The “Law Department” of Dickinson College

Mark W. Podvia

On June 8, 1833, the Honorable John Reed, President Judge of

the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas, wrote a letter to

the Trustees of Dickinson College in which he proposed opening a

law school under his tutelage that would have “some nominal

connection with the College.”1 The College Trustees thereafter

adopted a resolution establishing “a professorship of law...in

connection with the College.”2 The resolution provided that

“[t]his professor is not to be considered as a member of the

Faculty of the College” and that there was to be “no expense to

the College arising out of the establishment” of the law

department.3 Those completing the course of study were to

receive “an appropriate diploma” from the College.4 Regular

students of the College were also permitted to “attend the

lectures of the law professor.”5 Judge Reed was unanimously

selected by the Board of Trustees to fill the newly-created post.

Judge’s Reed’s first student, Alfred Nevin, registered

on April 1, 1834.6 Law classes were not held on the College

campus, but were instead held in the basement of Judge Reed’s

High Street home.7 The name “The Dickinson School of Law” does

not appear in any of the surviving correspondence. John Reed

referred to the Law School as being the “Law Department” of the

College.8 The School was informally referenced by some as “the

Reed Law School.”9 Judge Reed died in January, 1850, and the

teaching of law at Dickinson College ceased.10

In 1862, Dickinson College awarded an honorary Doctor

of Laws degree to the Honorable James Hutchison Graham, President

Judge of the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas, and

appointed him as Professor of Law.11 There is some question as

to how seriously Graham took his teaching duties. The Dickinsonian

of February 3, 1874, noted that “[w]e were inclined to think this

an empty department, and the name put there to fill up.”12 However,

in 1874 Graham apparently did teach a course in Blackstone, so

there was at least a limited amount of legal instruction at

Dickinson College during this period.13 The College’s Chair of

Professor of Law was not filled following Graham’s death in

1882.14

Eight years later, on January 9, 1890, Dickinson

College’s new president, the Rev. Dr. George Reed, recommended to

the College’s Board that “the President and Executive Committee

be authorized to establish a law school in connection with the

College if it can be done without expense to the institution.”15

The College Trustees approved the recommendation, and a Board of

Incorporators was selected.

On February 19, 1890, articles incorporating “the Dickinson

School of Law” as an independent organization were filed in the

Cumberland County Courthouse.16 However, until 1911 the law

school was indirectly united with Dickinson College through the

person of the Rev. Dr. George Edward Reed, who served as

president of both schools,17 an arrangement that continued under

Reed’s successor, Dr. Eugene Noble.

There has been some debate as to why the Law School was

incorporated as a separate institution. Spahr later wrote that

“the original College charter was broad enough to authorize a law

school or any other professional school.”18 It has been

suggested that the separate charter came about because of a long-

standing feud between the Biddle and Sadler families or because

Dean Trickett had previously served on the College faculty and

later sued the school. Boyd Lee Spahr later wrote that

“[p]robably it was due to the desire of old Judge [Wilber] Sadler

and of Dean Trickett to have control of the matter in their own

hands and Dr. Reed was not familiar with legal procedure and the

ensuing results.”19 However, it might also have been because of

concerns over money; Reed’s original recommendation required that

the Law School was not to be an “expense” to the College.

Despite being separate institutions, the two schools

cooperated in a number of areas for many years—an outsider could

easily assume that the Law School was part and parcel of

Dickinson College. Even the College newspaper made that error;

