The Legal History Affinity Group of the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) will convene during an annual meeting in Detroit, Sept. 14-17. Registration is now open (early bird deadline: July 29). Sessions sponsored by the Legal History group will be held on Sept. 16; more information is available in the conference program (see pages 11, 15, 31, and 33).
The Legal History Affinity Group serves those who preserve and promote legal history in organizations of all types and sizes. Its members include state and federal court historians and educators, directors and board members of court historical societies, museum curators, law librarians and archivists, researchers, and university faculty. For more information about the group, visit the Legal History page on the AASLH website.
[Two events are particularly interesting for legal historians.]
History on Trial: Mock Trials and Reenactments in Historical Programming
Friday, September 16, from 8:30 to 9:45
Chair: Matthew Hofstedt, Associate Curator, Supreme Court of the United States
Trial reenactments and mock trials can be an exciting way to engage with visitors by exposing them to historical narratives through legal controversy. Come hear about two successful trial-based historical programs and participate in a short trial reenactment to learn about
the possibilities of presenting history through trials.
Legal History Roundtable at The Million-Dollar Courtroom
Friday, September 16, from 2:15 to 4:15 pm
Chair: Rachael L. Drenovsky, Learning Center Coordinator, Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center
Walk from the Cobo Center to the Theodore S. Levin U.S. Courthouse (1934), featuring a court museum and the “million-dollar courtroom”—a gem of marble and mahogany preserved from
the 1890s federal building replaced by the current courthouse. A roundtable discussion with the Legal History Affinity Group concludes the session. (Picture ID required; no cell phones/
wireless devices due to security regulations.)
[And, Property teachers, the Woodward Avenue tour (pp. 16-17) takes you within a block of the house at issue in Sanborn v. McLean!]
