five Year Report" documenting NUSL in the years after it reopened, "A Survey of Men and Women in Legal Education," "A Proposal for the Domestic Violence Institute," and a report on the impact of welfare reform.

Series 2. Development contains records of the Law School Alumni Association, including gathering of information for its alumni directory. Other development activities documented are the fund-raising campaigns for Cargill Hall and Gryzmish Hall, and capital campaigns conducted between 1980 and 1992.

Series 3. Admissions includes application catalogs, informational brochures, and materials relating to events hosted by the admissions department, such as open houses and orientation programs for new students.

Series 4. Cooperative Education contains records of the Coop Study Committee, which detail the planning and effectiveness of the Cooperative Education program at the School of Law, as well as grant correspondence from 1991 to 1993.

Series 5. Placement and Career Services Office materials document efforts to help students and graduates find internships and employment.

Series 6. Publications includes incomplete runs of a number of School of Law publications are found in this collection, including "The Collective," "ME," and the "NUSL Newsletter."

Series 7. Media contains mostly VHS and audio cassettes of events hosted by or related to the School of Law, including talent shows, anniversary celebrations, news programs, and interviews with faculty.

Historical Note

The Northeastern University School of Law, the first evening law program in Boston, was founded in 1898 as a series of evening courses offered by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).  These courses were introduced by Frank Palmer Speare, the Educational Director of the Evening Institute of the Boston YMCA and later the first president of Northeastern University. He recognized the need for a program in legal education for workingmen who were unable to attend the day classes offered by Harvard and Boston Universities.  In 1904, the program was incorporated as the Evening School of Law of the Boston YMCA with the power to grant the Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree. Speare was appointed the School's first dean.

The primary goal of the program was to prepare students for the Massachusetts Bar Examination.  The Evening School of Law, which attracted students who worked during the day and who could not afford tuition to other law schools, offered 200 hours of instruction, combining lectures and the case study method.  Completion of the law program required four years of study rather than the three years required at law schools with daytime programs.  The first teaching staff consisted of five men who taught courses on pleading, property, criminal law, contracts, and torts.

After its incorporation, the Evening School of Law underwent several significant changes.  In 1922, the first women law students were admitted into the program; in the same year, the school was renamed Northeastern University School of Law, and because of the increase in student enrollment, divisional campuses of the School of Law were established in Worcester and Springfield in 1917 and in Providence in 1920.  In 1938, day courses were implemented into the law program, and the School moved from its building on 312 Huntington Avenue to 47 Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill.  The School of Law became accredited by the University of the State of New York in 1943 and was awarded membership in the American Association of Law Schools in 1945.

In the early 1950s, the School of Law faced financial hardship and declining student enrollment because similar law programs had become available at other local universities.  In addition, as an evening law school with a small day division, the School had difficulties meeting the standards set forth by the accrediting bodies of the legal profession.  In 1953, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern University decided to close the School of Law, shifting its educational efforts and financial expenditures to other academic programs.

In the mid-1960s, the Law Alumni Association, which had been established in 1924 to promote the School of Law's program and to provide networking opportunities for its alumni, urged the reopening of the School of Law.  Asa S. Knowles, Northeastern's third president, established a committee to explore the possibility of reopening the School of Law, and in 1965 Northeastern's Board of Trustees approved the committee's proposal with several conditions.  First, the School must strive for the highest standards in its curriculum, students, and teaching staff.  Second, the School must feature a cooperative education program, which had become an important characteristic of Northeastern.  Finally, sufficient funds needed to be raised to insure appropriate facilities. The Law Alumni Association, which assumed the fund-raising task, raised more than $500,000 in a year and a half.  On May 13, 1966, the Board of Trustees officially announced the reopening of the School of Law, which became the first law school in the country to operate on the cooperative education model.  In 1968, the School moved from its temporary location at 102-4 The Fenway to its present home at 400 Huntington Avenue.

In contrast to its predecessor, the new School of Law began as a four-year, daytime graduate program that awarded the Juris Doctor (JD) degree.  The School's transition from the LLB degree to the JD degree reflected changes in the profession requirements to practice law.  In 1970, the School of Law's program was reduced to three years and two summer quarters with rotating cooperative educational studies.  In 1971, the School received full accreditation from the American Bar Association (ABA) but encountered problems in the State of New York, which was reluctant to accept "co-op" experience in lieu of classroom work.  The School eventually secured approval from the State of New York Court of Appeals by submitting reports of compliance with American Bar Association (ABA) standards in 1973 and 1974.

