Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit

Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit is a tax-exempt organization independent of the Courts of the D.C. Barrett Prettyman U.S.

Circuit with a mission to record, preserve and publicize the life and history of those courts. 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. More than 100 oral histories have been completed, and most are available in the Library of Congress, in the Library of the E. Courthouse, and in the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Most of the oral histories can be accessed from our website.

Probation officers bear some of the most significant responsibilities in our criminal justice system. Gennine Hagar serv...
05/29/2026

Probation officers bear some of the most significant responsibilities in our criminal justice system. Gennine Hagar served that role with distinction for more than three decades – ultimately rising to be the Chief Probation Officer in the U.S. Probation Office for the District of Columbia.

Her oral history https://dcchs.org/judges/hagar-gennine/, taken by Washington attorney Kurt Hamrock, recounts her many experiences and reflections. And Hamrock’s summary of the oral history reveals the bedrock decency that characterized Hagar’s approach to her crucially important work.

In 1921, Pearl McCall became the first woman appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbi...
04/28/2026

In 1921, Pearl McCall became the first woman appointed as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. But over the next nearly 50 years, only 12 more women would follow her.

Carol Garfiel Freeman — herself the 11th woman AUSA in the DC office, appointed in December 1964 — documented their stories in "Thirteen Who Paved the Way: The First Women DC AUSAs", published on the DCCHS website. https://dcchs.org/sb_pdf/thirteen-who-paved-the-way/ Freeman’s article traces these trailblazers through 1969, when the landscape of federal prosecution was still overwhelmingly male.

Freeman’s own oral history, available in the Society’s collection https://dcchs.org/judges/freeman-carol/, brings that era to life — including a telling episode about the obstacles women faced within the office itself. When Freeman sought a transfer from the Appellate Division to the Criminal Trial division, she was told the transfer would be delayed because the previous woman to handle criminal trials had committed reversible error. As Freeman recounts, the implication was clear -- one woman’s mistake was held against all women. Freeman did eventually make the transfer, handling felony prosecutions in the US District Court., as well as serving as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Division.

The Society’s collection also holds the oral history of June Jeffries, who joined the office in January 1983 and served for over 25 years. https://dcchs.org/judges/jeffries-june/ Jeffries reflects in her oral history on what it meant to stand up in court and enter her appearance on behalf of the United States of America — observing that jurors were often visibly heartened to see her in her role. Her oral history addresses her entry into the office, the supervisory culture she encountered, and changes in that culture as women reached critical mass — detailed, candid testimony on the institutional history of the DC USAO from an insider’s perspective, and a rich complement to Freeman’s account of an earlier era.

Together, Freeman’s article and both oral histories constitute a substantial primary-source record of women’s experience in one of the nation’s most important federal prosecutor’s offices — all available through the Society’s website at dcchs.org.

We hope you will enjoy our latest newsletter, which is now available on the Society’s website. Our April 2026 newsletter...
04/02/2026

We hope you will enjoy our latest newsletter, which is now available on the Society’s website.

Our April 2026 newsletter includes:
-Highlights of the oral history of Katherine A. Mazzaferri, a longtime leader of the DC Bar, recently published on the Society’s website

-An article on the most recent Flannery Lecture, featuring Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, both former Society Board members

-A report on the success of the Society’s 21st Annual Mock Court Program for high school students

-A summary of one of the more interesting oral histories in the Society’s archives, that of Hon. Abner J. Mikva, former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals

-A look back at the portrait of District Judge Burnita Shelton Matthews in our Gallery, its subject, and the artist

-Availability of the book "Soul of the Court"

Read the full newsletter https://bit.ly/DCCHSApril2026

Katherine Mazzeferi built the Bar from a fledgling organization into a model for the nation. Her newly available oral hi...
03/20/2026

Katherine Mazzeferi built the Bar from a fledgling organization into a model for the nation. Her newly available oral history tells that story from the inside -- from GW Law, where she co-founded the Women's Legal Defense Fund, to her retirement, when the Bar honored her with an endowed fund in her name.

Before spending 35 years transforming the D.C. Bar, she was on the front lines — litigating gender and race discrimination at the EEOC, winning landmark affirmative action regulations at the League of Women Voters Education Fund, and navigating complex FTC rulemaking.

