Law School Alumni Association records, 1924-1991

An association of graduates of the Law School was formed by the members of the first graduating class, on the May 18, 1860. A constitution was adopted on January 23, 1863, stating as the object of the Association "to revive and perpetuate by annual meetings and public exercises the memory and mutual good feeling of those who have participated in common labors, common pleasures and common benefits in their preparation for the legal profession; and to advance by every means within the power of its members the interests of the Law School and of the Association."

For the succeeding twelve years the Association actively elected officers, a Standing Committee, and orators to speak at the Law School commencements, but the records from 1872 to 1902 have been lost. The constitution was then revised in 1902 and after its reorganization, the Association met for annual meetings and held dinners and receptions for retiring judges and distinguished visitors. It also contributed to the Columbia Law Review and the library of the Law School. The Association established the Committee on Law Clerkships, which assisted graduates of the Law School secure positions.

During World War I the Alumni Association's activities fell off, but under the presidencies of George Welwood Murray (1919-1921) and Judge Edward R. Finch (1921-1924) the Association experienced a strong revival, and by 1923 there were about six hundred members. In 1926, under the leadership of Judge John M. Woolsey, the Association again revised its constitution, to authorize more widespread activities. By 1937, under the presidency of Judge Harold R. Medina Law 1912, there were 2,370 members.

In 1949, out of 8,650 living alumni of the Law School, 2,605 were members of the Association. The Association actively supported the moot court system, the Law Library, and the Columbia Law Review; in 1947 it helped establish the Columbia Law School News and continued to play an important part in the program for placing Law School graduates.

J.B. Pine, CC 1877, Law 1879, published an early history of the Association (See "The Alumni Association of the Law School of Columbia University," Columbia Alumni News (1916) 251.) To this, Gifford and Masur added and updated the information, which appears as "A Brief History of the Alumni Association of the Law School of Columbia University," in the Columbia Law Register XV (1949). A third update appears in the Columbia Law Register (1960).