Roscoe Pound, 1870-1964

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RG0911.AM:  Roscoe Pound, 1870-1964

Papers:  1880-1963, mostly 1930s-1950s
Lincoln, Lancaster County, Neb.; Chicago, Ill.; and Massachusetts:  Lawyer, educator
Size:  2.5 cu. ft.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Nathan Roscoe Pound was born on October 27, 1870, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was the son of Stephen B. Pound, a lawyer and judge, and Laura Biddlecome Pound, a native of New York. Roscoe Pound earned his B.A, M.A, and Ph.D. degrees in botany at the University of Nebraska and was one of Dr. Charles E. Bessey's first serious botany students at the university. Pound began studying law at Harvard in 1889 but stayed only a year before returning to Nebraska to begin his own practice. He was admitted to the Nebraska Bar without a law degree, and from 1899 to 1907, Pound taught law at the University of Nebraska, serving as Law School Dean during his final four years. He was also Commissioner of Appeals of the Nebraska Supreme Court from 1901 to 1903 and later taught at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago before becoming a law professor at Harvard in 1910. In 1916, Pound became Dean of the Harvard Law School, a post he held until his retirement in 1936, at which point he agreed to stay on as a professor. This appointment made him Harvard's first professor with a license to teach any subject in the university, not only law. At the age of 76, Pound resigned from teaching to accept an invitation from Chiang Kai-Shek to codify Chinese Laws.

During his long career Pound held many posts of legal prominence, including the presidency of the Association of American Law Schools, membership in the standing advisory committee for the jurist section of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, and membership on the Wickersham Commission which reported to President Hoover in 1931 on the prohibition law. Pound held some 200 honorary degrees from universities in this country and abroad. In 1940 he was awarded the Golden Medal of the American Bar Association for "conspicuous service to the cause of American jurisprudence." Roscoe was a past master of Lancaster Lodge 54 AF&AM in Lincoln and grand orator of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Nebraska, of which he was an honorary past grand master. He received the 33rd degree of the Scottish Rite in 1913 in Philadelphia. Roscoe made his last appearance in Nebraska in March 1960 when he delivered a lecture at the University of Nebraska College of Law, where in 1950 the Roscoe Pound Lectureship was established.

His first wife, Grace Gerrard of Columbus, Nebraska, died in 1928. In 1931, he married Mrs. Lucy Miller of Washington, D.C. who died in 1959. Roscoe Pound died on June 30, 1964 at the age of 93 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He left no survivors.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection is arranged in four series: 1) Correspondence, 1889-1963; 2) Writings by Roscoe Pound, 1893-1962, n.d.; 3) Writings about Roscoe Pound, 1896-1964, n.d.; and 4) Miscellaneous.

Series 1, Correspondence, 1889-1963, consists of both incoming and outgoing letters of Roscoe Pound. A portion of the correspondence relates to major events in Roscoe's, life, including his second marriage, resignation of the Harvard deanship, and his 75th birthday celebration. Correspondence with Paul Sayre regarding Pound's biography is also included.

Series 2, Writings by Roscoe Pound, 1893-1962, n.d., includes various articles by Pound. The majority of the writings appeared in the Harvard Law Review and other legal publications and date from 1903-1962. Also included in this series are a few Nebraska court case briefs.

Series 3, Writings about Roscoe Pound, 1896-1964, n.d., consists of articles and biographical sketches authored by various sources. Of particular note are the items authored by Roscoe's mother and sisters. Also included in this series is a manuscript draft for the Roscoe Pound biography authored by Paul Sayre. The remainder of this series consists of alumni magazine articles and newspaper clippings.

Series 4, Miscellaneous, includes a student essay and Roscoe's report cards from his years as a student at the University of Nebraska, general information regarding the entire Pound family, a biographical sketch for Dr. Francis F. Tucker, and miscellaneous newspaper clippings.