when the Law School first opened, the Dickinsonian, referred to it

as “a new department in Dickinson College.”20 The Law School

occupied a College building, Emory Hall, rent-free from 1890 to

1918.21 Graduates of “respectable colleges” who graduated from

the Law School were eligible for the degree of Master of Arts in

cursu from the college.22 Dickinson College students were

eligible for a program that allowed them to complete degree

requirements at both schools in six years.23 The schools, along

with the college’s preparatory school, Conway Hall, published a

joint catalogue until 1912.24 The schools shared a yearbook, The

Microcosm, until 1923.25 Law students played on college athletic

teams for many years; indeed, the 1900 Dickinson football team

that defeated Penn State 18-0 included four law students.26 The

schools held joint commencement programs until 1952.27 Law

students paid a mandatory $5.00 athletic fee to the College until

at least 1969.28 Spahr later summed up this ongoing cooperation,

writing that “[i]n view of the fact that so many privileges are

granted to students of the Law School, and for other reasons, we

believe a closer relationship between the two institutions is

quiet essential.”29

Following Reed’s departure in 1911, college officials

expressed concern about the continued existence of the Law School

as an independent entity. A report, presumably submitted to the

College trustees by President Eugene Noble, who seceded Reed as

president, noted that “The College allows the use of its name by

an organization over which it has absolutely no control, and this

seems to me the proper time to raise the question as to the

continuance of this condition.”30 Dr. Noble thereafter announced

—as was already noted—that beginning in 1912 the two schools

would publish separate catalogues. This announcement, along with

other rumors, caused considerable local consternation. The

Carlisle Evening Herald wrote of the break between the two schools:

Rumors of a split between the Dickinson School of Law and Dickinson college, both located in this city, have stimulated great efforts on the parts of the friends ofboth these institution to prevent a crisis, and it is hoped by them that if any friction has recently been created between these two institutions of learning, that it will be smoothed out in a satisfactory manner. It is reported that announcement was made this week to a class of the law school by a member of its facultythat if the Law School students were refused permissionto use the athletic field of the college, or denied places on the college athletic teams, the Law school would establish its own field and own sports, apart from the college, and that abundant means would be provided for this purpose.31

The newspaper also reported that “the graduating class of

the law school probably will not attend the baccalaureate service

of the college and Conway Hall,” noting that “[i]t would be a

source of general regret, friends declare, if there should be any

permanent alienation between these two institutions.”32

Dr. Noble immediately wrote the newspaper’s editor, calling

the article “incorrect and misleading.”33 He informed the editor

that “[s]erious efforts are being made by Dickinson College to

establish closer and tenable relations with the Law School” and

that “similar efforts are also being made by the Law School.”

However, he clearly stated that “[t]here is no organic

1 Burton R. Laub, The Dickinson School of Law: Proud and Independent (Carlisle: Dickinson School of Law, 1983), 11. JudgeReed’s original letters, now in very delicate condition, are preserved in the Law School’s archives.2 Ibid., 12.3 Ibid.4 Ibid.5 Ibid.6 Nevin never practiced law but did gain considerable fame as Presbyterian theologian. A chaplin with the Union Army during the Civil War, he authored numerous books and was editor of Encyclopædia of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America: Including the Northern and Southern Assemblies (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Encyclopædia Publishing Co., 1884).7 Reed’s house survives today as the home of the President of Dickinson College.8 Laub, The Dickinson School of Law, 25.9 “Dickinson Law School,” Dickinsonian, XVIII (October 1890), 17.10 Reed is buried in Carlisle’s Old Public Graveyard.11 Cumberland County Bar Foundation, Cumberland Justice: Legal Practice in Cumberland County, 1750-2000, (Carlisle: Cumberland County Bar Foundation, 2001), 47.12 “Our Law Department,” Dickinsonian, 3 February 1874, p. 37.13 Ibid.14 Graham, like Reed, was also buried in Carlisle’s Old Public Graveyard.15 Laub, The Dickinson School of Law, 15.16 The Original Law School Charter is reproduced in Laub, The Dickinson School of Law, 184. The Charter was amended in 1941. In the original Charter the name of the school is listed as “The Dickinson School of Law” with “The” being capitalized, probably

connection between the two institutions at the present time. To

put it in another way, the Law School is not a department of

Dickinson College.” Not surprisingly, shortly thereafter the

Evening Herald reported that “[a]ll friction that existed recently

because it fell at the beginning of a line. In the 1941 Amended Charter the school’s name is listed as “Dickinson School of Law” without “The.”17 The presidency of the law school was offered by the law school’s Board of Incorporators to Reed’s successor, Eugene A. Noble. He initially declined the position, seeing “little reasonand less right” to it “until the Law School is a part of the college.” Eugene A. Noble to William Trickett, 5 March 1912, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/DickinsonCollege Correspondence 1912-1943, Archives, Dickinson School of Law. However, he later wrote Trickett “to accept the election and render the service to the law school.” Noble to Trickett, 29May 1913, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1943.18 Boyd Lee Spahr to Gilbert Malcolm, Treasurer, Dickinson College, 15 November 1945, File Folder 8-20, Law School Relationswith College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945. Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.19 Boyd Lee Spahr to Dr. Fred P. Corson, 29 July 1936, File Folder8-20, Law School Relations with College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence, Archives, Dickinson College. Spahr used similar language more than nine years later in a letter to the Treasurer of Dickinson College, Gilbert Malcolm, writing that “I think the truth probably is that old Judge Sadler and Dr. Trickett put their heads together and decided that they wanted the law school to be practically independent, especially in view of Trickett’s unfortunate experience in the College faculty about twelve years before, and that they put it across with Dr. Reed, who perhaps failed to realize that a separate charter was unnecessary.” Boyd Lee Spahrto Gilbert Malcolm, 15 November 1945, File Folder 8-20, Law

