George Washington University Law School - Class Book Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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Rev. Benaiah L. Whitman, D. D., elected June 17, 1895, to succeed the late Dr. James C. Welliiig, was inaugurated as Presi- dent ofthe University, November 15, 1895. Columbian is signally blessed in the selection of one possessing such a high degree of culture and intellectual development. The prosperity and standing of the University are matters very near to his heart, and under his Wise guidance we shall see an unexampled advancement on the part of Columbian. At present, the University comprises the following ten departments: The Columbian College, the Corcoran Scientific School, the Summer School, the University Extension, the Grad- uate School, the Law School, the Medical School, the Dental School, the Columbian Academy and the Veterinary School. It has been decided to close the Academyi at the end of the present term, in view ot the fact that the University has reached a point of development which makes Work of a preparatory grade no longer desirable. A School oi Comparative jurisprudence has been estab- lished in accordance with resolutions adopted in june, 1892, and the introductory Work will commence during the next term. The officers of instruction number 154, all eminent in their specialties. The number of students enrolled during the year is IOI3. The lgw Selyool. The Columbian University Law School was organized February 3, 1826. Hon. XVillia1n Cranch, Chief justice of the Circuit Court of the United States, and Hon. VVi1liam T. Carroll, Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States, were the Hrst professors. The school was discontinued on account of the embarrassment of 1827, but was re established 1865, it being the oldest law school in Wash- ington, even if the year 1865 be considered the date of founding. 14

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of the departments, and as a result the Theological School was dis- continued. Then came financial diihculties, which were more serious, and in 1827, the faculty resigned in a body. In the Spring of 1828, the college reopened its doors, and its progress, sometimes slow, was steady from that time until interrupted by the Civil War of 1861, at which period the institution was free from debt, sub- stantially endowed, and the student body larger than at any previous time. But in common with other institutions the college felt the harmful effects of war. Exercises were suspended in some depart- ments and the college buildings performed good service as a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers of the Union army. College work was resumed in 1865, and from that time the progress of the institution has been rapid. By an act of Congress of March 3, 1873, it was provided that the corporate title ofthe institution should be THE CGLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY. In 1884 the present university building, corner of Fifteenth and H streets, was occupied, the trustees having decided in 1879 to remove from the suburbs into the heart of Washington. The late W. W. Corcoran was the largest contributor to the building and endowment funds of the university, his contributions of money and realty aggregating nearly f200,000. john Withers, of Virginia, contributed 57o,ooo, and President john Quincy Adams, a part of j,5E18,ooo. Columbian University ranks high in the list of educational institutions of this country. While ably directed, and having a faculty of unusual distinction, proper consideration for its superior location must be had. That Washington is destined as an educa- tional centre is manifest from the progress of a single decade. The city having many kindred societies, has become the meeting place for many of the prominent historical, philosophical and scientific societies of the United States. Theimmense libraries, the labora- tories and the museums belonging to the Government-all open to the students-help to make Columbian great. I3

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From 1865 to 12484 the sessions of tl1e Law School were held in the Columbian Law Building on Fifth street, opposite the City Hall. The Law School has four classes: A junior and Senior Under- graduate Department, a Graduate Class in Practice, and a class in Patent Law and Patent Law Practice. The university was the first to create a Post-graduate Course in law and to confer the degree of Master of Laws. In October, 1895, the course in Patent Law was inaugurated. Upon completion of the course, the degree of Bachelor of Patent Law is conferred. No other institution confers this degree. Columbian University Law School is fortunate. Being located at the seat of government of the United States, it is enabled to select its professors from the Bench of the Supreme Court, as Well as from the local United States Courts. The largest law library in the United States is that of the Supreme Court, and this library is open to the free use of the students of the Law School. Besides this, the University has a large law library. By reason of its loca- tion, an exceptional opportunity is afforded students for the examin- ation of methods ofjudicial procedure in the various courts, includ- ing the Court of Claims and the Supreme Court. The administration of the laws may be studied in the various Executive Departments. The alumni of the Law School are to be found in every State of the Union, and many of them have nlled positions of honor and trust in both State and National administrations, besides achieving distinction at the bar. O T5