Seattle University Law Library

Justice John Marshall

In addition to the caricatures and engravings in study room 306, the library is also home to three more traditional portraits of important figures in legal history: Judge Thomas Burke, St Thomas More, and Justice John Marshall.  Continue reading ‘Portraits in the Law Library’

“Salmon Swimming Upstream”

Tucked away in the administrative offices of the library is a large piece by local Tacoma artist Lynn Di Nino. Made of various fabrics depicting a common Northwest scene—the yearly struggle of salmon making their way upstream—Di Nino, a self-taught artist who utilizes many different mediums in her works. She enjoys sculpting animals because she says they “can be so easily personified, are silly at times, have curves, and come in such a variety of packages – I am constantly, and permanently inspired.” (Artist’s Statement from LynnDiNino.com) Di Nino was a member of the Washington State Arts Educators Delegations to the People’s Republic of China and has participated in an artist exchange program in Russia.

“Knowledge” from the “The Great Human Race: The Counselors” series

John L. Doyle’s “The Great Human Race: The Counselors” (1985) series is difficult to miss in the library. Comprised of ten pieces, each color lithograph is accompanied by a monochrome copy as well as a brief explanation of the cultural symbols and history at work in each piece. “The Counselors” series seeks to visually represent the relationship between mankind and law, and Doyle invested over a decade to studying the anthropological and ethnographic background for each image. The individual pieces included here represent the concepts different societies have utilized in the formation of their laws:

• Renewal (Study Room 302)
• Judgement (Rm. 303)
• Equity (Rm. 304)
• Authority (Rm. 305)
• Knowledge (Administrative Offices, 3^rd Floor)
• Harmony (Rm. 402)
• Obligation (Rm. 403)
• Custom(Rm. 404)
• Truth (Doorway to 4^th floor faculty area)

“Renewal” in Room 302

Doyle was born in Chicago in 1939 and received degrees in art from the Art Institute of Chicago and Northern Illinois University. Listed in Who’s Who in American Art, Doyle has received numerous awards, and his work has appeared in national and international showings. In addition to The Counselors series, Doyle also created The Medicine Men and The Builders for “The Great Human Race,” depicting man’s relationship with medicine and architecture, respectively.

Study Room 306 holds several examples of political and judicial caricature portraits.

British newspapers from the Edwardian and Victorian eras are full of scandalous trials, giving the defendants and lawyers involved a certain celebrity status. Like modern tabloids, the newspaper reports captivated the public’s imagination through stories of intrigue, love, violence, and especially murder. The magazine Vanity Fair, which is still in print today, often published caricatures of well-known barristers and judges in their “Men of the Day” series, and likewise this period was instrumental to the development of our modern political cartoons and caricatures. Study Room 306 houses several pieces from this period, including two illustrations from Vanity Fair’s “Men of the Day Series” (The Tichborne Case, 1873; The Claimants Council, 1873), three caricatures by Edmond Xavier Kapp, and two prints of engravings by T. Woolnoth. Continue reading ‘Political and Judicial Caricatures’

On the 4^th floor of the library is the Alaska Reading Room, which exhibits documents instrumental to Alaska’s petition to become the 49^th state. Photos and letters have been donated by Mary and George Sundborg, parents of Seattle University president, Father Stephen Sundborg. George Sundborg was an important advocate for the Alaska statehood movement.

On the walls opposite the main display case are two paintings, Alaskan Summer (1963) by Alaskan artist Fred Machetanz, and Fight Song(unknown) by North Central Washington artist William F. Reese.

Continue reading ‘Art of the Alaska Reading Room’