between two of Carlisle’s institution of learning, Dickinson

College and the Dickinson School of Law, passed the crisis

Saturday, and these two corporate bodies are now more closely

allied than in years past.”34

School Relations with College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence, Archives, Dickinson College.20 “Dickinson Law School,” Dickinsonian, October 1890, p. 16.21 The Law School maintained the building and paid the college forthe cost of heating it, but paid no other rent.22 This arrangement lasted until 1927, when Dickinson College stopped awarding the M.A. degree.23 That cooperative program remains in effect today. http://www.dickinson.edu/info/20211/career_center/639/pre-law_33_program.24 Eugene A. Noble to William Trickett, 12 January 1912, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916, Archives, The Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University.25 The manner in which the Microcosm referred to the Law School varied over the year. As examples, with not all years being represented, the Law School’s portion of the yearbook was variously captioned as “The Law School” (1891 and 1907), “Dickinson School of Law” (1896, 1898, 1903, and 1912), The School of Law (1900), “Law Department” (1913) and “Department of Law” (1909, 1911, and 1917). The Law School began publishing itsown year book, the Commentator, in 1925.26 An undergraduate degree was not required to attend the law school until the 1960s; law students who had not graduated from college were, therefore, eligible to play undergraduate sports. That arrangement died out as the number of law students possessing undergraduate degrees increased. In 1946, Spahr wrotethat “[t]hat particular situation has now disappeared as the students at the Law School are all graduates of some college or other.” “Memorandum re Dickinson School of Law,” May 15, 1946, File Folder 8-21, Law School Relations with College, 1-2-1946-10-

Graduates of both these schools, and of Carlisle, aremore than pleased with the outcome of the tangle, whichhas been given as little publicity as possible, and itis believed that all matters have been smoothed out ina satisfactory manner to all concerned.35

However, the question of a merger between the two

institutions had not been worked out. In a letter dated April

26, 1912, Dr. Noble informed Dean Trickett that “[a]s I have gone

over the matter a few difficulties have presented themselves to

15-1951, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence. 27 The Law School’s Commencement ceremonies were thereafter moved to its newly-constructed dormitory, the Sadler Curtilage.28 Edward J. Benett, “Editorial: A $5.00 Fee for Nothing,” Bill ofParticulars (20 March 1968), 2.29 Untitled, File Folder 8-19, Law School Relations with College, c. 1913-1932, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.30 “Law School,” Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916. It should be noted that the name “The Dickinson School of Law” was granted to the Law School by order of the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas, not by the College. Further, John Dickinson—who served aspresident of both Delaware and Pennsylvania and who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence but did sign the Articles ofConfederation and whose name appears on the United States Constitution—is a public figure, therefore Dickinson College never had exclusive rights to the use of his name.31 “Rumored Split with Law School Arouses Friends of College,” Carlisle Evening Herald, 22 May 1912, p. 1.32 Ibid. 33 Eugene A. Noble to the Editor of the Carlisle Evening Herald, 24 May 1912, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916.34 “Law School Joins in Baccalaureate,” Carlisle Evening Herald, 22 May1912, p. 1.35 Ibid.

my thinking, but none of them are serious,” and that a merger

would allow the Law School “to go on without break or halt for

many years to come.”36 He also suggested that the Law School

should adopt a new name:

