History Lesson
The Texas Supreme Court Historical Society sets the record straight.
Written by Marilyn P. Duncan and David A. Furlow
ABOVE: Chief Justice Thomas J. Rusk, left, presided over the first
session of the Texas Supreme Court in January 1840. Chief Justice John
Hemphill took the reins in December 1840 and served until 1858. Photo of
Rusk courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; photo of Hemphill courtesy of the
U.S. Senate Historical Office.
On January 13, 1990, three former chief justices of the Texas Supreme
Court—Robert W. Calvert, Joe R. Greenhill, and Jack Pope—announced they
had filed the incorporation papers with the Texas secretary of state to
establish a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization aimed at preserving the
history and artifacts of the Texas courts. The founders chose that date
because it was the 150th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s first
session, called to order on January 13, 1840, by Chief Justice Thomas J.
Rusk.
The Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, or TSCHS, thus came into
being 30 years ago. The sesquicentennial celebration in the state
capitol focused both on the heritage of the Texas Supreme Court and on
the creation of an organization dedicated to preserving that heritage.
The event, and TSCHS itself, were the culmination of years of planning
by several key players: Texas Supreme Court Justice Jack Hightower, Lyn
Phillips (wife of Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips), Chief Justices
Pope, Greenhill, and Calvert, and attorney James W. Paulsen. Tying the
sesquicentennial to TSCHS’s launch gave the new organization the
visibility and support it needed to move forward.
Judicial History Book Project
Hightower became the first president of TSCHS and served from 1990
until 1998. During those years, the organization began addressing some
of the gaps in the documented history of the Texas courts. The last book
on the history of the Texas Supreme Court had been published in 1917, so
TSCHS trustees set a goal of publishing a multivolume work on the
court’s history through the 20th century. SMU Dedman School of Law
professor Joe McKnight, a trustee and preeminent legal historian,
organized a team of volunteers to write the books, but quickly hit a
roadblock: few secondary sources were available on the 20th-century
court, requiring that the team start from scratch.
The original project yielded a number of substantive papers, but the
vision of a multivolume history proved unviable. In 2006, TSCHS
Executive Director Bill Pugsley hired publications consultant Marilyn P.
Duncan to help reshape the book project. Spurred by board trustee and
former Texas Supreme Court Justice Craig T. Enoch to “find” a legal
history book among materials at hand, Pugsley and Duncan compiled a
manuscript of previously published essays and original court documents
that revealed the realities of slave laws in antebellum Texas. Professor
Randolph B. “Mike” Campbell, of the University of North Texas, provided
expert editorial commentary for The Laws of Slavery in Texas,
the first book in the Texas Legal Studies Series co-sponsored with the
University of Texas Press.
The goal of publishing a definitive history of the court remained a
priority, and in 2009, the society commissioned a single author to write
a one-volume narrative history. As luck and fate would have it,
award-winning historian James L. Haley was available. TSCHS President
Larry McNeill and attorney Harry Reasoner led a fundraising drive that
raised more than $100,000 in less than 10 months, the largest amount
raised for any project in TSCHS’s history.
Working closely with editor Duncan, Haley drew on the earlier
project’s research, a collection of oral history interviews, and
archival materials in TSCHS files. Haley’s engaging narrative style made
the court’s history accessible to a wide readership. The Texas
Supreme Court: A Narrative History, 1836-1986, published in the
Texas Legal Studies Series in 2013, represented a milestone for the
society and the Supreme Court, one celebrated in a special session of
the court in the capitol’s historic Supreme Court Courtroom.
In 2014, the society published a third book, Common Law Judge:
Selected Writings of Chief Justice Jack Pope of Texas. Compiled and
edited by Duncan as part of the history book project, the volume
showcases a wealth of landmark court opinions, legal essays, and other
materials drawn from Pope’s 38-year tenure on the bench.
Taming Texas Judicial Civics and Court History
Project
An important part of the society’s mission is to educate the public
about the Texas court system and its influences. The idea of reworking
some of the stories in the narrative history book for a younger audience
took root in 2013. Board President Warren W. Harris led a new project
funded by the society’s fellows that published a book aimed at seventh
graders called Taming Texas: How Law and Order Came to the Lone Star
State. The book, co-authored by Haley and Duncan, is the
centerpiece of the society’s Taming Texas Judicial Civics and Court
History Project, launched in Houston-area middle schools in spring 2016.
