Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit

Home
United States
Washington D.C., DC
Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit

Call Directions Website

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.

10/13/2026

The October 2026 quarterly newsletter of the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit features:

• A look back at the D.C. Circuit’s landmark decision in 𝐿𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑦 𝑣. 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐴𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠, decided 50 years ago, which held that Northwest’s lower pay for female flight attendants than for male pursers violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. The article also includes Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s oral history recollections of serving on a later 𝐿𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑦 panel with Judges Robert Bork and Kenneth Starr.

• An article marking the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s unusual three days of oral argument in the D.C. Circuit’s ceremonial courtroom, after anthrax spores were detected in the Supreme Court’s mail room in October 2001.

• Highlights from the oral history of Nathan Lewin, recently posted on the Society’s website. Lewin escaped Nazi-occupied Poland as a child and became one of the foremost advocates for religious freedom of the past 50 years. His clients also included former President Richard Nixon and Attorney General Edwin Meese.

• A “Gallery Walk” feature on the portrait of Judge Walter S. Cox (1826–1902), who defended two of the alleged Lincoln assassination conspirators and later presided over the trial of President Garfield’s assassin, Charles Guiteau. The article also tells the tragic story of the acclaimed portrait artist Harold MacDonald.

• Announcement that video of the Society’s June 10, 2026 program, 𝐴𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝐹𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷.𝐶. 𝐶𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑠 – 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐿𝑖𝑏𝑏𝑦 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙, is now available on the Society’s YouTube channel. The program brought key moments from the Scooter Libby trial to life, with members of the original trial teams and Judge Reggie B. Walton, who presided over the trial.

• A reminder to former D.C. Circuit and District Court clerks to watch for their invitation to the October 29, 2026 Annual Law Clerk and Judges Reception.

Read the full Newsletter here. https://dcchs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-October-newsletter.pdf?utm_source=web-link&utm_medium=WhatsNew&utm_campaign=WhatsNew&utm_id=QuarterlyNewsletter

Join our mailing list: https://dcchs.org/newsletters-signup/?utm_source=web-link&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=October2026Newsletter&utm_id=WhatsNew

10/02/2026

Now on YouTube: The Society's program “Anatomy Of A False Statements Prosecution.”

In case you missed it, the Society’s highly regarded program "Anatomy of a False Statements Prosecution in the D.C. Circuit Courts – The Scooter Libby Trial" is now available on the Society’s YouTube Channel. https://lnkd.in/gZ_PDh_m

The program chronicles the challenges of prosecuting and defending a high-profile false statements case in the D.C. Circuit. It includes discussions, comments and dramatizations of events during the 2007 trial by trial practitioners, including several who participated in the 2007 trial as well as Judge Reggie Walton who presided over the trial.

08/06/2026

The oral history of one of the foremost advocates for religious freedom in the past 50 years is now available on the Society’s website. In 1939, at the age of three, Nathan Lewin escaped Nazi-occupied Poland with his family, travelling through Russia and Japan before arriving in the U.S. in 1941.

What followed: Harvard Law, a Supreme Court clerkship with Justice John Marshall Harlan II, the Jimmy Hoffa prosecution at the DOJ, service in the Solicitor General’s office, and co-founding Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin.

Lewin argued countless times before the Supreme Court and lower courts on behalf of Jews and other religious minorities asserting their constitutional right to religious expression. His far-ranging practice also included representing Richard Nixon before the Supreme Court and Attorney General Edwin Meese in the second Independent Counsel investigation in 1988.

This oral history offers firsthand recollections of the Supreme Court’s workings in the early 1960s, the development of Free Exercise and Establishment Clause doctrine, and 65 years of Washington legal life. Don’t miss it. Available at dcchs.org
Read it here: https://dcchs.org/judges/lewin-nathan/.

07/01/2026

The July 2026 quarterly newsletter of the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit features:

A recap of the Society’s June 10, 2026 program, "Anatomy of a False Statement Case", which brought to life key moments from the Scooter Libby trial through re-enactments from key aspects of the case.

A remembrance of Judge Rosemary Collyer, who passed away on June 7, 2026. Judge Collyer served on our District Court for more than twenty years.

Highlights from two oral histories recently posted on the Society’s website --
Tom Green’s oral history traces his career and the arc of Washington’s federal legal culture across six transformative decades.

Gennine Hagar served with distinction as a probation officer for more than three decades, rising to become Chief Probation Officer of the U.S. Probation Office for the District of Columbia.

A report on the Portrait Dedication Ceremony for Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The ceremony included heartfelt and humorous tributes to the Judge’s distinguished career, and even Broadway showtunes.

Congratulations to Senior Judge Royce C. Lamberth upon his receiving the Federal Bar Association’s Elaine R. “Boots” Fisher Award for Exemplary Community, Public, and Charitable Service at its annual meeting in September 2025.

A summary of the Society-sponsored panel held in April 2026 at the William B. Bryant American Inn of Court, discussing "Soul of the Court: The Trailblazing Life of Judge William Benson Bryant Sr."

A story about a new article posted on the Society’s website in honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That provides a look at two of the D.C. Circuit’s earliest judges who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Read the full Newsletter here.https://dcchs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-07-July-newsletter.pdf

Join our mailing list. https://dcchs.org/newsletters-signup

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.

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.

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

Address

E Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 4714
Washington D.C., DC
20001

Telephone

+12022167346

Website

https://www.dcchs.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed government service in Washington D.C.?