As I have thought over the matter, it has seemed to me highly desirable to change the name of the Law School if the amalgamation is to be made. Under its present name, “The Dickinson School of Law,” no mention is or should be made, of the College, although the college catalog repeatedly refers to it as the Law School of Dickinson College. It would seem to me better to leavethe Dickinson name out of the title of the school, and then in a kind of sub-title to refer to the Law School as a department of the college. I would like to suggest a new and appropriate name for the Law School, although I feel certain that you will oppose the suggestion for the time being. For many good reasons Ishould like to see it called “THE WILLIAM TRICKETT SCHOOL OF LAW: The Law Department of Dickinson College.”37

On June 9, 1913, the joint committee representing Dickinson

College and the Dickinson School of Law presented the following

report: 36 Eugene A. Noble to William Trickett, 26 April 1912, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916.37 Ibid. Dean Trickett was said to have been a very humble man andundoubtedly would have opposed having the Law School named in hishonor; Dr. Noble ended his letter by advising that “before you finally oppose the use of the name which I have intimated, ask a few of your friends what they think of it.”

[T]hat the Dickinson School of Law by an appropriate by-law of the Board of Trustees of Dickinson College bemade the law department of Dickinson College under the following regulations:(a) That the gentlemen composing the present Board of Incorporators of the Dickinson School of Law be appointed by the Trustees of Dickinson College as a Board of Overseers of said law department of Dickinson College with the right to elect their own successors. That the said Board of Overseers have essentially thesame authority in the management of the law department and in the selection of its faculty as is now vested inthe Incorporators of the Dickinson School of Law and that a Committee composed of President Noble, Dean Trickett, Lewis S. Sadler, Esq., Charles J. Hepburn Esq., and Boyd Lee Spahr, Esq., be appointed by the Trustees of Dickinson College to formulate regulations for the law department. (c) That the income of the law department be expendedin the upkeep of the law department under the supervision of Dean Trickett, and that President Noble and Dean Trickett be authorized to make definite arrangements for the expenses of the Law School as a department of the College.38

In June 1913, the resolution was concurrently adopted by the

Law School’s Board of Incorporators and the Dickinson College

Board of Trustees.39 At a meeting held on February 27, 1914 in

Philadelphia, the College Board was informed that “[t]he

38 “Exert of minutes from the annual meeting,” Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence, File Folder 8-19, Law School Relationswith College, c. 1913-1932.

Committee on Dickinson School of Law report[s] progress.”40

Despite this, it appears that the marriage of the two schools was

never consummated; the Law School’s Board of Incorporators was

never designated by the College trustees as a Board of Overseers

of the Law Department.

According to a letter written to Dr. Noble by Dean Trickett,

it appears that this was because of concerns regarding the

appointment of Law School faculty:

The committee appointed last June, was appointed not to repeal the by-law by which it was created, but to “formulate regulations” in subordination thereto. An attempt by that Committee to lessen the powers concededto the Incorporators over the selection of their faculty, would be ultra vires, and I would find it impossible to participate in it. Should the Committee usurp this power, I am sure thatits act would be repudiated by the Law School. The Law School could not have consented to the by-lawwhich defined its powers, had its supposed that a committee of five gentlemen appointed by the College could filch from it any or all of these powers, so carefully stipulated for. The Law School has thus far striven to conform to theJune treaty. It has also paid the athletic fee, in expectation that a fair agreement should be reached concerning its participation in the management of

39 Report to the Executive Committee of the Trustees of Dickinson College by the subcommittee of the Dickinson School of Law, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence, File Folder 8-19, Law SchoolRelations with College, c. 1913-1932. 40 Ibid.

athletics. A plan has been submitted to the College Faculty, thoroughly discussed by them, and, as I believe, approved by them. By some influence this agreement has been suspended for months. This policy, by whatever motive dictated, will, if persisted in, compel, I doubt not, the abandonment of the expectationof cordial cooperation with respect to athletics between the two groups of students, and the two faculties. I respectfully urge that the school is getting along well and doing its work satisfactorily, despite the action by the Committee. I think the wellfare [sic] ofboth College an [sic] School will be best promoted by loyal and sincere adherence to the compact that was concluded last June. Any other policy, I am sure, willinvite disaster.41

There the correspondence regarding the issue ends. Trickett

asked Dr. Noble “not to continue the correspondence by letter,”

suggesting that they meet “to talk over this and all other

correspondence.”42

The reason for the college’s failure to thereafter act

on the resolution can perhaps be attributed to a change in the

administration at Dickinson College. In 1914, Dr. J.H. Morgan

replaced Dr. Noble as president of the College. Spahr later

wrote that Dr. Morgan “was not overenthusiastic” about the

41 William Trickett to Dr. Eugene A. Noble, 4 March 1914, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916.42 Ibid.

