Henry J. Abraham papers-addition 1

Content Description

This addition to MSS 12973, Henry J. Abraham papers, contains personal and professional papers of Henry J. Abraham (1921-2020). Abraham was a foremost scholar of judicial law who first taught in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Political Science from 1949 to 1972 before moving to the University of Virginia’s Department of Government and Foreign Affairs (now the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics) from 1972 to 1997. This collection contains correspondence, drafts, articles, off-prints, presentations, notes, clippings, programs, brochures, awards, books, datebooks, photographs, floppy disks, and a DVD which documents Abraham’s professional work and personal life. The bulk of the collection contains notes, drafts of articles, and published work by Abraham that outline the history of the Supreme Court, notable Justices, landmark cases, the evolution of the Court, and case theory regarding the Court’s decisions. Abraham compiled subject files of clippings, articles, and his writing for Supreme Court Justices and cases, which he used in teaching and writing in his publications, such as The Judicial Process, Presidents, Senators, and Justices, and Freedom and the Court. Copies of these published works, including translated copies of Abraham’s The Judicial Process in Chinese and Korean, are included in the collection. Many of these books have notes and clippings tipped in for future revised editions. In addition to his own works are books, articles, professional papers, and off-prints by other scholars, often annotated by Abraham, and Supreme Court hearing syllabi. There is also significant professional correspondence between Abraham and his graduate students, scholars, publishers, Supreme Court members, and associated personnel, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter, and Antonin Scalia. Abraham's books, articles, and peer-reviewed journal entries are present throughout the collection, spanning his 1952 thesis "Compulsory Voting: Its Practice and Theory" to his reaction to the death of Antonin Scalia in 2016. In addition to the professional, there are personal materials related to Abraham’s life. This includes greeting cards and correspondence between Abraham and his family and friends, eighteen personal datebooks spanning 1956 to 2019, paperwork and materials related to his mother’s death, high school, and college materials, reflections on his and his family’s survival of the Holocaust, awards and honors given to Abraham, and his involvement with organizations including providing scholarships in his name and involvement with Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville. A box folder inventory is available in the External Documents field for this collection.

Acquisition Type

Gift

Provenance

Gift of Philip and Peter Abraham, 27 July 2022.

Language of Description

English

Script of Description

Latin

Restrictions Apply

No

Access Restrictions

Original digital media (floppy disks and dvd) cannot be handled directly by patrons. Appointments must be made to request these items. Please use our online reference request form (https://small.library.virginia.edu/services/reference-request) to request access to these materials or for further information.

Use Restrictions

This collection contains some in-copyright material. Visit our Permissions and Publishing page for more information about use of Special Collections materials. The library can provide copyright information upon request, but users are responsible for making their own determination about lawful use of collections materials.