Library Research Guides: Minnesota Legal History: Minnesota Legal & Court History

Court of Appeals 40th Anniversary

Minnesota Court of Appeals 40th Anniversary Digital Exhibit

175th Anniversary CLE

On March 20, 2024, the Minnesota State Law Library hosted an event celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the creation of the Minnesota Territory, Supreme Court and Minnesota State Law Library. The CLE speakers included Liz Reppe, State Law Librarian, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, Carol Chomsky, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota Law School and Judge Tim Baland, retired 7th Judicial District.

Historic Minnesota Appellate Court Briefs

Minnesota Supreme Court Briefs, 1864-1880
These briefs are the oldest held by the Minnesota State Law Library. They were scanned by LLMC and are available in their database.

Articles of note

Lawyers Old and New: Autographs of Members of the Bench and Bar of Minnesota, The St. Paul Globe, July 23, 1899, p.23, column 1
Article about the Attorney Roll Book held in the library's Special Collections Room.

Minnesota Legal History Books

The case for a Minnesota Court of Appeals by Gregory A. Lang & Janet K. Marshall
Call Number: Retired KFM 5913 .L3

Publication Date: 1980
Celebrating Minnesota's sesquicentennial : 150 years of law, lawyers and justice by Minnesota State Bar Association
Call Number: Main KF 354 .M6 C44 2008

Publication Date: 2008
Doing Minnesota justice the story of the Minnesota Court of Appeals - DVD
Call Number: AV Collection KFM 5913 .D65 2008

Publication Date: 2008
The First 100 Years by Minnesota State Bar Association
Call Number: Main KFM5478 .F5 1983

Publication Date: 1983
The First Ten: An Informal History of the First Ten Years of the Minnesota Court of Appeals by Roland Amundson
Call Number: Retired KFM5913 .A455 1993

Publication Date: 1993
For the record : 150 years of law & lawyers in Minnesota : an illustrated history by Minnesota State Supreme Court and the Minnesota State Bar Association
Call Number: Getting Started Room KFM5478 .F67 1999

Publication Date: 1999
The Frontier of Justice: The Early Years of the Minnesota State Courts by Carol Chomsky
Call Number: Main KFM 5478 .C46 2014

Publication Date: 2014

Unpublished draft - PDF copies available upon request
History of the bench and bar of Minnesota by prepared under the direction of Hiram F. Stevens
Publication Date: 1904

2 Volumes
This title is also available in the library's Special Collections Room.
History of the Minnesota Supreme Court by Russell O. Gunderson
Publication Date: 1937

This book is also available in the library's Special Collections Room.
The Juvenile Court of Hennepin County, Minnesota
Publication Date: 1914

Annual Reports of three entities: Report 1: Glen Lake Farm School for Boys, including: duties of probation officers; medical inspection staff; tables of delinquent cases during the year, recapitulation, and new cases; map; board of managers; staff. Report 2: Hennepin County Probation Office, including financial appropriation, disbursements, farm structure, crops, and stock; improvements made; photos of grounds and of boys at work/play; roster of admissions with costs; ages and mental classification of boys; demographics of parents; school and work assignments; employees' pay; government (Boys' Council); effects of medical treatment and partnership with St. Barnabas Hospital; farm placements for boys with anecdotes. Report 3: Director of Research Department, including data gathered: description of medical exams, home environment, pedagogical, moral, and psychological factors; descriptions of staff; results of efforts; table of remedial work done in previous two years. Appendix: memo with suggestions of application of Aid to Mothers with Dependent Children to exceptional cases. Also, general information: organization of the court; cost of juvenile court work; statistics detailing apparent decrease in delinquency; summary of Glen Lake Farm School performance; need for a detention home for girls; summary of Research Department, etc.
The Law, Courts and Lawyers in the Frontier Days of Minnesota: An Informal Legal History of the Years 1835 to 1865 by Robert J. Sheran & Timothy J. Baland
Publication Date: 1976

William Mitchell Law Review Vol. 2 Iss. 1
Minnesota and its resources: to which are appended Camp-fire sketches, or, Notes of a trip from St. Paul to Pembina and Selkirk settlement on the Red River of the north by J. Wesley (John Wesley) Bond
Publication Date: 1857
Minnesota judicial districts by Minnesota Historical Records Survey (WPA)
Publication Date: 1942
Proceedings of the first annual meeting of the Minnesota State Bar Association
Publication Date: 1884

This title is also available in the library's Special Collections Room.
A search for place: the history of the Minnesota Judicial Center by Roland Amundson
Call Number: Main KFM 5478 .A48 1995

Publication Date: 1995
The story of a Minnesotan by Loren Warren Collins (former Justice of the Supreme Court of Minnesota)
Publication Date: 1913

This book is also available in the library's Special Collections Room.
The Supreme Court of Minnesota by Hon. Charles B. Elliot
Publication Date: 1892

4 Green Bag 113