The Tarlton Law Library maintains over 5,000 linear feet of archives for the purpose of historical research. The Library holds records of enduring value created by The University of Texas School of Law, as well as the papers of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark and the Uniform Law Commission, collections of several Texas Supreme Court justices and federal judges, and many University of Texas School of Law alumni, faculty, and deans. These remarkable collections provide materials relevant to legal history and the history of legal education in Texas and the United States.
Finding aids for many of our archival collections are available via Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO), a consortium of the major research archives in Texas. The links below navigate to detailed finding aids for each collection.
Tom C. Clark, the first Texan to serve on the United States Supreme Court, earned his law degree from the University of Texas in 1922. He joined the Justice Department in 1937 and rose through the ranks. President Truman appointed him U.S. Attorney General in 1945 and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1949. Clark resigned from the Court in 1967 when his son, Ramsey Clark, was appointed Attorney General. Following his retirement, Clark served as the first Chairman of the Federal Judiciary Center and accepted assignments to sit by designation on various United States Courts of Appeal until his death on June 13, 1977.
The Tom C. Clark Papers include over 500 linear feet of case files, correspondence, literary productions, speeches, printed material, political cartoons, artifacts, scrapbooks and photographs, which include a virtually complete record of Clark's 18 years as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1949-1967).
Guide to the Tom C. Clark Papers
Papers of Justice Tom. C. Clark: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Cases of the U.S. Supreme Court
Native American War Bonnets from the Tom C. Clark Papers
The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), known until 2007 as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), consists of state commissions on uniform laws from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The mission of the Uniform Law Commission is to provide states with non-partisan legislation that brings clarity and stability to state statutory law. Additionally, uniform laws strengthen the federal system by providing rules and procedures that are consistent across states. More information about the Uniform Law Commission may be found at www.uniformlaws.org.
Uniform Law Commission Archives at the Tarlton Law Library span over 600 linear feet and may be used for studying the evolution of many uniform and model acts. The collection contain administrative files, committee papers, and working materials related to studying, drafting, and revising uniform laws. They include but are not limited to correspondence, meeting documents, conference proceedings, reports, working and final drafts, publications, press releases, notes, programs, and research and legislative materials. Provenance information identifying the donor is listed for each folder.
The collection is organized into two main groups: Acts and Committees.
The finding aid to the Uniform Law Commission Archives can be found at Texas Archival Resources Online. Majority of the collection has been digitized, and files can be made available for viewing upon request. Please contact archives@law.utexas.edu with research requests.
The primary goal of Tarlton Law Library's archival collections is to collect, preserve, and make available the records of enduring value created by The University of Texas School of Law for the purpose of historical research. These permanently valuable records from the 19th century to the present day detail the history and events of the law school. Materials include course catalogs, yearbooks, directories, programs, announcements, newsletters, and magazines. Papers of several law school faculty members and deans can also be found in Special Collections. These archives provide insights into developments in legal education, administration, law school history, and, in some cases, national affairs. Related archives include records of student organizations, the School of Law Photographs by Cary Hazlegrove, and collections related to the broader UT history.
John C. Townes Papers (1887-1923)
Ira Polk Hildebrand Papers (1883-1944)
Charles T. McCormick Papers (1911-1964)
W. Page Keeton Papers (1938-1995)
M. Michael Sharlot Papers (1958-1995)
