
Calvin Pease portrait Save

Description: This image of Ohio jurist Calvin Pease (1776-1839) is a photographic reproduction of an engraving .The head-and-shoulders portrait of the white-haired Pease portrays him as dignified yet approachable, with a hint of a smile.
Pease was born on September 9, 1776, in Suffield, Connecticut. He passed the Connecticut bar exam in 1798 and shortly afterward moved to the Northwest Territory. In 1800 the territorial government granted him a law license. He was the original clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the Northwest Territory, which met in Warren (Ohio). Pease left Warren in late 1801 to become the first postmaster of Youngstown in January 1802. He quickly tired of this position and resigned in 1803.
In April 1803 the legislature of the newly created state of Ohio elected Pease to a judgeship on the Court of Common Pleas for the Third Circuit. He was the presiding member. During his term as judge, Pease struggled against the state legislature, which had no desire to relinquish any power to the courts. In 1806 he declared a section of a law in violation of the United States Constitution. The Ohio law permitted justices of the peace to oversee legal disputes involving property or money in excess of twenty dollars. Pease declared that the Constitution promised trial by jury and that the Ohio law clearly violated that guarantee. Because of Pease's decision, the law could not be enforced in Ohio.
Pease’s 1806 ruling was not the end of the story. The question of the courts’ ability to declare laws unconstitutional was at the heart of Rutherford v. M’Faddon (1807), one of the most important cases to come before the Supreme Court of Ohio during its early years. In that case, Supreme Court justices Samuel Huntington and George Tod upheld Pease's decision. Rutherford v. M'Faddon established the right to review the constitutionality of legislative and gubernatorial actions
In response, the legislature attempted to weaken the judiciary by bringing impeachment proceedings against both Pease and Tod. The two judges maintained their positions by a single vote each.
Unhappy with the legislature's attempts to hinder the courts, Pease resigned as Common Pleas Judge in 1810. By 1816 the legislature had a change of heart towards Pease and elected him to two terms (1816-1830) on the Ohio Supreme Court. The judge retired in 1830 and spent the remainder of his life in Warren, Ohio. He died on September 17, 1839. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05837
Subjects: Pease, Calvin, 1776-1839; Judicial review--United States--Cases; Ohio. Supreme Court; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Image ID: AL05837
Subjects: Pease, Calvin, 1776-1839; Judicial review--United States--Cases; Ohio. Supreme Court; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Evva and Henry Heath with child photograph Save

Description: Evva and Henry Heath photographed with their foster child, Harry. Harry lived with the couple for while they practiced law in Washington, D.C.
Evva Kenney was born and grew up in Cardington, Ohio, where she attended the predominantly white Cardington-Union Schools and graduated from high school in 1897. After teaching for a year in West Virginia, Evva moved Columbus in the spring of 1898 and began taking business courses at Parsons Community College. She later married Henry Heath and the couple attended Howard University Law School. She and Henry founded their own law firm, Heath & Heath Attorneys and Counselors at Law, and practiced in Washington, D.C. In 1907, Evva returned to Cardington to care for her ailing mother. Evva became ill early in 1908 and died in 1909 at the age of 29. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1274_B05F05_01
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Families; Lawyers; Law firms
Places: Washington (District of Columbia)
Image ID: MSS1274_B05F05_01
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Families; Lawyers; Law firms
Places: Washington (District of Columbia)
Florence E. Allen photograph Save

Description: Judge Florence E. Allen seated in her chambers, ca. 1920-1929.
As a young woman, Allen (1884-1966) graduated from Western Reserve University in 1904, and worked as a music critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer while pursuing a graduate degree in political science and constitutional law at Western Reserve University. She received her master's degree in 1908, and soon moved to New York City to work for the New York League for the Protection of Immigrants while earning a law degree from the New York University School of Law.
After receiving her JD, Allen returned to Cleveland, where she gained admittance to the Ohio bar and established her own law practice. She was appointed Assistant Prosecutor of Cuyahoga County in 1919, and was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas the following year. In 1922, Allen won a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. Not only was she the first woman to serve on Ohio's highest court, but she was also the first woman to serve on the supreme court of any state.
Allen continued to serve as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court until 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to the Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. Once again, Allen established a precedent as the first woman judge in a federal court. She eventually became chief judge of the court, a position she held until her retirement in 1959. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00128
Subjects: Ohio--Politics and government; Ohio Women; Law & legal affairs; Judges; Supreme Court justices; Supreme Court of Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Image ID: AL00128
Subjects: Ohio--Politics and government; Ohio Women; Law & legal affairs; Judges; Supreme Court justices; Supreme Court of Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Giddings Law Office photograph Save

