Celebrating San Jacinto Day

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Today is San Jacinto Day! We, along with many others across the state, turn our thoughts to the final battle of the Texas Revolution that took place on April 21, 1836. The victory paved the way for a new government to form under the 1836 Constitution of the Republic of Texas and the rest is legal research.

To celebrate the day, we're offering a #shelfie opportunity the week of April 23 at the Harris County Law Library. Grab your phone and take a #shelfie in front of our monographic replica of the San Jacinto Monument. Be sure to post it to Twitter and tag it #SanJacintheStacks!

National Poetry Month: Poetry of the Bench & Bar

April is National Poetry Month, and the Harris County Law Library is celebrating. We're shining a spotlight on the Poetry of the Bench and Bar with an exhibit featuring poetic judicial opinions and poems written by and about attorneys. Visit the Law Library all month long to view the exhibit.

Women of Legal Tech

March is Women's History Month, and the Harris County Law Library is celebrating. All month long, we are paying tribute to a woman of distinction, Camille Elizabeth Stanford Openshaw. View our digital exhibit to learn about the achievements of this remarkable woman. Reflect on Ms. Openshaw's contributions to the field of law and the role she played in paving the way for smart, ambitious women to excel as attorneys nearly 100 years later. Take a moment to consider the tremendous evolution in legal practice over the last century and the role of technology in shaping the profession as we know it today.

Women have continued to make great strides not only in the practice of law but also in developing their knowledge and skills in the area of legal tech. Bob Ambrogi declared 2017 the Year of Women in Legal Tech, and the role of women in the legal tech sector is only continuing to grow.

In an effort to "celebrate the women currently in the legal tech space, and to encourage more women to join the ranks," the ABA's Legal Technology Resource Center has recognized "Women of Legal Tech" annually since 2015. The nomination period for this year's honorees just closed on March 1st. The 2018 list of innovative, entrepreneurial, tech-savvy women will be announced later this month. Follow the LTRC on Twitter and Facebook, and the Law Technology Today blog to see the list of 2018 honorees as soon as they are announced.

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