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Penn Carey Law Administrative records
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]3460 Chestnut Street, Biddle Law Library, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3406
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
In 1850, the University of Pennsylvania established a Law Department. George Sharswood became the first dean in 1852, and 30 students comprised the inaugural graduating class. Initially, classes were held in Congress Hall in downtown Philadelphia. In 1900, the law department relocated to its current site in West Philadelphia, at the intersection of 34th and Chestnut Streets. This building underwent renovations in 1955, 1970, and 1990. In 1909, the department was renamed the School of Law, and in 2019, it was rebranded as the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
The school's mission has been to provide legal education and advance legal scholarship. Annual lecture series and symposiums include the Owen J. Roberts Lecture, first held in 1957, and the Irving R. Segal Lecture in Trial Advocacy, initiated in 1986. The law school has established various programs and institutional centers, such as the Clinical Program in the 1970s, the Institute for Law and Economics in the 1980s, and the Penn Program on Regulation in the mid-2000s. Members of the law school community participate in academic legal societies and extracurricular activities, including local bar associations, legal advocacy groups, affinity student organizations, and moot court competitions.
The law school adapted its curriculum over the years. In 1968, students proposed reforms in teaching methods and course offerings, which led to a curriculum reform study headed by Robert A. Gorman. That same year, the law school introduced a joint JD and Master of City Planning degree, followed by a joint JD and Master of Business Administration program two years later. Today, several joint-degree programs and cross-disciplinary courses are available to students. In 1985, the school implemented a public service requirement for second- and third-year students, which was extended to all students in 1989.
This record group consists of the following sub-groups:
BLL.001.001.001 Administrative Record Books of the Law School contains 40 bound volumes of administrative materials from 1903 to 1957. The volumes include faculty meeting minutes, admissions reports, student grades, course elective lists, and student group lists from each academic year.
BLL.001.001.002 Faculty Affairs contains resources created or used by faculty members such as policy handbooks, teaching profiles, meeting minutes, and reports from faculty committees.
BLL.001.001.003 Committees consists of reports, surveys, correspondence and meeting minutes created by committees of staff, administration, and advisors from outside of the law school. This group only includes committees that do not fit into any other sub-group. For example, building committees are not included here.
BLL.001.001.004 Academics and Student Affairs consists of five series that document academic affairs at the law school.
Series I, The Registrar's Office Files, maintains the office's original filing system. The "academic year" folders contain materials used during orientation and registration such as academic calendars, course catalogs, exam schedules, directories, and handbooks. This series also includes memos sent to faculty and staff as well as memos regarding extracurricular activities sent to students and the wider law school community. Proposals for joint-degree programs that were created by the registrar's office are also in this series.
Series II, Student Records, contains an incomplete set of student grades, registration cards, elective lists, and class lists from 1851 to 1989.
Series III, Student Affairs and Academics, contains academic information and guidelines created for both current and prospective students. Included are copies of academic support lectures, The Bulletin, face book directories of graduating classes, student handbooks on policies and procedures, and admissions booklets for prospective students.
Series IV, Career Placement and Planning, includes materials created by this office during the 2000 to 2001 academic year.
Series V, Office of International Affairs, contains catalogs for global affairs courses and study abroad programs.
BLL.001.001.005 American Bar Association (ABA) Accreditation contains material assembled by law school faculty and staff for accreditation visits from 1956 to 2014. Included are completed site evaluation questionnaires, drafts and final copies of self-study reports, correspondence, and supplemental materials on the activities of the law school such as course catalogs, committee reports, and financial reports.
BLL.001.001.006 Buildings and Facilities contains material from the construction and maintenance of all law school buildings. Included are meeting minutes, reports, and surveys created by the building committee; plans, reports, and photographs created during the construction of new facilities; and programs, memorabilia, and photographs created for building dedications. Also included are exterior and interior photographs taken of law school buildings from 1899 to 2012.
BLL.001.001.007 Conferences and Events is organized into four series.
Series I, Lectures and Talks, contains program and audiovisuals from distinguished lectures and guest speakers at the law school. The series is organized alphabetically either by the name of the distinguished lecture or the speaker.
Series II, Conferences and Symposiums, contains programs and audiovisuals from conferences either hosted or co-hosted by the law school.
Series III, Commencements, includes programs, photographs, audio cassettes, and copies of addresses given by class presidents during commencement. The type and amount of material varies for each year. See the collection inventory for more details.
Series IV, Other Ceremonies and Special Occasions, includes programs, planning notes, memorabilia, and photographs from memorials and tributes held at the law school, staff and faculty events, and portrait unveilings. For building dedications please see sub-group BLL.001.001.006.
BLL.001.001.008 Communications contains material created for official law school press, including news releases, faculty and staff portraits, and law school swag that was not created by a specific center or department. The faculty and staff portraits consist of headshots, candid photos, and formal portraits in a variety of formats (photographic prints, negatives, and contact sheets). The portraits are arranged alphabetically by last name for individual photographs and department name for group photographs.
- Administrative Record Books (BLL.001.001.001)
- Faculty Affairs (BLL.001.001.002)
- Committees (BLL.001.001.003)
- Academics and Student Affairs (BLL.001.001.004)
- American Bar Association Accreditation (BLL.001.001.005)
- Buildings and Facilities (BLL.001.001.006)
- Conferences and Events (BLL.001.001.007)
- Communications (BLL.001.001.008)
Prior to their transfer to the archives, these records were created by and located in a variety of departments in the Law School, including Communications, Information Technology Services, the Dean's Office, the Registrar Office, Alumni Affairs, and Student Affairs.
Digital reproductions of the Administrative Record Books as well as the Faculty Meeting Minutes are available to the archivists and to Penn Carey Law faculty and administration upon request.
Records were transferred to the archives on a periodic basis from Penn Carey Law departments and staff.
Processed by Jeremiah Eagen in 2010, Christian Grippe and Jordon Steele in 2011, and Elizabeth Wittrig in 2024.
Subject
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library
- Access Restrictions
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The archives reserve the right to restrict access to materials of a sensitive nature.
The archives follow the access policies of the University Archives and Records Center which were adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1990 and revised in 2022. This means that all administrative records of the University are closed for twenty-five years from their date of creation. More information on these protocols is available on the University Archives website.
Individual education records of living students or living former students are restricted, as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
- Use Restrictions
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Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.