Description: Photograph of the Joshua Reed Giddings Law Office, a National Historic Landmark in Jefferson, Ohio. Giddings (1795-1864) was a prominent abolitionist as well as a member of the U.S. Congress. The office was constructed adjacent to his home, the porch of which can be seen on the left-hand side of the image. The text of the historical marker reads "Joshua Reed Giddings here wrote the Republican party's first national platform, adopted at Philadelphia, June 17th, 1856. Member of Congress 1838-1858. In 1842 he defied the Atherton Gag Rule, prohibiting discussion of slavery on the floor. Censured by the House, given no opportunity for defense, he resigned. His overwhelming re-election five weeks later, and renewed defiance, restored Constitutional freedom of speech in our American Congress. Pioneer, soldier, author, patriot and statesman, a founder of the National Republican Party."
The structure is alternately identified as the Law Office of Wade & Jefferson. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00311
Subjects: Ashtabula County (Ohio); Abolitionists -- Ohio; Law offices--Ohio; United States. Congress. House; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Jefferson (Ohio); Ashtabula County (Ohio)
Image ID: AL00311
Subjects: Ashtabula County (Ohio); Abolitionists -- Ohio; Law offices--Ohio; United States. Congress. House; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Jefferson (Ohio); Ashtabula County (Ohio)
William Stanberry portrait Save

Description: Portrait of William Stanberry, US Congressman from Ohio, CA 1830s Father of Henry Stanberry, Ohio's 1st Attorney General (1866-68).
William Stanberry was born in New Jersey in 1788 and studied law in New York City. He then moved to Newark, Ohio and began practicing law. He was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1824 and 1825 and elected as an Ohio representative to the House of Representatives in 1827 and 1828 (as a Jacksonian candidate) and 1830 (as an Anti-Jacksonian candidate).
His time in congress was surrounded by some controversy. Stanberry made accusations about Sam Houston's involvement with Native Americans. Houston confronted him and beat him with a Hickory cane. In reaction, Stanberry allegedly tried to shoot Houston, but his pistol misfired. Houston was afterwards arrested and found guilty.
After not gaining re-election in 1832, Stanberry resumed his law practice in Newark, where he stayed until his death in 1873. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07055
Subjects: United States. Congress. House; Law & legal affairs; Newark (Ohio)
Places: Newark (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
Image ID: AL07055
Subjects: United States. Congress. House; Law & legal affairs; Newark (Ohio)
Places: Newark (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)
Jerrie Mock at Women's Recognition Day Save

Description: Aviator Jerrie Mock (at left) of Bexley, Ohio, pictured with Marjorie Whiteman at Women's Recognition Day at the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, 1979. Mock was being inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame for her remarkable accomplishment of completing the first solo flight around the world by a woman, made in a single-engine Cessna 180 named "The Spirit of Columbus" in 1964. Marjorie Whiteman was being inducted the same day for her contributions to the field of law, including her roles as legal advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt, advisor to ten Secretaries of State over a span of 40 years, vice president of the American Society of International Law, and author of "Digest of International Law."
The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame honor women who have played a significant role in Ohio's history through their trailblazing contributions, and who serve as inspiration and role models for future generations. The Hall of Fame is administered by the Women's Bureau of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which began the program in 1978. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1869_B04F17_01
Subjects: Women air pilots--United States; Aviation--History; Awards; Ohio Women's Hall of Fame; Women--Ohio--History; Law & legal affairs;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Image ID: SA1869_B04F17_01
Subjects: Women air pilots--United States; Aviation--History; Awards; Ohio Women's Hall of Fame; Women--Ohio--History; Law & legal affairs;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Charles Dick at Camp McKinley Save

