In 1991, the Society began to record and transcribe the oral histories of judges, attorneys, and others who have played key roles in the Circuit's history. To date, 67 oral histories have been completed, and most are available in the Library of Congress, in the Library of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, and in the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Some of the oral histories can be accessed from this website.

What's New:

• Experts discussed the pivotal role the D.C. Circuit has played in the development of law respecting judicial review of rulemaking in a panel discussion, "Review of Agency Rules in the D.C. Circuit: Back to the Future?" on March 31, 2010. Watch the video!


• For the first time in history, four of the key participants in the 1974 Watergate Cover-Up Trial talked together about the trial in its historic context, the lessons learned, and the clash between the Executive and Judicial Branches of Government that led to the resignation of a President. Listen to their discussion of this historic Trial.


• Read our first four newsletters! The Historical Society created a newsletter with highlights of programs, events, and website additions so you can keep abreast of some of our activities from your email. Read them all: Fall 2009 Newsletter, Winter 2010 Newsletter, Spring 2010 Newsletter, and Summer 2010 Newsletter.


• You can now view three more Society programs in their entirety: Lessons from the Teapot Dome Trials featuring David C. Frederick, Esq., Roger M. Adelman, Esq., and William D. Nussbaum; and panelists Hon. Ellen Segal Huvelle, Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan, Timothy G. Lynch, Esq., and Jacob A. Stein, Esq.; Technology in the Courtroom: Could it Change the Course of History featuring Hon. James Boasberg and David Kendall, Esq.; panelists Hon. Rosemary M. Collyer, Hon. James Robertson and Francis D. Carter, Esq.; and Moderator Eva Esber, Esq.; and FCC Indecency Cases in the D.C.Circuit: An Historical Perspective, featuring panelists Hon. Patricia M. Wald, Hon. Timothy B. Dyk, Hon. Glen O. Robinson, and moderator Christopher J. Wright, Esq.


• On Friday, April 3, 2009, the Courts of the D.C. Circuit hosted 80 Washington, D.C. high school students participating in the Historical Society's fifth annual Mock Oral Argument Program. Each student prepared and presented arguments before one of eight judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court. This year's participants attend Cardozo Senior High School, Collegiate Academy, McKinley Technology High School, St. Albans, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School, Thurgood Marshall Academy, and Woodrow Wilson Senior High School.


• View the panel discussions of the following Historical Society programs: FOIA, National Security and the D.C.Circuit: A Safeguard or a Sham?; The Steel Seizure Case in Historical Perspective; and The Pentagon Papers: Did the Courts Get It Right? To view the videos, use your Windows Media Player.


• An exhibition on historic cases and events involving the D.C. Circuit Courts. View the exhibition now gracing the walls of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse which highlights many of the contributions the Courts of the D.C. Circuit have made to the nation's legal history. Unveiled in October 2006, at the dedication of the William B. Bryant Annex of the Courthouse, the exhibit includes photographs, articles, documents, artifacts and descriptive text which reveal much of the proud history of the Circuit's groundbreaking work.


• Visit our news section to read about other Society programs such as a conversation with judges about historic cases and mock court competitions for high school youth.


• Read articles on the history of law concerning the Courts of the District of Columbia Circuit.


• You can read bios of all judges who have sat on D.C. Circuit Courts and discover where judges' personal papers have been archived.