merger, noting that he “regarded the Law School and perhaps

lawyers generally with somewhat of a jaundiced eye.”43 Spahr

also later suggested that the fault might also lie with

Pennsylvania Justice John Kephart of the Law School Board, who

Spahr said “was opposed to the surrender of their [the law

school’s] separate charter.”44

In April, 1916, Dr. Morgan sent Dean Trickett a

“Tentative Suggestion for Closer Relations between Dickinson

College and Dickinson School of Law,” in which he wrote that

“[i]t does not seem that the time is yet ripe for such change.”45

Dean Trickett’s response was incredulous:

43 Boyd Lee Spahr to Dr. William W. Edel, November 22, 1954, File Folder 8-22, Law School Relations with College, 1-17-1952 -12-30-1958, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence. Spahr was in evenmore blunt in a letter dated March 21, 1946, writing that Morgan “never liked the Law School anyway.” Boyd Lee Spahr to E.M. Biddle, Jr., Esq., File Folder 8-20, Law School Relations with College, 1-2-1946-10-15-1951.44 Letter from Spahr to Edel, November 22, 1954, File Folder 8-22, Law School Relations with College, 1-17-1952 -12-30-1958, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence,.45 “Tentative Suggestion for Closer Relations between Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law,” attached to letter from J.H. Morgan to William Trickett, 27 April 1916, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/Dickinson College Correspondence 1912-1916.

May I be pardoned if I say that your note and the accompanying section of your proposed report to the Board of Trustees of the College were a surprise to me? You purpose to suggest to that board, the consideration of the relation of the College and Law School, as if it had never been considered and formallysettled. In 1913 both boards of trustees appointed committees,each of which was to meet with the other, to agree upona plan of cooperation and union, and was to report the plan agreed upon, to the board which appointed it, for ratification. The relations of college and school werethoroughly canvassed by the two committees, meeting together, in Dr. Noble’s residence; an agreement was reached on all mooted points, and Mr. Spahr of the college board was requested to express it in writing. It was further agreed that this paper drawn up by him should be submitted to the two bodies. It was so submitted. It was ratified by both bodies without dissent. All who were cognizant of the circumstances, supposed the question finally settled. It is impossible for me to think that anybody who participated in this agreement would now seek to subvert it. I must believe that the college, after months of deliberation, knew what it was doing, and I cannot suspect that its Trustees wish capriciously to repudiate it. I am imaging that you are purposing to reawaken the defunct discussion, in ignorance of the contract which terminated to earlier stage of it. It would be idle to enter into a fresh consideration of a matter so recently decided by a formal convention. There would be no guaranty that a second settlement, were a different one possible, would last any longer than the first. The college is our common Alma Mater. We both wish it well. I shall rejoice in your attaining, as its president, the greatest possible success. Will you permit me, however, to express the conviction that the repeating of the agitation which characterized the term

of your predecessor would have consequences which both of us would deplore?46

The question of a merger between the law school and

Dickinson College appears to have laid dormant until Dean

Trickett’s death on August 1, 1928.47 Shortly thereafter,

apparently as a result of the poor Pennsylvania Bar exam scores

exhibited by the Law School’s graduates during the final years

of Dr. Trickett’s tenure as dean—the College trustees appointed

a committee chaired by Boyd Lee Spahr “to consider the question

of the relations of the College to the Dickinson School of Law,

and make a report of a program of action on the same.”48 The

committee’s report was presented to the board at its meeting in

June, 1929.

On October 10, 1929, Spahr wrote a letter to Judge William

Valentine, newly-elected president of the Law School’s Board of

Incorporators, stating that the Law School and the College “ought

to arrive at a definite understanding and arrangement for the

future.”49 He suggested four possible courses of action:

1. Let matters run along as they are.46 William Trickett to Dr. James Henry Morgan, 28 April 1916, Record Group 13, File Folder 1, Dickinson School of Law/DickinsonCollege Correspondence 1912-1916.