Description: Photograph of Charles Dick, stationed at Camp McKinley with the Ohio National Guard in 1903. Charles William Frederick Dick was born in Akron, Ohio, on November 3, 1858. He studied law and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1894 and set up practice in his hometown. Dick briefly left his legal practice to serve in the Eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish-American War. When the war ended, Dick returned to Akron and his law career.
Associating himself with the Republican Party, Dick first entered politics as Summit County auditor from 1886 to 1894. He also was very active in the national Republican Party, serving as secretary of the Republican National Committee from 1896 to 1900. When Congressman Stephen A. Northway died in office in 1898, Dick was appointed to replace him in the U.S. House of Representatives. He subsequently gained reelection three times. Dick resigned from his seat in 1904 in order to accept appointment as a senator. Once again, Dick was replacing an Ohioan who had died in office -- Marcus A. Hanna. He served in the Senate from 1904 until 1911, when he failed to win reelection. After leaving the Senate, Dick resumed his legal practice in both Washington, DC, and Akron. He reentered the political arena once again in 1922, when he attempted to become the Republican candidate for the Senate, but was unsuccessful. Dick died in Akron, Ohio, on March 13, 1945. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC2394_Charles_Dick_001
Subjects: Spanish-American War, 1898; Military life; Soldiers--Ohio--Photographs; Politicians; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law;
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio);
Image ID: SC2394_Charles_Dick_001
Subjects: Spanish-American War, 1898; Military life; Soldiers--Ohio--Photographs; Politicians; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law;
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio);
John McLean portrait Save

Description: This image of American jurist John McLean (1785-1861) is a photographic reproduction of an engraved portrait. The engraving is based on an oil painting by artist Thomas Sully (1783-1872). The original painting is in the collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
McLean was an attorney, political leader, and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was born on March 11, 1785, in New Jersey. His parents moved to western Virginia in 1789 and later traveled to Kentucky. By 1797 the family was settled on a farm in Lebanon, Ohio. No free schools existed in Ohio, and McLean's family could not afford to pay his tuition for him at a private institution. A self-educated young man, McLean moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1803 and studied law with the son of former General Arthur St. Clair. He supported himself by working as a copyist in the clerk's office of Hamilton County. In 1807 the State of Ohio admitted him to the bar.
Voters in Cincinnati elected McLean to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1812 and again in 1814. Before the end of his second term, the Ohio legislature appointed McLean a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He remained on the court until 1822, when President James Monroe appointed him a commissioner of the Federal Land Office. A year later Monroe selected McLean to be Postmaster General. In 1829 President Andrew Jackson appointed McLean to the United States Supreme Court.
As a Supreme Court justice, McLean's most famous case was the Dred Scott v. Sanford ruling (1857). He favored granting Dred Scott his freedom, thus disagreeing with the majority of his fellow justices. (Scott, a slave, had filed suit for his freedom because his owner had taken him to a state where slavery was illegal.) In other cases, McLean upheld slave owners' rights to reclaim their "fugitive" property in states that had outlawed slavery. He also ruled that states could not implement laws that made it impossible for the federal government to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.
McLean's prominence as a justice on the Supreme Court led various political parties to consider nominating him as a presidential candidate, but McLean never became a candidate. He remained on the Supreme Court until his death on April 4, 1861.
View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05834
Subjects: McLean, John, 1785-1861; United States. Supreme Court; Scott, Dred, 1809-1858--Trials, litigation, etc.; Constitutional history--United States; Slavery--United States--Legal status of slaves in free states; Sully, Thomas (1783-1872); Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Image ID: AL05834
Subjects: McLean, John, 1785-1861; United States. Supreme Court; Scott, Dred, 1809-1858--Trials, litigation, etc.; Constitutional history--United States; Slavery--United States--Legal status of slaves in free states; Sully, Thomas (1783-1872); Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Radar speed car photograph Save

Description: Photograph taken for the Columbus Citizen-Journal newspaper and identified on the reverse as a radar speed car in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Visible in the background of the photograph is a large parking lot and the Tracy-Wells Company Building.
This Chevrolet automobile features a vehicle-mounted device used by law enforcement to measure the speed of surrounding objects and detect speeders in traffic. The technology, which uses Doppler radar, was developed during World War II, and by the late 1940s was being put into use by law enforcement and in traffic surveys around the country. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P339_B03F05_10_01
Subjects: Law enforcement; Automobiles; Automotive technology; Traffic;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Image ID: P339_B03F05_10_01
Subjects: Law enforcement; Automobiles; Automotive technology; Traffic;
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Little Steel Strike Law Enforcement Officers Photographs Save