Now available on the Society's website, her oral history is a firsthand account of how access to justice advocacy evolved across half a century of D.C. history.
https://dcchs.org/judges/mazzaferri-katherine-a/

“Everything that I ever dreamed of about being a criminal defense lawyer came true for me. I loved talking to juries; I ...
03/12/2026

“Everything that I ever dreamed of about being a criminal defense lawyer came true for me. I loved talking to juries; I loved being the spiritual leader of the place.” That was how Barbara Babcock described her time leading D.C.’s Public Defender Service in her oral history.

She was thirty years old when she became the first Director of the Public Defender Service, and had helped draft the statute that created the Service. For Women’s History Month, the Society is honored to highlight Babcock’s achievements.

Babcock went on to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division under President Carter, and unofficially lobbied the Carter administration in favor of female appointees — including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who gave Babcock credit for her D.C. Circuit nomination.

Her oral history is available at on the Society website here: https://dcchs.org/judges/babcock-barbara

It is an invaluable first-person record of a pivotal era in D.C.’s legal history.

Crack down on public corruption, prosecute violent offenders, and engage directly with the community -- those were the p...
03/12/2026

Crack down on public corruption, prosecute violent offenders, and engage directly with the community -- those were the priorities immediately set by Wilma Lewis when she took over the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office in January 1998.

Nominated by President Clinton, she became the first woman — and the first African American woman — ever to lead that office. Her tenure as U.S. Attorney was one chapter in a broader career of firsts.

This Women’s History Month, the Society recognizes Wilma Lewis for a career that repeatedly broke barriers at the highest levels of federal law. Before leading that the US Attorneys' Office, Lewis had served as Inspector General of the Department of the Interior — the first African American to hold that office. She later became the first woman to serve as a federal district court judge in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Watch the Society’s website, dcchs.org, for updates about the soon-to-be-published book by former Society Board member K. Chris Todd and his colleague Jim Thunder that chronicles the lives of the forty-nine U.S. Attorneys for the District of Columbia, including Wilma Lewis.

The Second Amendment is on the Supreme Court's docket twice this term. Monday (March 2) the Court considers in Hemani wh...
02/27/2026

The Second Amendment is on the Supreme Court's docket twice this term. Monday (March 2) the Court considers in Hemani whether prohibiting firearm possession by anyone "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance" violates the Second Amendment.

In Wolford (argued Jan. 20), the Court examines carrying weapons in "sensitive places."
Modern Second Amendment jurisprudence has deep D.C. roots, and our oral histories offer firsthand insights into that evolution.

The D.C. Circuit's Parker (2007), affirmed as Heller (2008), was the Court's first Second Amendment case in 70 years, recognizing an individual right to bear arms and striking down D.C.'s handgun ban. D.C. then enacted new restrictions, triggering Heller II (2011). Judge Douglas Ginsburg's majority applied intermediate scrutiny and upheld the restrictions over then-Judge Kavanaugh's dissent advocating a text-history-tradition framework. That framework later carried the Supreme Court vote in Bruen (2022), with now-Justice Kavanaugh voting with the majority.

Our oral histories uniquely capture these watershed cases. Alan B. Morrison candidly recounts the internal power struggle in the D.C. Attorney General's office during Heller. As Special Counsel defending D.C.'s handgun ban, Morrison reveals how the struggle led to his controversial firing shortly before Supreme Court oral argument: "You expect that to happen when the Democrats or the Republicans change places in the White House... but you don't expect it to happen in the same party in the same administration." Morrison also colorfully addresses whether the counsel change impacted the outcome. https://dcchs.org/judges/morrison-alan

Judge Ginsburg discusses Heller II at length, expounding on the lack of clarity regarding standard of review left by Heller, the burdens of D.C.'s extensive regulatory response, and his deep dissatisfaction with both parties' briefing quality. He explains the unusual step of including a pointed appendix in his majority opinion refuting then-Judge Kavanaugh's dissenting approach. https://dcchs.org/judges/ginsburg-judge-douglas-h/

These oral histories preserve the voices of those who shaped constitutional history—offering insights no court opinion can capture. Another chapter unfolds.