2. Divorce the College and the Law School entirely. 3. Carry into effect the action proposed in 1913, or with modifications as might be agreed upon. 4. Make the Law School in law and in fact a department of the College.50

A meeting of the College and Law School committees on joint

relations was held at the College on August 4, 1931.51 According

47 Spahr later wrote that “[m]y recollection is that there never was a meeting of such [joint] committee during the presidency of Dr. Morgan. Frankly, while Dr. Morgan was an excellent Presidentin many ways, he never had a very sympathetic feeling toward the Law School or lawyers generally, with the result that the matter was just laid aside. Finally, I think that during the short tenure of President Filler, 1928-31, there was one meeting of such joint committee….There was a good deal of talk but no operating result. Since then the matter has been left dormant.” Boyd Lee Spahr to the Hon. W.C. Sheely, 17 September 1945, Law School Relations with College, File Folder 8-20, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945.48 Dickinson School of Law graduates posted an overall pass rate on the July 1928 bar exam of 37.73%, compared to 52.72% for Duquesne, 55.56% for Temple, 71.42% for Penn, 82.43% for Pitt and91.30% for Harvard. “Pennsylvania State Board of Law Examiners,”2-3 July 1928, File Folder 8-19, Law School Relations with College, c. 1913-1932, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence. This was seen as reflecting badly on Dickinson College, since many believed that the College controlled the Law School.49 The following year Walter Harrison Hitchler was appointed Dean of the Law School, a position he would hold until 1954.50 Boyd Lee Spahr to the Hon. W.A. Valentine, 10 October 1929, Record Group 13, File Folder 2, Dickinson School of Law/DickinsonCollege Correspondence 1928-1933.51 “Memorandum of Meeting of Joint Committee of Dickinson College and Dickinson School of Law Held at Carlisle,” 4 August, 1931, File Folder 8-19, Law School Relations with College, c. 1913-1932, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.

to the minutes of the meeting, it was agreed that the 1913

resolution “should be regarded as valid and subsisting, and that

the details thereof to be carried out by committee therein named

should be consummated.”52

An agreement was drafted whereby the Law School was

“declared to be the law department of the College.”53 However,

both corporations were to continue “as corporate entities each

functioning through its Board of Trustees or Board of

Incorporators.”54 As in the 1913 resolution, the trustees of the

College were to appoint the Law School’s Board of Incorporators

as a Board of Overseers of the Law Department, “with the right to

select their own successors.”55 The board was to have the power

to select law school faculty “subject to the approval of the

president of the College.”56

The proposed agreement specified that joint

commencement exercises were to be held, with the law degrees

being issued in the following form:52 Ibid.53 “Third Draft,” File Folder 8-19, Law School Relations with College, c. 1913-1932, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.54 Ibid.55 Ibid.56 Ibid.

Dickinson CollegeDepartment of Law

(Dickinson School of Law)57

Both the College and the Law School reserved the right to

terminate the agreement upon giving three months notice prior to

the opening of the fall academic term.

The proposed agreement was never brought before the law

school’s board for a vote. In a letter to Spahr dated December

12, 1932, Judge Valentine wrote that the Law School’s committee

on relations with the College, which included Valentine, Dean

Hitchler and Justice Kephart, “could not and would not recommend

[the agreement] for approval by the Board of Incorporators...nor

would the Board, in the opinion of the members of the

committee...approve such provisions.”58 While the committee

objected to several of the provisions in the proposed agreement,

the requirement that the selection of law school faculty would be

subject to approval by the President of the College was described

as being “exceptionally objectionable as its effect would be to

57 Ibid.

take the management of the Law School out of the hands of the

Incorporators and transfer it to the President of the College.”59

The Law School committee was essentially correct in this

view. College President Karl Waugh, in a letter to Spahr dated

March 17, 1933, called the provision “necessary” but admitted

that “the President of the College has no desire to exercise the

privilege of appointing a Law School faculty, and would, indeed,

not be competent to select them.”60

In a March 24, 1933 letter to Judge Kephart, Spahr wrote

that “[a]ssuming that your views reflect those of the other

members of the Law School committee, it seems to me that we might

as well abandon efforts toward and formal closer relationship and

let matters stand as they have been.”61 Even if matters could

58 Hon. W. Alfred Valentine to Boyd Lee Spahr, 18 December 1932, Record Group 13, File Folder 2, Dickinson School of Law/DickinsonCollege Correspondence 1928-1933.59 Ibid.60 Waugh to Boyd Lee Spahr, 17 March 1933, File Folder 8-20, Law School Relations with College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence. Dr. Waugh added that “There is in my mind no doubt but that the president of the College would always give full approval to such Law School faculty members as might be selected by the Law School itself.”61 Boyd Lee Spahr to the Hon. John W. Kephart, 24 March 1933, FileFolder 8-20, Law School Relations with College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.

