Oral History
Program
The Society's Oral
History Program preserves the recollections of judges, lawyers, and others who have helped
to shape the history of the Circuit. Recorded interviews, later transcribed, capture the
voices, inflections, insights, and stories of the very people who know most intimately how
the courts have functioned and developed over the years. Photographs of many of the subjects are also available.
Conducted by volunteer attorneys trained by the Program, oral
history interviews provide anecdotal information about family relationships and
backgrounds, personal observations about career histories and interactions with colleagues,
reflections on the times, comments on law practice and significant court decisions, the
administration of justice, life in the courts of the D.C. Circuit, and lessons learned from lifetimes in the law.
An invaluable resource for historians and students of legal process
and the administration of justice, the completed oral histories are maintained in the
Judges' Library at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse, the Manuscript Reading
Room of the Library of Congress, and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
In addition to the oral histories that are available on this site, oral histories of the following judges and
attorneys are available for review in the repositories: Dean Judith Areen, Robert S. Bennett, Benjamin Civiletti,
Irwin Goldbloom, Hon. Alan Kay, A. J. Kramer, Hon. Laurence H. Silberman, and Hon. Patricia M. Wald.
The following oral histories are under seal: Hon. Harry T. Edwards, Hon. John M. Ferren, Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
Hon. Gladys Kessler, Hon. Inez Smith Reid, Hon. Charles R. Richey, Hon. Stanley Sporkin, and Hon. Ricardo Urbina
Glimpses into the Society's Oral Histories
New in 2015, we will be highlighting selected segments of oral histories taken by the Historical Society and
recounting stories found therein.
 Our first article is
taken from the oral history of Society President, Stephen J. Pollak.
 Our second article is
taken from the oral history of Joseph E. diGenova, Esq.
 Our third article is
taken from the oral history of David B. Isbell, Esq.
 Our fourth article is
taken from the oral history of Joan (Jodie) Z. Bernstein, Esq.
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