Hans W. Baade Papers (1297-2004)
Leo G. Blackstock Papers (1929-1979)
Woodfin L. Butte Papers (1957, 1977-1978)
David B. Filvaroff Papers (1976-1979)
James B. Gambrell Papers (1957-2010)
Julius G. Getman Papers (1942-2014)
T. J. Gibson Papers (1949-1986)
Robert Simonton Gould Letters to Thomas Watt Gregory (1893)
Leon Green Papers (1912-1978)
Helen Hargrave Papers (1919-1978)
William O. Huie Papers (1932-1996)
Corwin W. Johnson Papers (1925-1991)
Frank Maloney Papers (1960-1974)
Robert E. Mathews Papers (1917-1980)
Keith E. Morrison Papers (1950-1970)
Michael P. Rosenthal Papers (1965-1980)
Millard H. Ruud Papers (1939-1996)
Robert W. Stayton Papers (1934-1950)
George W. Stumberg Papers (1909-1964)
Bernard J. Ward Papers (ca. 1954-1982)
Charles Alan Wright Papers (1880-2004) [Bulk 1947-1999]
Heman Sweatt Vertical Files (1946-2007)
J. L. Lipscomb Letter (1909)
Texas State University for Negroes School of Law, Library Acquisition Records (1946-1950)
Todd Hartis Collection of Early Law School Photographs (ca. 1925-1935)
UT School of Law Class Composites (1884-1960, 1979-1982) (see also related digital exhibit)
UT School of Law Commencement Announcements (1886-2022)
UT School of Law History Files Collected by Hans Baade (1889-1992, undated)
UT School of Law Notebooks of Henry Gilchrist (1927-1974) [Bulk 1948-1950]
UT School of Law Periodicals (1943-2007)
UT School of Law Photographs of Cary Hazlegrove (1992-1999)
UT School of Law Student Publications (1950-2011)
UT School of Law Student Theses (1899-1987)
UT School of Law Yearbooks (1949-2004)
Samuel Peterson Diaries (1889-1909)
University of Texas Yearbooks (1894-2000)
Charles J. Whitman Estate Attorneys' Files (1966-1972)
Dudley K. Woodward Papers (1917-1968)
Assault and Flattery Records (1953-2019)
Delta Theta Phi Fraternity Collection (1979-1985)
Records of Kappa Beta Pi Legal Sorority (1924-1969)
Law Wives Club Records (1947-1976)
Legal Eagles Records (1955-1997)
Texas Journal of Women and the Law Records (1991-2003)
Texas Law Review Records (1922-2020)
Many of the archives held in Special Collections chronicle the outstanding contributions that Law School alumni have made to the legal institutions of Texas. The collections contain valuable materials relevant to legal history and the history of legal education in Texas.
Few Brewster Papers (1915-1930)
Frank Lee Hawkins Papers (1926-1944)
W. St. John Garwood Papers (1917-1982)
Harry N. Graves Papers (1938)
Joe R. Greenhill, Sr. Papers (1934-2008) [Bulk 1957-2007]
Oscar H. Mauzy Papers (1986-1992)
James W. McClendon Papers (1912-1967)
Arthur L. Moller Papers (1962-1973)
Wright C. Morrow Papers (1922-1942)
Ted Z. Robertson Papers (1953-2010)
Graham B. Smedley Papers (1913-1954)
Rose Spector Papers (1990-1999)
Texas Jurists Photographs Collected by Jack Pope (1936-1992) (See also Texas Jurists digital collection and related Justices of Texas digital exhibit)
Ex parte McCormick Papers [et al.] (1935)
Ireland Graves Papers (1883-1945)
Reporter's Record, Yates v. State of Texas (2002-2003)
J. Edwin Smith Papers (1937-1995)
J. Chrys Dougherty Papers on Tidelands Litigation (1945-1957)
E. B. Pickett, Jr. Law Firm Papers (1902-1951)
E. B. Pickett, Jr. Law School Exams (1898-1899)
Bradford Pickett Papers of Adams v. Slattery (1838-1996)
See also Pickett Family Papers digital exhibit
Jerome Potts Papers (1940-1957 and undated)
Searcy Family Papers (1866-1965)
Texas Civil Judicial Council Records (1938-1947)
Texas Constitutional Revision Files (1966-1975)
Texas Penal Code Revision Commission (ca. 1964-1974)
Texas Syllabi (1924-1975)
Texas v. Hidalgo County Water Control Case Files (1963-1966)
Other collections in the archive have a national scope, including the papers of federal judges or those collections concerning U.S. legal history.
Norman W. Black Papers (1953-1997)
Emilio M. Garza Papers (1991-2012)
Joseph C. Hutcheson Jr. Papers (1853-1979)
William Wayne Justice Papers (1951-2009) (see also related digital exhibit)
Judge Mallory B. Blair's Nuremberg Justice Trial Notebooks (1887-1962)
Paul Carrington Papers (1927-1967)
John P. Frank Papers on Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (1991-1998)
John P. Frank Papers on Supreme Court Nominations (1823-1955)
John J. Greer Papers (1945-1948)
Joseph D. Jamail Pennzoil v. Texaco Papers (1984-1987)
Letelier v. Republic of Chile Briefs (1980-1993)
Harold J. "Tex" Lezar Papers (1961-1998)
Survey of the Legal Profession Papers (1945-1952)
Larry Temple United States Supreme Court Memos Collection (1959-1960)
Uniform Law Commission Archives (1906-2015)
Select Watergate Court Documents