have been worked out through further negotiations, another change

in the college’s administration intervened. Spahr later wrote

that “[t]he difficulties arising out of Dr. Waugh’s resignation,

the interim administration of Dr. Morgan, the selection of a new

president and other matters necessarily put it to one side.”62

Additional negotiations between the college and the law

school were conducted following the Second World War. Early in

1946, Boyd Lee Spahr wrote the following to the Hon. W. Clarence

Sheely, who had succeeded Judge Valentine as President of the Law

School in 1940:

“Personally, I have long felt that the present situation is somewhat anomalous. Legally, the Law School is a separate corporation, dating from 1890, although it traces its origin back to the original chair in the College existing intermittently until about 1880. Practically, Law School men regard themselves as Dickinsonians, belong to the various alumni clubs, attend their dinners, etc. From the College standpoint, they are very welcome in their feelings that they are connected with Dickinson (even though, now that the school is really a graduate school, some of them are graduates of other colleges). I know of no law school, at least none of any repute, which is a separate institution; all of them are departments of a college or university. I should be very glad if the spirit of the joint resolution of 1913

62 Boyd Lee Spahr to Dr. Fred P. Corson, 29 July 1936, File Folder8-20, Law School Relations with College, 1-11-1933-11-15-1945, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.

or 1914 could be carried out by actually making the LawSchool a department of the College and, if so desired, under an arrangement by which it would preserve full financial autonomy. I may be in error, but I rather feel that it may be that the attitude of your Board nowwould be different from what it was twelve years ago.”63

Judge Sheely replied in a letter to Spahr dated March 16,

1946. He wrote “that nothing would be gained by reopening the

question of having the Law School made a department of the

College, but that much might be gained by discussions between the

committees of the Boards of the two institutions looking toward a

closer cooperation between them.”64 In a memorandum dated May

15, 1946, Spahr wrote that “[t[his appears to foreclose any new

discussion of possible merger although it rather ignores the

joint action of the Board members in June, 1913, which declared

the Law School to be a department of the College, although

concededly nothing has ever been done to effectuate that beyond

the adoption of the resolution.”65

Another round of negotiations—the last in which Boyd

Lee Spahr participated—occurred in 1958. Spurred by a rumor that

63 Boyd Lee Spahr to the Hon. William C. Sheely, 2 January 1946, File Folder 8-21, Law School Relations with College, 1-2-1946-10-15-1951, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.

the “Pennsylvania State University is looking toward the

absorption of Dickinson Law School by it so that it will have a

Law School in its university setup,”66 Spahr met with Dean Morris

Shafer of the law school.67 While Spahr sensed that Shafer’s

“general feeling toward the College” was “very friendly,” the

question of transforming the Law School into a department of the

College apparently was not raised.68

At the meeting Dean Shafer reportedly told Spahr “that he

had heard a rumor that Pennsylvania State University was thinking

of adding a law school but that no word to that effect officially

or unofficially has come to him.”69 In fact, Dean Shafer did

undertake such negotiations with representatives of the

64 Hon. W.C. Sheely to Boyd Lee Spahr, 16 March 1946, File Folder 8-21, Law School Relations with College, 1-2-1946-10-15-1951, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.65 “Memorandum re Dickinson School of Law,” 15 May 1946, File Folder 8-21, Law School Relations with College, 1-2-1946-10-15-1951, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.66 Boyd Lee Spahr to Dr. William W. Edel, 26 September 1958, File Folder 8-22, Law School Relations with College, 1-17-1952-12-30-1958, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence.67 Morris Shafer had become Law School Dean in 1956. The meeting took place on March 18, 1959.68 Boyd Lee Spahr to Bishop Corson, Mr. Vale and Mr. McKenney, 31 March 1959, File Folder 8-23, Law School Relations with College, 1-9-19592-3-31-1959, Boyd Lee Spahr Papers and Correspondence. 69 Ibid.

