Commonwealth Fund records, Legal Research Program, SG 1, Series 23, 1920-1943
Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Commonwealth Fund
- Extent:
- 3.04 Cubic Feet 8 letter document boxes
- Language:
- English .
Background
- Biographical / historical:
-
One of the earliest programs of the Commonwealth Fund was the Legal Research Program, which began with the organization of the Legal Research Committee in 1920. The Committee divided into two subcommittees in 1921, one which specialized in the study of administrative law, and the other studied possible reforms in the law of evidence.
The first subcommittee investigated the use of "administrative instruments in the enforcement of legislative policy . . . the legal issues involved in their powers and the relation of their powers to the traditional system of Anglo-American law." Two types of broad studies were instituted; the first dealt with administrative powers and their use, the other with specific illustrations of such use drawn from the experience of administrative agencies set up by the federal government and other agencies. Several monographs were published based on the research completed by the subcommittee.
The second original subcommittee analyzed the law of evidence and arranged for a number of fact-finding studies which were published in various university law journals. This subcommittee also issued a report in 1927. In addition to funding legal research on current topics, the Committee also provided support for research in legal history and international law, and made special grants available to professors at Oxford University, Yale University, the Foundation for Research in Legal History at the Columbia University School of Law, Harvard Law School, and the University of Chicago School of Law.
The Commonwealth Fund withdrew its support of legal research in 1943, and the Legal Research Committee was discontinued. A card file index to topics and individuals associated with the Legal Research Program is available. Additional documentation concerning the studies published for the Legal Research Committee is located in the records of the Commonwealth Fund's Division of Publications.
Prominent members of the Legal Research Committee include Henry M. Bates, Charles C. Burlingham, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Grenville Clark, James Parker Hall, Learned Hand, Charles F. Hughes, John C. Milburn, George Welwood Murray, Thomas I. Parkinson, Roscoe Pound, Austin W. Scott, Young B. Smith, and Harlan F. Stone.
- Arrangement:
-
This series is arranged in two subseries:
Subseries 1 - Legal Research Committee Administrative Files.
Subseries 2 - Legal Research Projects.
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Law
Legal issues
Legal research
Medical education
Child psychology
Child welfare
Education, Rural
Hygiene
Public health
Child mental health
War relief
Public welfare
Medicine, Rural
Medical research
Mental health
Medicine -- Scholarships, fellowships, etc. - Places:
- New York (State)
New York (N.Y.)
United States
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research with select materials restricted as noted. Brittle or damaged items are available at the discretion of RAC.
- Terms of access:
-
Reproduction/duplication of archival items is routinely provided in accordance with "fair use." If the RAC does not hold copyright for an archival collection, or items within a collection, it is the user's responsibility to contact the copyright holder, or make a fair effort to do so, prior to publication.
- Location of this collection:
- Contact: