Women's History Month: Camille E. S. Openshaw

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Harris County Law Library is paying tribute the life and accomplishments of a remarkable woman, Camille Elizabeth Stanford Openshaw.  At a time when women’s educational and career options were very limited, Ms. Openshaw excelled not only as an attorney but as a leader in the local legal community.

Just five years after graduating from South Texas College of Law in 1930, she was elected to the board of directors of the Lawyers Library Association, the first woman to hold the position. She later distinguished herself as a founding partner of the Houston law firm, McIntosh & Openshaw. But perhaps her most sensational claim to fame was her representation of former bank robber, kidnapper, murderer, and fugitive, Raymond Hamilton, whose exploits with the infamous Clyde Barrow Gang resulted in his ultimate execution. Despite Ms. Openshaw’s best efforts to spare his life with a last-minute plea to the State Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin, Hamilton was put to death on May 10, 1935.

To learn more about Ms. Openshaw, please visit the Harris County Law Library’s downtown location, where an exhibit honoring her accomplishments will be on display throughout the month of March. An accompanying digital exhibit can be viewed on the library’s website.

Celebrating National African American History Month: Justice Thurgood Marshall

In 1925, the historian, Carter G. Woodson, called for a week-long celebration to recognize the contributions of African Americans in the development of our country. Negro History Week was celebrated for the first time in 1926 and expanded to a full month in 1976, the year of our nation's sesquicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history."

This year, the tradition continues. In the presidential proclamation issued by the White House on January 31, 2018, a special theme was designated commemorating the contributions of African Americans in Times of War.  To educate and inform the public about the significant contributions of African Americans in combat, the National Archives has assembled an extensive list of resources called Blacks in the Military.

We at the Harris County Law Library hope to do our part in honoring National African American History Month.  We'd like to call greater attention to the many notable African Americans who have played such crucial roles in shaping the law and achieving civil rights. With a special exhibit, we honor the first African American to rise to the bench of the U.S. Supreme Court and perhaps the most influential African American lawyer in U.S. history -- Justice Thurgood Marshall.   

An exhibit commemorating the extraordinary life of Justice Marshall will be on display in the Law Library lobby throughout the month, and a digital exhibit is available on the Law Library's website.

For additional digital resources celebrating African American history and the remarkable life of Justice Thurgood Marshall, please visit the following sites:

Biography.com -- Thurgood Marshall: A Justice for All (VIDEO)

Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

Legal Tech Institute Celebrates First Anniversary

The Legal Tech Institute at the Harris County Law Library launched in October, 2016, with the CLE Social Media for Lawyers. Building on the success of that program, we've expanded learning opportunities significantly with a dozen in-person courses and 5 On-Demand training sessions available on our website. As with all programs at the Harris County Law Library, LTI classes are always free and open to all.

Additionally, each LTI video CLE is accredited by the State Bar of Texas and Texas attorneys can receive credit for watching the videos up to a year after the live program. That means the LTI anniversary also marks the end point for receiving Texas CLE credit for our first program. Watch Social Media for Lawyers and report your credit at www.texasbar.com before time runs out!

Harris County Law Library's 102nd Anniversary

October 1 is a special day each year at the Harris County Law Library. On October 1, 1915, attorneys gathered in downtown Houston for our institution's official grand opening and each year that passes gives us a chance to reflect on the progress we've made in serving our patrons and fulfilling our mission. 

Two years ago, the Law Library marked the occasion by inviting the local legal community to join us for a Centennial Celebration featuring a keynote address from Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht. During his address, the chief justice noted that, throughout the centuries, great thinkers have reiterated the sentiment that "knowledge is power," including influential writers, from the drafters of the Texas Constitution to novelists George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four) and Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), who make the point that access to knowledge is essential in a free society. The chief justice connected these historical themes with the Centennial Celebration by noting that "[i]t is in opposition to a suppression of knowledge, and in support of its general diffusion, that we gather in celebration of this great public law library."

Inspired by Chief Justice Hecht's words and driven by a mission to promote access to justice through access to legal information, the Law Library continues to expand opportunities for our patrons to gain knowledge. We've launched our Legal Tech Institute, which provides free training opportunities to attorneys and members of the public who might otherwise be left behind by technological advancements in our justice system. In a short time, we will further expand available legal tech training opportunities to include experiential learning with our Hands-On Legal Tech Training program, thanks to a generous grant from the Texas Bar Foundation. A legal clinic from Houston Volunteer Lawyers is now available in the Law Library 5 days per week to connect individuals with limited means with legal information for a licensed volunteer attorney.

When disaster struck, the Law Library launched the Harvey Recovery Resources page to help connect Houstonians with information on available local, state, and federal aid. In each instance, the Law Library works to disseminate knowledge and empower our patrons to participate as informed citizens in our Harris County government.

For more on the Law Library's Centennial Celebration and to view Chief Justice Hecht's speech, visit our centennial page.

On this Day: Magna Carta and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On June 15, 1215, the Magna Carta was signed at Runnymede meadow in Surrey, England. View our digital exhibit to learn more about this historic document and its role in shaping our democracy.

Many of the fundamental values we cherish, including liberty, equality, and freedom from tyranny, are direct descendants of the rights established by the Magna Carta more than 800 years ago. These ideals are embodied in our nation's founding documents and embraced by people around the world, even in countries whose governments deny any such protections to their citizens.  

Following World War II and the atrocities it spawned, an effort unfolded in the United Nations to codify the inalienable rights of people everywhere. The Human Rights Commission was established in 1946 as a standing body of the UN to draft the defining document. Two years later, on December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted. Nearly every country in the world accepted the 30 articles that comprise the UDHR and integrated them into their bodies of law. The UDHR, which some have described as the Magna Carta of the modern age, remains a powerful instrument today, and its impact continues to be felt all over the world.