Pennsylvania State University, without initially notifying the

Law School’s Board or President.70

The possibility of a Law School merger with any outside

institution—be it Dickinson College or Penn State University—did

not sit well with all Law School alumni. The Washington, D.C.

Alumni Chapter adopted the following resolution opposing such

action.

The club, having received information that there is increasing pressure for making the Law School a department or unit within a university or college, suchas the Pennsylvania State University or Dickinson College, passed a resolution expressing concern over this possibility.71

The merger of the Law School and the Pennsylvania State

University ultimately did occur. On January 14, 1997 it was

announced that the two institutions planned to join.72 The

merger was completed in 2000; among the agreed-upon term was

that the Law School was to remain in Carlisle “in perpetuity.”73

70 Laub, The Dickinson School of Law, 91. The Law School’s board continued to study the possibly of a Dickinson School of Law/PennState merger as late as 1968, several years after Dean Shafer’s resigned as dean.71 “DC Club Concerned Over School’s Future,” Bill of Particulars, 2 September 1969, p. 3.

It would seem that this action would have ended any

possibility of a merger between the Dickinson School of Law and

Dickinson College. It did not. In 2004, the University began

negotiating with the Law School’s Board of Governors regarding

opening a Law School at Penn State’s main campus, University

Park. That left an unresolved question--what would be the fate

of the Law School’s historic Carlisle campus? Among the

possibilities discussed was a transfer of the Law School to

Dickinson College. However, the days when the “Law School men

regard themselves as Dickinsonians” were long-gone.

“We will get a good education from Dickinson, but the

student perception is that Penn State will help make the law

school move up in the rankings where is should be,” reported law

student Jennifer Beidel.74 “Our concern is that Penn State will

offer a degree that is well-known. Penn State is known, but

outside of Pennsylvania, Dickinson is not.”75

72 Bill Schackner, “Dickinson School of Law, Penn State Planning Merger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 14 January 1997.73 “Judge considers suit against law school campus,” Bucks County Courier Times, February 2005.74 Randy Widner, “Some Law Students Fear Loss of Penn State Affiliation, Dickinsonian, 8 October 2004, p. 2.75 Ibid.

In November 2004, the Law School’s Board of Governors voted

25-4 for a resolution calling for the Law School to remain a

part of the Penn State system.76 The long period of

negotiations that might have brought the Dickinson School of Law

and Dickinson College together had finally ended.

76 David Blymire, “Law School Sticks with Penn State,” Sentinel, 21 November 2004.

Appendix

Dickinson College and Dickinson Law School leaders during theperiod of active negotiations between Dickinson College and the

Dickinson School of Law

Presidents of Dickinson College77

George Edward Reed 1889-1911Eugene Allen Noble 1911-1914James Henry Morgan 1914-1928Mervin Grant Filler 1928-1931James Henry Morgan 1931-1932Karl Tinsley Waugh 1932-1933

James Henry Morgan, 1933-1934 (Acting)Fred Pierce Corson, 1934-1944

Cornelius William Prettyman, 1944-1946Boyd Lee Spahr, 1945-1946 (Acting); Trustee 1908-1970

Gilbert Malcolm, 1945-1946 (Acting)William Wilcox Edel, 1946-1959Gilbert Malcolm, 1959-1961

Deans of the Dickinson School of Law78

William Trickett, 1890-1928Sylvester Sadler (Acting), 1928-1929

Committee consisting of Walter Harrison Hitchler, Joseph P.McKeehan

and Fred S. Reese, 1929-1930Walter Harrison Hitchler, 1930-1954D. Fenton Adams (Acting), 1954-1956

Morris L. Shafer, 1956-1965

Presidents of the Dickinson School of Law79

77 Archives & Special Collections at Dickinson College, c. 2014, http://archives.dickinson.edu/college_history/browse_encyclopedia.78 Laub, The Dickinson School of Law, 186.79 Ibid.

George Edward Reed, 1890-1911Eugene Allen Noble, 1912-1914

Hon. Wilber F. Sadler, 1914-1921Hon. Sylvester Sadler, 1921-1929

Hon. W. Alfred Valentine, 1929-1940Hon. W. Clarence Sheely, 1940-1959

Harry W. Lee, 1959-1962Hon. Dale F. Shughart, 1962-