RELATED COLLECTIONS AT NSHS

RG0909: Pound Family
RG0910: Laura Biddlecombe Pound
RG0912: Louise Pound
RG0913: Olivia Pound
RG1074: William Henry Woods
RG2239: Mamie Jane Meredith
RG2974: Samuel M. Chapman
RG3734: Hazlett and Jack

DESCRIPTION

Series 1 - Correspondence, 1889-1963

Box 1
Folder

1. Roscoe to his parents, 1889-1919
2. Roscoe or Grace (Mrs. Roscoe) Pound to Laura Pound, 1915-1928
3. Roscoe or Grace (Mrs. Roscoe) Pound to Olivia, 1910-1932
4. Roscoe to Olivia or Louise, 1933-1944
5. Roscoe to Olivia or Louise, 1945-1948
6. Roscoe to Olivia, 1949-1959
7. Roscoe to Olivia, 1960-1961
8. Notable political and legal figures, 1919-1943
9. University of Wisconsin presidency, 1925
10. Congratulatory letters on marriage to Lucy Miller, 1931
11. Resignation of Harvard deanship, 1935-36
12. Resignation of Harvard deanship, 1935-36
13. Overseas trip, 1937

Box 2
Folder

1. Overseas trip, 1937
2. 75th birthday, 1945
3. Arthur D. Nock, 1942-1951
4. Paul Sayre (regarding biography), 1944-47
5. Miscellaneous, 1896-1963

Series 2 - Writings by Roscoe Pound, 1893-1962, n.d.

6. Nebraska court case briefs, 1893, 1908
7. Harvard Law Review, 1908-1915
8. Harvard Law Review, 1917-1919
9. Harvard Law Review, 1936, 1944
10. Harvard Law Review, 1945, 1952
11. Fundamental American Principles series pamphlets, 1945

Box 3
Folder

1. Miscellaneous publications, 1903-1921
2. Miscellaneous publications, 1924-1952
3. Miscellaneous publications, 1954-1962, n.d.

Series 3 - Writings about Roscoe Pound, 1896-1964, n.d.

4. Roscoe Pound biography by Paul Sayre, manuscript draft
5. Roscoe Pound biography, book reviews
6. Writings by Laura, Louise, and Olivia Pound
7. Biographical sketches, various sources
8. Harvard Law School publications, 1925-1962

Box 4
Folder

1. Harvard Law School Yearbook (dedicated to Pound), 1945-1946
2. University of Nebraska Alumni magazines, 1916-1960
3. Miscellaneous publications, 1926-1950
4. Miscellaneous publications, 1959-1960
5. Clippings, Roscoe's legal opinions
6. Clippings, career at Harvard and University of Wisconsin presidency rejection
7. Clippings, short-term position at UCLA
8. Clippings, trip to China, 1947
9. Clippings, trips to Nebraska

Box 5
Folder

1. Clippings, honors and awards
2. Clippings, biographical, etc.
3. Scrapbook of clippings, 1896-1938
4. Clippings, obituaries, 1964

Series 4 - Miscellaneous

5. Event programs, etc.
6. University of Nebraska (includes Pound's graduation announcement, various report cards, and a student essay written by Pound)
7. Pound family, biographical and genealogical materials
8. Pound family, clippings
9. Dr. Francis F. Tucker, biographical sketch, 1958
10. Clippings, Nebraska history
11. Clippings, misc.
12. Misc.

 

 

ADDED ENTRIES

Constitutional law
Educators -- United States
International law
Jurisprudence -- United States
Law -- Philosophy
Law -- Study and teaching
Lawyers -- United States
Pound, Laura Biddlecombe, 1841-1928
Pound, Louise, 1872-1958
Pound, Olivia, 1874-1961
Pound, Roscoe, 1870-1964

 

12-12-2006   Revised TMM

 

For additional information about this collection, please contact our Library Staff.

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http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/family/poundroscoe.htm
Last updated 13 November 2007

Roscoe Pound

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roscoe Pound
Born	October 27, 1870 Lincoln, Nebraska
Died	June 30, 1964 (aged 93)
Nationality	United States
Fields	Botany Law
Institutions	Harvard Law School
Alma mater	University of Nebraska
Influenced	Zechariah Chafee

Nathan Roscoe Pound (October 27, 1870 – June 30, 1964) was a distinguished American legal scholar and educator.

