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Initiating a Federal Court Historical Program

The Federal Judicial Center produced this guide as part of its mandate to "encourage programs relating to the history of the judicial branch of the United States government." The guide surveys the range of historical programs in the federal courts and offers suggestions for courts considering a new program or looking to expand the activities of an existing program. The guide also incorporates the Center’s manual on conducting oral history projects.

Creating the Federal Judicial System

This short publication explains the provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1789, reviews the evolution of the federal judicial system during the nineteenth century, and analyzes the conditions and debates that led to passage of the Evarts Act in 1891, which established the three-tiered system that characterizes federal court structure today. The publication includes twelve maps that illustrate the growth and evolution of the districts and circuits from 1789 to the present.

A Guide to the Preservation of Federal Judges' Papers

In response to requests from many federal judges, the Center's Federal Judicial History Office prepared this publication to describe the historial importance of judges' papers, to offer suggestions on managing documents in chambers, and to suggest guidelines for selecting a proper repository to house a collection of papers.

Order in the Courts: A History of the Federal Court Clerk's Office

A chronological study of the development of the clerk's office as an institution from its creation by Congress in 1789 to the present. The report uses legislative material and other primary sources to describe the changing nature of the clerks' duties over the course of American history. The report also describes and explains the transformation of the clerks from relatively autonomous office-holders who earned their livings from the fees that their offices could generate to salaried employees of a federal judicial bureaucracy whose work was, and is, subject to a significant amount of oversight by various agencies of the government. The study emphasizes the clerks' contributions to judicial administration on a national level, but it provides a framework within which others can reconstruct the role of clerks in individual courts.

Origins of the Elements of Court Governance

This publication offers a brief description of the history and evolution of the major elements--agencies, offices, organizations, positions (such as chief judge), and entities (such as a circuit)--of federal court governance. The author treats these elements through an index, a brief chronology, descriptions of the major factors involved in their creation, and a bibliography.