[We have the following call from the Supreme Court Historical Society for an Editor and Chair of Board of Editors for the Journal of Supreme Court History. DRE]
The Supreme Court Historical Society invites applications for an Editor to Chair the Board of Editors of its flagship publication: Journal of Supreme Court History. The Journal, published three times a year in print by Johns Hopkins University Press, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Previous Editors were Melvin I. Urofsky, Timothy S. Huebner and Ross E. Davies. The Journal’s readership includes scholars in a variety of fields, as well as judges, practicing attorneys, and students. Because it seeks to engage and inform scholars and non-scholars alike, the Journal of Supreme Court History values clear narrative prose and original historical research. The Journal uses photographs, cartoons, documents, engravings, and oil portraits to compellingly illustrate articles.
The Editor will work under the guidance of the Executive Editor, Clare Cushman of the Supreme Court Historical Society (SCHS), which funds the publication. Helen Knowles-Gardner is the Managing Editor responsible for the daily management of the publication and its editing and production. The SCHS is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving, collecting, and disseminating the history of the Supreme Court of the United States.
While this is a non-paid position, travel expenses to attend relevant conferences, such as the American Society for Legal History, will be subsidized. Interested scholars should send an electronic version of their current c.v. and a statement of why they are interested in the position by November 19, 2025, to Clare Cushman: ccushman@supremecourthistory.org.
The Chair of the Board of Editors of the Journal of Supreme Court History carries out the following duties:
- Recruits authors to write for the Journal. Recruiting articles involves reaching out to potential authors via email or phone, attending the American Society for Legal History annual meeting and other relevant conferences, and consulting with Board members about possible submissions. Frequent follow up messages to potential authors ensures that the Journal continues to receive a steady stream of potential articles.
- Reviews articles in consultation with the Associate Editor and the Managing Editor of the Journal. This is the most frequent duty—keeping up with articles as they come in. Normally, both the Editor and Associate Editor send written comments on each article to the Managing Editor, who edits and synthesizes them before sending them to the author. The Journal prides itself on its quick turnaround—notifying authors of a decision within six weeks of submission.
- Writes an Introduction (approximately 1,000 words) for each issue of the Journal. The Introduction usually offers some remarks on the content of the Journal, including all articles and book reviews, and must be written by the deadline given by the Managing Editor.
- Engages in final review of articles and book review(s) prior to publication. While writing the Introduction, the Editor should engage in a final review of the articles and any book reviews and notify the Managing Editor of any mistakes.
- Schedules, presides over, and sends out summaries of regular meetings of the Board of Editors. Regular Board meetings are critical to the smooth operation of the Journal and are held in summer and winter, every six months. The Editor and the Executive Editor usually work on an agenda together, which typically includes any updates from the Supreme Court Historical Society and any matters pertinent to the publication of the Journal.
- Oversees the issuing of the three awards given by the Journal. These include the Hughes Gossett Award (given annually for the best article published in the Journal), and the Hughes Gossett Student Award (given for the best student article submitted). The Editor notifies the Board in the spring of each year which articles are eligible for the Hughes Gossett Award, and all Board members (including the Editor) communicate their votes to the Managing Editor. The Editor and the previous year’s winner of the Hughes Gossett Award decide the winner of the Hughes Gossett Student Award.
- Interviews an article author from each issue of the Journal, to be posted on the Supreme Court Historical Society’s YouTube Channel. This series is called “Breaking History” and is posted three times a year, just after the publication of each issue. Interviews are 20 minutes in length.