Administered through local bar associations, the program sends volunteer
judges and lawyers into Texas history classes to teach lessons on the
history and functions of Texas courts. Since its inception, Taming Texas
has reached more than 21,000 students.
The book series now has two additional volumes: Law and the Texas
Frontier (2018) and The Chief Justices of Texas (2020).
The books are provided free to classrooms in both hardcover and
electronic formats.
ABOVE: The 2013 Hemphill Dinner program featured a conversation
between former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and
then-Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson. Photo by
Mark Matson.
Journal of the Texas Supreme Court Historical
Society
The society has also fulfilled its dual mission of preservation and
education by publishing a quarterly e-journal. Established in 2011 as an
initiative of board President Lynne Liberato, the Journal of the
Texas Supreme Court Historical Society combines scholarly articles
on historical topics with book reviews, oral history interviews, and
special features on TSCHS-sponsored events. Its founding executive
editor, attorney/historian David Furlow, led fellow team members Dylan
Drummond, Duncan, and David Kroll in developing what is now the foremost
publication of Texas legal history. In 2019, the American Association
for State and Local History honored the Journal with its
Leadership in History Award of Excellence. The summer 2018 issue on
African American judges received special recognition.
Texas State Historical Association Sessions
Each year since 1998, the society has presented a panel session on
Texas legal history topics at the Texas State Historical Association
Annual Meeting. The sessions have attracted increasingly large audiences
over the years as the panelists, many of them current and retired
members of the Texas judiciary, explored Texas legal history, including
school prayer litigation, alcaldes and advocates in Stephen F. Austin’s
colony, and the Republic of Texas’ secret court.
Larry McNeill Fellowship
In cooperation with the Texas State Historical Association, TSCHS
created the Larry McNeill Research Fellowship in Texas Legal History in
2019 to foster grassroots legal history research. See the announcement
on page 422.
Judicial Portrait Collection
Paintings of retired and deceased Texas Supreme Court justices are
important artifacts, and an early project of the society was to
rejuvenate the dormant judicial portrait collection. Over the years
TSCHS has brought the collection mostly up to date. The society arranges
for retired members of the court to present their framed portraits to
the Supreme Court in ceremonies in the Supreme Court Courtroom. In a
historic ceremony in 2018, descendants of two long-neglected
Reconstruction-era judges—Chief Justice Wesley B. Ogden and Justice
Colbert Coldwell—presented their portraits to the court. It was a rare
opportunity to set the record straight.
Great War Commemoration
On the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the society joined with the
Texas Supreme Court in honoring Texas judges and governors who served in
the First World War. The event, held in the historic Supreme Court
Courtroom in the capitol, was a moving testament to the veterans who
later served on the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals
and in the governor’s office. A video of the program appears on the
society’s Hemphill Channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBrvyBXcGSI.
Supreme Court History Symposia and Reenactments
Other TSCHS-sponsored educational events include the reenactment of
historically significant cases and a biannual CLE symposium on the
history of Supreme Court jurisprudence. The society’s fellows have
sponsored reenactments of three landmark court cases: Texas v.
White (1868), Johnson v. Darr (1925), and Sweatt v.
Painter (1950). The symposia, co-sponsored with the State Bar, were
organized by trustees Liberato and Richard Orsinger.
Annual John Hemphill Dinner
For the past quarter century, the society has hosted the annual John
Hemphill Dinner to fund educational outreach and bring members and
guests together to share stories with and about great judges and
lawyers. Held at Austin’s Four Seasons Hotel, these annual dinners have
become go-to events for lawyers, judges, and historians throughout
Texas.
Today the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society has 450 members,
including 39 fellows and a 39-member board of trustees, of which 18 are
current or former judges. Anchored by Executive Director Sharon Sandle
and Administrative Coordinator Mary Sue Miller, the society continually
seeks new ways to preserve and celebrate the unfolding history of Texas
courts and law.TBJ
MARILYN P. DUNCAN
is an Austin-area writer and editor who has worked with the Texas
Supreme Court Historical Society since 2006. She previously served as
director of publications and communications at the University of Texas
at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs.
DAVID A. FURLOW
a trial lawyer and appellate specialist, served as executive editor of
the Journal of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society from
2011 through 2020. He now serves as emeritus editor of the
Journal.
