History, Natural History & the Arts
The Historical Society of the New York Courts brings together a collaborative group of judges and lawyers to preserve, protect, and promote the legal history of New York — how it works to promote democracy, ensure justice, and promote the rule of law. To fulfill this mission, the Society empowers New York students to be better citizens and create change, builds an informed citizenry through public programs and events, captures living history in oral histories, publishes the unique legal history stories of the State, and develops new and novel ways to shine this unique spotlight. Support the Society’s efforts by becoming a member or donating at https://history.nycourts.gov/memberships/
The Anti-Rent War was a tenants’ revolt in Upstate New York between 1839 and 1845.
The conflict stemmed from the patroon system, a vestige of Dutch colonial rule in which wealthy patroons (landlords) held vast manors and leased land to farmers in perpetuity. [Read more…] about New York’s Anti-Rent War & Its Relevance Today
New York State’s seventh Attorney General was John Anthony Woodworth, a native of Rensselaer County. Born November 12, 1768 in Schodack, he graduated from Yale in 1788, and studied law in the Albany office of John Lansing, Jr., who later became Chancellor of New York.
He was a member of the Woodworth political family and was married to Catharine Westerlo (1778–1846, sister of Rensselaer Westerlo, and half-sister of Stephen Van Rensselaer III). [Read more…] about Rensselaer County’s John Woodworth: New York’s 7th Attorney General
Egbert Benson (1746-1843), serving as New York’s first Attorney General from May 8, 1777, to May 14, 1788, was a pivotal figure in the state’s early legal history.
Appointed in the heat of the Revolutionary era, Benson’s role was essential in guiding New York through its transition from colonial rule to statehood. [Read more…] about Egbert Benson: New York’s first Attorney General
The Eight: The Lemmon Slave Case and the Fight for Freedom (SUNY Press Excelsior Editions, 2023) tells the story of Lemmon v. New York — or, as it’s more popularly known, the Lemmon Slave Case. All but forgotten today, it was one of the most momentous civil rights cases in American history. [Read more…] about The Eight: The Lemmon Slave Case and the Fight for Freedom
One of the world’s first steamboats successfully completed a maiden voyage on the river Clyde in Scotland in 1798. That same year, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston proposed to the New York Legislature that he would develop a new form of public transportation, the steamboat ferry, in return for a monopoly on steam navigation in New York waters. Despite the Legislature’s skepticism that steamboat technology was viable, legislation granting Livingston the monopoly was enacted. [Read more…] about Hudson River Steamboats & Gibbons v. Ogden: The Commerce Clause
In the 1890s, Rochester teenager Abigail Roberson was surprised to learn that a portrait she had taken at a local photographic studio was being used on 25,000 lithographic posters created by the Rochester Folding-Box Company to advertise Franklin Mills flour, without her prior knowledge or consent.
The poster, reading “Flour of the Family,” was distributed to stores, warehouses, saloons, and other places around Rochester, NY where her face was recognized by those she knew. Feeling humiliated by scoffing and jeering from her acquaintances she suffered a breakdown, and was confined her to bed under the treatment of a physician. [Read more…] about Who Owns A Photo Of Your Face? A Rochester Teenager & Privacy Rights
The History Channel’s new special on Theodore Roosevelt describes his victory in the 1904 presidential election but doesn’t even mention his Democratic opponent.
That was New York Court of Appeals’ former Chief Judge Alton B. Parker (1852-1926), probably the most neglected major party presidential candidate in U.S. history. Yet at the time of the election Parker was the leader of one of the nation’s two major political parties and one of the nation’s foremost judicial statesmen. [Read more…] about Alton B. Parker: New York’s Neglected Statesman
Lemmon v. New York, or Lemmon v. The People (1860) was a freedom suit begun in 1852 with a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The case brought up questions about the legality of slavery within the United States , especially challenging the slavery laws between the northern and southern states.
While relocating to Texas by way of New York State, Virginia enslavers Jonathan and Juliet Lemmon brought to the city of New York eight enslaved people. They made up two family groups, each headed by a young woman: the first was Emiline (age 23), Edward (age 13), brother of Emiline; and Amanda (age 2), daughter of Emiline. The second was Nancy (age 20); Lewis (age 16), brother of Nancy; Lewis and Edward (age 7), sons of Nancy; and Ann (age 5), daughter of Nancy.
[Read more…] about The Lemmon Slave Case: A Defense of New York State Abolition
When COVID-19 shut down New York, the courts stayed open. How the work of the courts continued is a central theme of a new digital archive of oral histories from the Historical Society of the New York Courts and the Unified Court System.
[Read more…] about Justice from a Distance: NYS Courts Pandemic Oral History
No society can function without laws, that set of established practices and expectations that guide the way people get along with one another and relate to ruling authorities. Although much has been written about the English roots of American law and jurisprudence, little attention has been paid until recently to the legacy left by the Dutch.
The influence of the New Netherland settlement has created enduring characteristics of New York. In Albert and Julia Rosenblatt’s Opening Statements: Law, Jurisprudence, and the Legacy of Dutch New York (2013, SUNY Press), a broad spectrum of eminent scholars examine the legal heritage that the Dutch bequeathed to New York in the seventeenth century. [Read more…] about Book: Dutch Law and Jurisprudence in Colonial America
The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York in partnership with US Holocaust Memorial Museum will hold an event on May 11th, 6:00 PM, at The New York City Bar (42 West 44th Street, NYC). The program, Law, Justice, and the Holocaust: Lessons for the Courts Today, will include a presentation by a US Holocaust Memorial Museum historian, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. [Read more…] about Lecture: Law, Justice, And The Holocaust
The New York Court of Appeals has announced “The Hudson: Yesterday and Today” featuring Frances F. Dunwell, Hudson River Estuary Coordinator at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and William T. (Chip) Reynolds, Captain, Replica Ship Half Moon, along with an exhibit of Hudson River photographs by the Half Moon crew on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. A reception sponsored by The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York will follow. [Read more…] about Court of Appeals Hosts ‘The Hudson: Yesterday and Today’
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