John Marshall Law School - Abstract Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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CONTENTS SCHOOL SENIORS UNDERGRADUATES ACTIVITIES FEATURES ADVERTISERS Page Nine

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I in iUrmoriam 1 Elmer DcWitt Brothers, a member of the faculty continuously since 1904 and exceeded in length of continuous service to The John Marshall Law School only by Albert E. Wil- son and Dean Edward T. Lee, died suddenly of heart failure on April 6, 1937 while engaged m swimming, of which he was a devotee, at the Hamilton Club. Wlule on the faculty Mr. Brothers had taught the subjects of Agency, Real Property, Partnership and Medical and Dental Jurispru- dence, although since the war he had confined his lecturing to the last named subject. He had practiced law in Chicago since 1892 after receiving the degree of LL.B. from the Univer- sity of Michigan in that year. Early in his practice he devoted special attention to per- sonal injury and malpractice cases and was the author of a number of articles and short trea- tises in the field of Medical Jurisprudence. For many years he lectured on the subject to the medical students of the University of Illinois, College of Medicine. Born in Decatur, Indiana, Mr. Brothers had moved to Kansas where he became Superin- tendent of Schools at Council Grove prior to taking up the study of law. After he settled in Chicago, he became interested in Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana, becoming president of its Board of Trustees and main- taining his connection with that institution un- til the time of the war He w-as active in the Masonic Order and had become a 35rd degree Mason. He is survived by his wife, whom many former students will recall as his constant and friendly companion at all functions of the School. While Mr. Brothers had not enjoyed the best of health during the past winter, he had nevertheless given his usual series of lectures to the second year students of the School during the month of January because, as he himself said, he en- joyed the periodic association with students too much to feel like missing it just because of win- ter colds Page Eight

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c5 School £ooks ack How many of us that attend this modern institution of learning have ever paused to re- flect upon its beginning? Let us assume for a moment the retrospective attitude and gasc back upon those years which must seem — for certain men — as dim golden prints upon the patterns of their lives. It is difficult to realise that on the opening night of The John Marshall Law School, Sep- tember 20, 1899, at 35 North Dearborn Street, the entire student body attained the magnifi- cent number of three! There they sat, three lonely, slightly embarrassed young men, listen- ing to Dean Jewett introduce a faculty of eighteen distinguished looking professors. Among them was a middle-aged New England lawyer who seemed to win the affection of all with whom he came in contact. Among the other lawyer lecturers introduced were men whose names were to become as beacon lights m the legal profession. Of the immense student audience only one member was capable of paying tuition. An- other slept nights in the class room working his way through. The third begged a little time and got it. All three of them, alive to- day and prosperous, regard themselves as pri- vileged and fortunate to have sat in class on that memorable evening. Nothing daunted by the sise of the first group, the beloved Dean Jewett carried on; encouraging the faculty, in- spiring the students. Slowly but surely the school began to grow and prosper. New stu- dents realizing the opportunities lying open to them entered and stayed. In 1902 the school announced a most daring experiment, law classes for women. Only one other state. New York, could boast of such radicalism. The faculty, always the foundation of any school, increased and improved. New subjects began to appear in the catalogue, and John Marshall was definitely on its way. Then in 1904 the school suffered its first tragic loss, the death of Honorable John N. Jewett, dean of the school and a dean among men All who knew Mr. Jewett sensed in him instinctively that rare phenomenon — a suc- cessful lawyer and an idealist combined. Came then as captain of the school ' s destiny Judge A. N. Waterman, a soldier of the Civil War of whom it is told that two horses were shot from beneath him in the same battle. Resign- ing in 1909, he was succeeded by our pride of pr:des Dean Edward T. Lee, a man whom one and all acclaim as the dominant figure in his field. Meanv ' hile the institution was progressing with great lusty strides from a strapping adol- escence to a maturity which brought it na- tional attention. A list of the names which v ent to make up the faculty from 1899 to the present reads like a Who ' s Who of the legal profession in the last third of a century. It may be said without fear of criticism, that no school of the middle Avest boasts a finer roster of men who have achieved distinction not only at the bar, but on the bench, in the legislature and in national affairs of highest importance. What a tribute to our own dean that no one of these men, regardless of what heights he has scaled, has ever forgotten him or has ever failed to shower upon him the most ardent praises whenever the occasion presented itself! On approximately its thirty-fifth anniversary, the John Marshall Law School packed up its things, took one last look at its birthplace, and moved into its present home. And a fine home it has proved to be : where formerly tired busi- ness men found relaxation in an atmosphere of luxury, the students of this school now pursue their burning quest of the law. But despite the fine trappings, the rich decorations, the greater space and convenience, that burning spirit of ambition which typified the young men of 1899 in the old Portland Block, has re- mained precisely the same. And there lies the triumph of this school. Those protagonists of the day law school who would have us believe that a night school lacks tradition are simply ignorant of the meaning of the word. In the spirit of a school such as this lies the only real tradition — a kind that is fought for, sacrificed for, against all odds and temptations. Look back upon the in- spiring past of this, our school, and tell us that it has no tradition ! Page Ten