Announcing Upcoming Lecture Series

Footage from the Alien Enemy Detention Facility at Crystal City, Texas. This film was distributed by the U.S. Dept. of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service in 1945. It is now part of the U.S. National Archives (ID# 13206).

The Harris County Law Library is happy to announce a three-part lecture series hosted in collaboration with Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan titled Immigration Law and Internment Camps in Texas: Legal Perspectives on The Train To Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell. An hour-long lecture will be offered at noon on October 4, October 11, and October 18 at the Law Library's downtown Houston location. Lunch is provided and attorneys can earned 3.0 hours of CLE credit and 1.0 hour of ethics credit in Texas. For more information and to RSVP, visit the event page on the Harris County Attorney Office website.

At each event, distinguished speakers will discuss legal aspects of this year's Gulf Coast Reads featured title The Train to Crystal City. The book presents the story of internees of German and Japanese descent who found themselves at the family internment camp in Crystal City, Texas during World War II. The stories are told on a personal level with references to the federal legal mechanisms that affected each internee, many of whom were U.S. citizens, and the international politics that led to many internees being repatriated to their ancestral nations in exchange for American prisoners of war. With a story line that takes place in the Lone Star State and an author who is a native of the Texas gulf coast, this book is a natural candidate for the Gulf Coast Reads program, through which a book with local ties is read at libraries and book clubs through the month of October. Visit the Gulf Coast Reads website for more on this year's read and archives of past featured titles.

Monthly Features: Magna Carta & Constitutional Law Resources at the HCLL

During the month of June, the Harris County Law Library is commemorating Magna Carta. Don’t miss our digital exhibit and the exhibit currently on display in the Law Library's lobby, where you can explore the origins of this historically-significant document and its impact on both the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as its influence on the rule of law in Texas.

To complement our Magna Carta exhibits, the Law Library has adopted a theme, Constitutional Law Resource Month, which will feature items from our collection, including treatises, reference works, CLE course materials, form books, and other practitioner tools that may be useful in conducting constitutional law research.

The Law Library will also feature a small display of commentaries and related examples of case law that demonstrate the connections between Magna Carta and American law. All of these resources and exhibits will be featured until the end of June. Don’t miss your chance to see them, and please feel free to ask the Law Library staff any questions about the materials you discover.

HCLL Receives AALL Marketing Award

Yesterday, the Harris County Law Library was named the 2016 recipient of the American Association of Law Libraries Excellence in Marketing Award in the Best Campaign Division. We are very honored by the award and appreciate the recognition for our efforts on our Centennial Celebration. For anyone who was unable to attend the event on October 1, 2015, please visit our digital exhibit titled 1915-2015: A Century of Service to see videos of the speakers program, including a keynote address from Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht of the Supreme Court of Texas.

The Law Library would like to thank all of our partners who made the Centennial Celebration possible, including Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, Houston Bar Association President Laura Gibson, and Justice Brett Busby of the Fourteenth Texas Court of Appeals, who served as speakers at the event. We would also like to thank our event sponsors: Baker Botts, Andrews Kurth, Thomson Reuters, and ServiceDocs. Finally, we would like to thank the more than 300 guests who helped us celebrate the Law Library's first century of service.

Looking Back - The Battle of San Jacinto - April 21, 1836

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Seal of the Office of the Harris County Attorney

“Remember the Alamo!” “Remember Goliad!” These were the cries that rallied a weary and all but broken Texas army that ultimately defeated the Mexican forces led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Despite having declared independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, the Texas army still had a long way to go to be truly independent from Mexico. In the midst of a retreat from Gonzales, General Sam Houston turned his men toward Harrisburg and Lynch’s Ferry. Encamping among the trees along the bayou, the Texas army occupied a strategic piece of land that enabled them to watch the movements of Santa Anna and his men.

On the morning of April 21, 1836, General Houston overruled the desire of his officers to wait for Santa Anna to attack first and opted to let his men make the first move. In the afternoon, while the Mexican Army rested, the Texas army advanced using the terrain surrounding Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River as their natural cover. Taking advantage of Santa Anna’s failure to post sentries nearby, the Texas army was able to defeat the Mexican army in a battle that lasted a mere 18 minutes. The victory not only cemented the young Republic’s independence from Mexico, but it also opened up more of the West, furthering the idea of “manifest destiny.”

The Monument commemorating the Battle of San Jacinto has become an iconic symbol of those who fought bravely for Texas independence. Recognizing the strength and determination of all those who fought for independence, former Harris County Attorney Mike Driscoll selected an image of the Monument for the seal of the Harris County Attorney’s Office as a reminder of what can be accomplished when individuals work together toward a common goal.

If you would like more information about the Battle of San Jacinto or other interesting facts and tidbits about Texas, visit the Harris County Law Library and have a look at the Texas Almanac. It's a great read!

Women's History Month Digital Exhibit

Today is the last day of Women's History Month for 2016. All this month, we have had an exhibit featuring Camille E.S. Openshaw - a pioneering Houston attorney - on display in our lobby in downtown Houston. If you missed the exhibit in person, don't panic - you can visit our digital exhibit anytime you like. Just hop over to our Digital Exhibits page to discover photos and anecdotes from all of our recent exhibits.

And visit the Law Library on Friday, April 1, to discover a brand new exhibit on display - despite the opening date, we're not trying to fool you - there really will be great exhibit waiting for you!