Last year, the American Bar Association unveiled its traveling exhibit, 100 Years after the 19th Amendment, celebrating the work of suffragists who fought for women’s voting rights. The Pence Law Library was scheduled to host the exhibit last fall, but because of the pandemic, will instead host the exhibit September 20-30, 2021.
“The centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment gives state and local bar associations, lawyers, judges and other legal professionals, educators and civic organizations the opportunity to celebrate 100 years of women’s constitutional right to vote, to educate the public about the Nineteenth Amendment and the battle for women’s suffrage, and to promote law that ensures women’s full and equal exercise of their right to vote and to participate in our democracy,” says the ABA.
WCL’s history is intertwined with the suffrage movement. Founders Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett were both active in the movement, and suffragists Alice Paul and Mary Louise Bottineau Baldwin were early graduates of WCL.
This Women’s History Month, the Pence Law Library celebrates the achievements of WCL suffragists and other notable alumnae who fought for women's equality.
Learn more about the suffragists and voting rights activists featured on our social media pages:
Mary Ann Shadd Cary Collection
Racial Justice & Diversity Resources: This guide, created by Access Services Librarian Khelani Clay, contains library and internet resources that cover a number of issues related to the racial justice movement, including information on policing and mass incarceration, disparities in health and environmental justice as well as information on slavery and the civil rights movement to provide some context for the issues herein. There are also pages with information on understanding and addressing racism and resources for getting involved and advocacy. Use the tabs at the top of the guide to navigate through the resources.
Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project: "Many of us are asking ourselves what we can do as Black law deans, women law deans, LGBTQ law deans, people of color law deans, allied law deans, and deans with varying intersectional identities to address the malady of racism and the assault on black bodies. The AALS is taking various steps, including the curation of this webpage, to respond to racism in the United States, a scourge that threatens both our democracy and the rule of law."
Books from the catalog:
How to Be an Antiracist by 
Backlash by 
How to Be Less Stupid about Race by It’s exam time! The library subscribes to multiple study aid platforms, including Quimbee, CALI Lessons, West Academic Online Study Aids (Nutshells and many other titles), and Wolters Kluwer Online Study Aids (Examples & Explanations and many other titles). View a comprehensive list here: https://wcl.american.libguides.com/studyaids. Be sure to follow the instructions for accessing each type of study aid.
Questions? Email reference@wcl.american.edu.
Research services are available by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu Monday and Wednesday, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm, Tuesdays Noon to 6 pm, Thursday and Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday noon to 6 pm. Requests received outside those hours will be answered the next business day.
You may also schedule a research consultation outside those hours by emailing reference@wcl.american.edu.
Sign up through the LibCal system, available here.
Under construction
In addition to reaching your reference librarians by email, chat, and phone, you can now drop by our virtual reference desk. We’ll be staffing our reference Zoom room from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. This service is available to all members of the AU/WCL community: faculty, staff, students, and alumni. This is a great opportunity to talk about in-depth research projects or troubleshoot database problems.
Join us here: https://auwcl.zoom.us/j/8710409308
Make sure you're registered to vote! We've created a guide on registering to vote and requesting your absentee ballot: https://wcl.american.libguides.com/voting.
Welcome and welcome back to a most unusual semester!
The library is currently open 24/7 to current WCL students with their ID cards. Visitors not affiliated with WCL or AU are not allowed to use the library currently. Our service hours are posted at https://www.wcl.american.edu/impact/library/
Check out your materials at the Circulation Desk or use the Hold feature on our online catalog.
We know that many of you want to use the library’s casebook collection in our closed reserve area.
Please review the Fall 2022 Operating Policies before visiting the law library.
Congratulations, AUWCL class of 2020!
May graduates have access to all library databases until September 1, 2022. Use our A-Z Databases list to access all databases and login through the proxy server with your AU username/password.
Free Westlaw access for 18 months after graduation. Go to lawschool.westlaw.com to extend your account and access Westlaw Edge, Practical Law, Practice Point & more.
2022 graduating law students will have unrestricted access to Bloomberg Law through June 1, 2023.
Free, automatic Lexis Advance access until December 31, 2022.
Free, remote access to the HeinOnline Law Journal Library and ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals & the Fastcase federal
and state case law collection via Hein (access through the link on your CareerLink homepage).
Call us or stop by the circulation desk for an alumni library card so that you can check out materials from the library.
Reference librarians are happy to help alumni with research. Contact us at reference@wcl.american.edu or 202-274-4352.
Visit our Alumni Services page.
Pence Law Library's Summer Research Resources
This guide contains information on using library resources for your summer employment and academics.
Check out our WCL exams database!
http://wcl.american.libguides.com/c.php?g=563289&p=6828069
Access past exams using your MyAU login information. A great way to review for your exams is to read through old ones!
Pence Law Library
From October 7th through 11th, the law library is hosting 30-minute research workshops related to the open memo problem. Librarians will talk about search strategies and how to find sources using Westlaw Edge. All workshops will be held in N100C on the first floor of the library.
Sign up for a session here: https://forms.gle/ovdBUTMkfLtk1aQN6
Hours
The library is staffed until midnight each night and is accessible 24/7 to the WCL community. Just swipe your ID card for after-hours entry.
Study Aids
The library provides free electronic access to the following study aids:
Casebooks & More
The library has copies of all 1L casebooks and select upper level casebooks on closed reserve for three-hour checkout. Ask for your book at the circulation desk.
Borrow laptops, chargers, standing desks, bookstands, umbrellas, and more from the library.
Group Study Rooms
To reserve a group study room:
More Library Info
For more information about library services, visit the library’s website.
Questions?
Contact Shannon Roddy, Student Services Librarian