In the early 1990s, a 20% increase in enrollment enabled the School of Law to receive funding for the hiring of a diverse group of new faculty who brought new perspectives and helped introduce new programs. In particular, the school launched initiatives seeking to improve urban life through the practice of law. The Domestic Violence Advocacy Project, later renamed the Domestic Violence Institute, was launched in 1991 and received important federal grants in 1992, 1994, and 1997. In the 1990s, the school also increased its focus on international law, government regulation, labor law, and legal aspects of artificial intelligence. In 1995 the School of Law's Tobacco Control Resource Center received a large grant to assist it in devising new strategies for limiting tobacco use through legal action.

In the 1990s, increased enrollment at the School of Law led to improvements in the school's physical plant. After the College of Criminal Justice relocated to Churchill Hall, the School of Law was able to occupy all of the Knowles building, and in 1995 a number of the school's clinics were relocated to the new Columbus Place building. The 1990s also saw the renovation and enlargement of the school's library building. The early 2000s saw the inauguration of a new dean, Emily Spieler, and the continuation of the strong mission of the School of Law to educate lawyers with an emphasis on social responsibility.

Feldscher, Karen, The Curry Years: Smaller but Better. Boston: Northeastern University Publications, 2000.

Frederick, Antoinette. Northeastern University: An Emerging Giant: 1959-1975.  Boston :  Northeastern University Custom Book Program, c.1982.

- -.  Northeastern University, Coming of Age: The Ryder Years, 1975-1989.  Boston : Northeastern University, c.1995.

Marston, Everett C. Origin and Development of Northeastern 1898-1960.  Boston : Northeastern University Press, 1961.

"School of Law: The Nation's First on the Coop Plan." Box 4, Folder 53. Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.). School of Law records, 1900-1996 (A6).

Series:

1. Office of the Dean, 1961-2011

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series includes information on the reopening of the School of Law, including fund-raising issues, the Northeastern School of Law Academic Rules, and a 1983 calendar with caricatures of faculty. In addition, there is a "Five Year Report" written in 1974 that documents progress and changes at the school in the years after its reopening.

This series also includes questionnaires and self-studies which document change and progress at the school. The questionnaires and self-studies were required by the American Bar Association for accreditation purposes and to document the school's evolution. Of note are the American Bar Association's comments on the School of Law Library in its report of 1983 (box 1, folder 18). Further information on the school's library can be found in box 2, folders 18-21.

Also included are annual publications produced by the office, including the Student Information Handbook and "The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth: An Insider's Guide to Northeastern University School of Law." Also found in this series is correspondence from several deans of the School of Law, documenting various activities at the school. This correspondence originates from deans Thomas J. O'Toole, Michael Meltsner, Daniel J. Givelber, David Hall, and Associate Deans Susan Scott and Diane Tsoulas.

Additional materials include materials regarding the budget, faculty expansion, the Legal Services Institute, and the Clerkship Committee, a committee responsible for matching students with sites for their clerkships.

Series:

2. Development, 1960-2008

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series documents development at the School of Law, including fundraising campaigns, and the activities of the Law School Alumni Association. The records of the Law School Alumni Association include records of its Executive Committee and surveys conducted as part of the Alumni Association's efforts to document address changes, employment information, and gift prospects among the school's alumni.

This series also includes correspondence, information regarding dedications, invitations to dedications, and planning materials relating to the Thomas E. Cargill Hall and Gryzmish Hall fund-raising campaigns. Also included are sketches of Cargill Hall (box 14, folder 2).

Series:

3. Admissions, 1970-2011

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series includes brochures, class schedules, and information regarding events such as open houses and orientations for new students. Also included are application catalogs from 1992-2006.

Series:

4. Cooperative Education, 1980-2000

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series includes grant correspondence regarding the cooperative education program from 1991 to 1993 and records of the Coop Study Committee, which detail planning and effectiveness of the Coop Program.

Series:

5. Placement and Career Services, 1980-2000

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series illustrates the interactions of the Placement Office with other departments. One of the major activities of this department was to canvass each graduating class with a yearly Employment Survey. The Placement and Career Services' recruitment activities are also documented by this series. This includes interviewer feedback and a "Report on Permanent Placement Activities" from 1982 to 1983. This series also contains the bulletins and handbooks published for students by this office.

Series:

6. Publications, 1979-2011

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series consists of several student publications, including "The Collective," a paper specifically for people of color at Northeastern University School of Law, which was started in 1995; this collection has an incomplete run spanning 1995-1996. Researchers should be aware that the Northeastern University School of Law publications "NewsBriefs," "Northeastern University Law Journal," "We," and "e-We" are held by the Archives and Special Collections Department but are not part of this collection.

Series:

7. Media, 1985-2008

This series is arranged alphabetically.

This series contains mostly films about or pertaining to the School of Law. Of note is "Northeastern vs. Harvard Law School," a student project completed by three students at the Boston University College of Communications in 1995. Also included are audio cassettes of conferences hosted by the School of Law, films of talent shows hosted by the school, and news clips featuring School of Law professors.