Contents  [hide] 1 Early life 2 Law career 3 Criminal Justice in Cleveland 4 Quotes 5 Miscellaneous 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

[edit]Early life

Pound was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA to Stephen Bosworth Poundand Laura Pound.

Pound studied botany at the University of Nebraska (BA, 1888, & MA, 1889) in Lincoln, Nebraska where he became a member of Acacia Fraternity. ^[1]In 1889, he began the study of law; he spent one year atHarvard but never received a law degree. He received the first Ph.D., in botany, from the University of Nebraska in 1898.

[edit]Law career

In 1903, Pound became dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law. In 1910, Pound began teaching at Harvard and in 1916 became dean of Harvard Law School. He wrote "Spurious Interpretation" in 1907,Outlines of Lectures on Jurisprudence in 1914, The Spirit of the Common Law [1] in 1921, Law and Moralsin 1924, and Criminal Justice in America in 1930. He was the founder of the movement for "sociological jurisprudence," an influential critic of the U.S. Supreme Court's "liberty of contract" line of cases, symbolized by Lochner v. New York (1905), and one of the early leaders of the movement for American Legal Realism, which argued for a more pragmatic and public-interested interpretation of law and a focus on how the legal process actually occurred, as opposed to the arid legal formalism which prevailed in American jurisprudence at the time. Pound would later turn against the movement and became a leading critic of the legal realists later in his life.

[edit]Criminal Justice in Cleveland

In 1922, Roscoe Pound and Felix Frankfurter undertook a detailed quantitative study of crime reporting in Cleveland newspapers for the month of January 1919, using column inch counts. They found that, whereas, in the first half of the month, the total amount of space given over to crime was 925 inches, in the second half it leapt to 6642 inches. This was in spite the fact that the number of crimes reported had only increased from 345 to 363. They concluded that although the city's much publicized "crime wave" was largely fictitious and manufactured by the press, the coverage had a very real consequence for the administration of criminal justice. Because the public believed they were in the middle of a crime epidemic, they demanded an immediate response from the police and the city authorities. These agencies wishing to retain public support, complied, caring "more to satisfy popular demand than to be observant of the tried process of law" The result was a greatly increased likelihood of miscarriages of justice and sentences more severe than the offenses warranted.^[2][3]

[edit]Quotes

One of his most oft-quoted views was on professionalism: The term [professionalism] refers to a group pursuing a learned art as a common calling in the spirit of public service - no less a public service because it may incidentally be a means of livelihood. Pursuit of the learned art in the spirit of a public service is the primary purpose. ^[4]

[edit]Miscellaneous

• In 1903 Pound, with George Condra, founded the Society of Innocents, the preeminent senior honor society at Nebraska. It is still in existence.
• Pound is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
• Pound was a Freemason, and was a member and Past Master of Lancaster Lodge No. 54 AF & AM Lincoln, Nebraska.
• Pound helped to found The Harvard Lodge A.F. & A.M. along with Kirsopp Lake a Professor of theDivinity School, and others.
• Pound was the brother of noted folklorist and scholar Louise Pound.

[edit]See also

• A Test of the News

[edit]Notes

1. ^ Acacia Fraternity. "Acacia Fraternity: Notable Acacians". Retrieved on 2008-10-30.
2. ^ Jensen, Klaus Bruhn (May 10, 2002). A Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies. UK: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-22588-4. p. 45-46
3. ^ Pound, Roscoe; Felix Frankfurter (1922). Criminal Justice in Cleveland. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Foundation. p. 546
4. ^ Pound, Roscoe (1953). The Lawyer from Antiquity to Modern Times. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co.,. p. 5.

[edit]References

• Pound, Roscoe. American National Biography. 17:760-763. 1999.

[edit]External links

• Roscoe Pound papers at Nebraska State Historical Society
• Justice According to Law (1914) essay
• The Spirit of the Common Law (1921) book based on Dartmouth Alumni Lectures
•