This Black History Month, we honor Charles T. Duncan (b.1924 – d. 2004), a trailblazing legal mind who broke barriers an...
02/20/2026

This Black History Month, we honor Charles T. Duncan (b.1924 – d. 2004), a trailblazing legal mind who broke barriers and transformed D.C.'s legal landscape. Duncan was D.C.'s first Black Corporation Counsel (1966-1970).

A Harvard-trained civil rights lawyer who worked on Brown v. Board of Education, he led the city's legal affairs through the 1968 riots following Dr. King's assassination. During this crisis, he simultaneously served as Acting Director of Public Safety.

Duncan was also Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney for D.C. (1961-1965) and became the first General Counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1965. After his time as Corporation Counsel, Duncan returned to private practice and became the first Black President of the D.C Bar (1973-1974).

Duncan served as the Dean of Howard University School of Law from 1974-1977 and on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague from 1994-2000.

Duncan's appointment as Corporation Counsel in 1966 marked a watershed moment in the capital's legal history. He led the city's legal office through a pivotal era toward home rule governance, directing a staff of 70 attorneys while designated second in line of succession to act as Mayor.

Duncan’s oral history taken by the Historical Society, which covers Duncan's childhood through his work at the U.S. Attorney's office in DC, offers invaluable insights into his experiences growing up as a Washington native, and entering into practice, in the segregated city.

For researchers, attorneys, and historians, the oral histories taken by the Society, and available on its website, are a unique repository of firsthand accounts—the authentic voices of legal pioneers preserved for future generations.

Read Charles Duncan’s oral history here: https://dcchs.org/judges/duncan-charles-t/

During this Black History Month, we honor another DC legal pioneer whose career exemplifies excellence and barrier-break...
02/20/2026

During this Black History Month, we honor another DC legal pioneer whose career exemplifies excellence and barrier-breaking leadership.

Eric H. Holder Jr. began his distinguished career in DC's justice system when President Ronald Reagan appointed him as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1988. His five years on the bench shaped his commitment to criminal justice reform and equal justice under law.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Judge Holder as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia—making him the first African American to lead the nation's largest U.S. Attorney's office. In this role, he prioritized community outreach, established a domestic violence task force, and worked to reduce gun violence in the District.

In 1997, Holder was elevated to Deputy Attorney General, becoming the first African American to serve as the nation's second-highest law enforcement official.
A decade later, President Barack Obama nominated him to serve as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, and in 2009, Eric Holder became the first African American Attorney General in our nation's history—a position he held with distinction until 2015.

Prior to his appointment as Attorney General, and after serving in that post, he has been Partner at Covington & Burling, one of Washington's most respected law firms.
Former Chief Judge of our District Court, Hon. Richard W. Roberts overlapped with Eric Holder at Columbia Law School. In his oral history Judge Roberts addressed the “overwhelming sense among some of the whites in those environments that we were not up to s***f, that we could not perform, that we should not be there and that we were wasting a spot . . .” Roberts cited Holder as a ready example of members of his generation whose rise demonstrated not just merit, but exceptionalism. Read Judge Roberts complete oral history here: https://dcchs.org/judges/roberts-richard-oh

Watch for more about Eric Holder's impressive career, as well as details and anecdotes about the careers of the other forty-eight individuals who have held the post of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, in the upcoming book sponsored by the Historical Society The United States Attorneys for the District of Columbia, 1801-2024: A Comprehensive History by K. Chris Todd and James M. Thunder.

Hon. James RobertsonIt’s Princeton, 1958. A roommate arranges a blind date. The serious senior meets a Swedish au pair w...
02/14/2026

Hon. James Robertson

It’s Princeton, 1958. A roommate arranges a blind date. The serious senior meets a Swedish au pair working for a family in town. They saw “The Vikings” with Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas. They both thought it was stupid.

This Valentine’s Day, we’re highlighting how the Society’s oral histories preserve personal and social context behind professional achievements. Judge James Robertson’s courtship story reveals as much about post-war 1950s America as about romance.

James and Berit married in September 1959, three months after he graduated. She supported him through Navy service, night law school at GW, big firm practice, and his decision to leave for civil rights work in Mississippi.

The blind date that began with a bad Viking movie became a more than sixty-year partnership sustaining one of our federal courts’ most distinguished legal careers.

Find Judge Robertson’s complete oral history here: https://dcchs.org/judges/robertson-james-oh/

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