Tapping Reeve House and Law School | |
 East elevation and north profile of Tapping Reeve House, 2010 | |
   | |
| Location | Litchfield, CT |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°44′38″N 73°11′19″W / 41.74395°N 73.18851°W |
| Built | 1784 |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000879 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1965[2] |
The Litchfield Law School was a law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, that operated from 1774 to 1833. Litchfield was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietary school was unaffiliated with any college or university.[3] While Litchfield was independent, a long-term debate resulted in the 1966 recognition of William & Mary Law School as the first law school to have been affiliated with a university.[4]
Reeve began teaching his first student in 1774 and was teaching by lecture by 1784. Reeve later became the Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. The school closed in 1833, having educated over 1,100 students, including Aaron Burr and John C. Calhoun. The law school, including Reeve's house, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965 as the Tapping Reeve House and Law School,[2][5] which is owned and operated by the Litchfield Historical Society as a museum displaying life in a 19th-century period school.[6] The Society also operates the Litchfield History Museum.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Tapping Reeve House and Law School". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
- ^ Harno, Albert J. (1953). Legal Education in the United States: A Report Prepared for the Survey of the Legal Profession (1980 ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 28–32. ISBN 0313224250.
- ^ "1966 Debate Over the First Law School in America" The Bridgeport Post Sept. 15, 1966 via scholarship.law.wm.edu, William & Mary Law School. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- ^ Blanche Higgins Schroer and S. Sydney Bradford (January 16, 1975). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Tapping Reeve House and Law School" (PDF). National Park Service.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) and Accompanying 5 photos, exterior, from 1965 and 1974. - ^ "Litchfield Historical Society: The Ledger". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search