2003 is a milestone for Wisconsin legal history - marking both the supreme court's 150th and the State Bar's 125th anniversaries.
Vol. 75, No. 5, May
2002
Commemorate, Educate, Celebrate
2003 is a milestone for Wisconsin legal history -
marking both the supreme court's 150th and the State Bar's 125th
anniversaries.
by Gerry
Mowris
WISCONSIN LAWYERS ARE COMMITTED TO providing service to the
profession and the public. We do so in many different ways - from
serving on State Bar committees, sections, and boards to participating
in law-related education activities to volunteering in our communities.
As a profession, we have said that we want the public to understand the
role of the law and lawyers in society.
Next year, we have a unique opportunity to promote the value
of the profession, and have fun doing it. Everyone loves birthdays, and
we have two to celebrate - 2003 is the 150th anniversary of the
Wisconsin Supreme Court and the 125th anniversary of the State Bar of
Wisconsin. The occasion of these two events has heightened interest in
the legal history of Wisconsin. Now is the time to foster a better
understanding and appreciation of Wisconsin's legal history.
Chief Justice Abrahamson and I collaboratively formed the Wisconsin
Legal History Committee to help create and plan a series of events that
will celebrate separately and together the anniversaries of the Supreme
Court and the State Bar. In addition to members of the State Bar and the
Supreme Court, we have invited representatives of the Wisconsin Law
Foundation, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Wisconsin Academy of
Sciences, Arts, and Letters, and others to join us as we plan various
projects to celebrate these milestones.
Proposed projects include:
- producing a legal history program for Wisconsin Public
Television;
- preserving oral history of the legal profession in Wisconsin;
- creating a traveling museum display of historical legal
artifacts;
- developing an educational conference on civics and legal history;
and
- publishing articles in legal and nonlegal publications commemorating
the most significant Wisconsin trials and supreme court cases.
We hope you will join us in improving our citizens' understanding of
and appreciation for Wisconsin law, legal history, and institutions. We
ask you to contribute to this effort by sharing your memories - of
landmark cases, influential lawyers and judges, fundamental legal
issues, and legal greats in Wisconsin. We also are seeking volunteer
oral history interviewers and authors. If you are interested, please
write to State Bar of Wisconsin, Legal History, P.O. Box 7158, Madison,
WI 53707-7158.
Wisconsin
Lawyer