Description: Five photographs show law enforcement officers involved with activities at the Republic Steel Corporation's Warren Plant during the 1937 ""Little Steel"" Strike. The first is an image of the mill police off duty on June 20. Taken June 21, the second photograph shows the city police, who told the photographer to ""Keep that camera pointed inside if you want protection from us."" The third and fourth images shows the railroad police at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad gate on June 23. Railroad police are also shown in the last image, taken on June 28. These 4.5"" by 6.5"" (11.43 by 16.5 cm) photographs are part of a scrapbook maintained by the Republic Steel Corporation documenting events at its Warren Plant during the strike. The scrapbook is labeled Miscellaneous Communications, Posters and Pictures Relating to the C.I.O. Strike of the Warren Plant of the Republic Steel Corporation, Summer 1937, Vol. III. In June 1936 the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers and the Committee for Industrial Organization (C.I.O.) agreed to a joint effort to organize the steel industry. This led to the formation of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (S.W.O.C.). Soon after the first representatives from the S.W.O.C. arrived in the Mahoning Valley to begin their organizing efforts. On March 26, 1937 the organizing committee signed a contract with U.S. Steel, the nation's largest steel producer. Six weeks later the second largest steel company in the country, Jones & Laughlin, followed the example of U.S. Steel. Following these victories the S.W.O.C. increased its efforts at reaching agreements with the smaller companies known as the ""Little Steel"" companies: Republic Steel, Inland Steel, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube. Talks between the organizing committee and the steel companies broke down and on May 26, 1937 approximately 25,000 Mahoning Valley steelworkers walked off their jobs from Republic Steel and Youngstown Sheet and Tube. Most of the mills shut down with the start of the strike. However, Republic Steel kept their Warren and Niles plants open using non-striking steelworkers. This led to a number of violent confrontations outside the mills. With no end to the strike in sight, Youngstown Sheet and Tube and Republic Steel announced on June 21 that the mills will be re-opened for those workers wanted to return to work. Fearing the violence that would follow attempts to re-open the plants, Ohio Governor Martin Davey ordered National Guard troops to the Mahoning Valley and on June 22 nearly 2,000 National Guardsmen arrived in Youngstown and Warren. The arrival of the National Guard signaled the beginning of the end of the strike. On June 25 striking steelworkers began returning to work under the protection of the National Guard. The steel companies also began hiring new workers to replace those who remained on strike. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1619_2586914_042
Subjects: Business and Labor; Strikes; Steel industry; Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.); Labor unions; Police; Law enforcement officers
Places: Niles (Ohio); Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
Image ID: Om1619_2586914_042
Subjects: Business and Labor; Strikes; Steel industry; Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.); Labor unions; Police; Law enforcement officers
Places: Niles (Ohio); Warren (Ohio); Trumbull County (Ohio)
Arthur I. Vorys photograph Save

Description: Photograph of Arthur I. Vorys, an attorney with the law firm of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, ca. 1950-1959. Mr. Vorys began practicing law upon his admission to the Bar in 1949, and also worked with the Ohio Department of Insurance as Superintendent of Insurance from 1957 to 1959. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02831
Subjects: Lawyers--Ohio--Columbus Metropolitan Area; Insurance departments--United States; Law firms--Ohio--Columbus
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Image ID: AL02831
Subjects: Lawyers--Ohio--Columbus Metropolitan Area; Insurance departments--United States; Law firms--Ohio--Columbus
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Ohio State Bar Association banquet Save

Description: Photograph of members of the Ohio State Bar Association attending a formal banquet held in during their annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, on January 25, 1924. The Ohio State Bar Association was founded in 1880 as a professional organization for those in the legal profession who have passed the bar examination. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05246
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio); Law & legal affairs; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)
Image ID: AL05246
Subjects: Columbus (Ohio); Law & legal affairs; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)