Historical & Special Collections curates a major exhibit each year in the Law Library’s Caspersen Room on the fourth floor of Langdell Hall. Smaller exhibits also rotate in and out of the Caspersen Room bookcases and at the Areeda Hall entrance to the Library.
Current Exhibit
According to the American Library Association, 2,571 individual books were subject to a removal challenge in 2022, compared to 378 books in 2000. The rate of book banning in the United States as we close the first quarter of the 21st century is cause for alarm. However, censorship in the form of book bans has existed since words were put to paper. Societal norms – whether held by a majority or imposed by a minority – and government interests have always worked together to suppress “dangerous” ideas.
Drawing on material from Harvard’s Law School, Houghton, and Widener libraries, this exhibit tells stories of book suppression from the 17th century to the current moment. It explores the first concerted effort by the United States government to restrict access to information with the 1873 Comstock Act, the Act’s enforcement through the early twentieth century, and recent, intensified efforts to challenge books in schools and libraries. The exhibit also explores judicial efforts to define obscenity and examines the role of community standards in the suppression of books. We challenge visitors to consider the precarious nature of our right to read.
Challenging our Right to Read was curated by Lesliediana Jones and Jocelyn Kennedy of the Harvard Law School Library.
It is on view in the Caspersen Room, Harvard Law School Library, weekdays from 9am to 5pm from August 14, 2023, through June 2024.
CURIOSity
Explore both new and migrated online exhibit content via Harvard Library’s CURIOSity platform.
Highlighted Exhibits
Explore CURIOSity exhibits curated by Historical & Special Collections
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![Pulling the wooden law shield out of its case]()
Retiring the Harvard Law School Shield
Learn the history of the Harvard Law School’s first shield, from its complex and troubling origins to its retirement.
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![Grid of 21 headshots of HLS affiliates who became US Supreme Court Justices between 1882 and 2017.]()
Collections | Connections: Stories from the Harvard Law School Library
Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Harvard Law School by exploring how the Harvard Law School Library preserves the school’s history.
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![Hand colored engraved circa 1830 showing Captain William Moir sitting on a horse shooting at William Malcom.]()
Visualizing Capital Punishment
Explore the power of images to change minds about the death penalty.
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![Three-quarter length portrait of Charles Hamilton Houston by C. Gregory Stapko after a painting by Betsy Reyneau.]()
Charles Hamilton Houston and the Harvard Law School
This exhibit explores and celebrates Houston’s connection with Harvard Law School.
Exhibit Addenda (2015-2024)
Exhibit Addenda was a website that featured companion content for Historical & Special Collections’ physical exhibits, as well as online exhibits. It debuted in January 2015 and was retired in April 2024.
Select content from the Exhibit Addenda site was migrated to CURIOSity.
Looking for Historical & Special Collections exhibit content not available on CURIOSity? You can view past versions of the Exhibit Addenda site via Archive-It (a web archiving service built at the Internet Archive). The archived Exhibit Addenda site was collected by the Harvard University Archives, as part of their collection of “A-Sites: Archived Harvard Websites.”
The Exhibit Addenda site is also searchable via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Questions
Still not finding what you are looking for? Please contact specialc@law.harvard.edu with questions.