Harlan, John Marshall

Born June 1, 1833, in Boyle County, KY
Died October 14, 1911, in Washington, DC

Federal Judicial Service:
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
Nominated by Rutherford B. Hayes on October 16, 1877, to a seat vacated by David Davis. Confirmed by the Senate on November 29, 1877, and received commission on November 29, 1877. Service terminated on October 14, 1911, due to death.

Supreme Court Oath:
December 10, 1877

Allotment as Circuit Justice:

Seventh Circuit, April 22, 1878-December 18, 1892, April 2, 1894-February 2, 1896
First Circuit, May 2, 1881-January 29, 1882
Fifth Circuit, May 27, 1887-January 22, 1888
Fourth Circuit, April 2, 1888-December 16, 1888
Sixth Circuit, May 13, 1889-March 9, 1890, February 3, 1896-October 14, 1911
Third Circuit, February 1, 1892-October 16, 1892

Education:
Transylvania University Law Department
Centre College, B.A., 1850
Read law, 1853

Professional Career:

Private practice, Frankfort, Kentucky, 1853-1861
City attorney, Frankfort, Kentucky, 1854-1858
Judge, Franklin County [Kentucky] Court, 1858
Private practice, Louisville, Kentucky, 1861, 1867-1877
U.S. Army colonel, 10th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1863
Attorney general, State of Kentucky, 1863-1867
Member, commission to settle the dispute over Louisiana legislative elections, 1877

Bibliography

Abraham, Henry J. “John Marshall Harlan: A Justice Neglected.” Virginia Law Review, vol. 41, no. 7 (Nov. 1955): 871-92.

________. “John Marshall Harlan: The Justice and the Man.” Kentucky Law Journal, vol. 46, no. 3 (Spring 1958): 448-75.

Bartosic, Florian. “The Constitution, Civil Liberties and John Marshall Harlan.” Kentucky Law Journal, vol. 46, no. 10 (Spring 1958): 407-47.

Beth, Loren P. John Marshall Harlan: The Last Whig Justice. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992.

Blackman, Josh, Brian L. Frye, and Michael McCloskey. “John Marshall Harlan: Professor of Law.” George Washington Law Review, vol. 81, no. 4 (July 2013): 1063-134.

Campbell, Peter Scott. “The Civil War Reminiscences of John Marshall Harlan.” Journal of Supreme Court History, vol. 32, no. 3 (2007): 249-75.

Farnum, George R. “John Marshall Harlan: Portrait of a Great Dissenter.” American Bar Association Journal, vol. 30, no. 6 (Oct. 1944): 576-8.

Farrelly, David G. “A Sketch of John Marshall Harlan’s Pre-Court Career.” Vanderbilt Law Review, vol. 10, no. 2 (Feb. 1957): 209-26.

________. “Harlan’s Formative Period: The Years Before the War.” Kentucky Law Journal, vol. 46, no. 3 (Spring 1958): 367-406.

Latham, Frank Brown. The Great Dissenter, John Marshall Harlan, 1833-1911. New York: Cowles Book Co., 1970.

Maddocks, Lewis Issac. “Justice John Marshall Harlan: Defender of Individual Rights.” Ph.D. Diss., Ohio State University, 1959.

Przybyszewski, Linda. “Mrs. John Marshall Harlan’s Memories: Hierarchies of Gender and Race in the Household and the Polity.” Law and Social Inquiry, vol. 18, no. 3 (Summer 1993): 453-80.

________. The Republic According to John Marshall Harlan. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999.

Westin, Alan F. “The First Justice Harlan: A Self-Portrait from his Private Papers.” Kentucky Law Journal, vol. 46, no. 3 (Spring 1958): 321-66.

________. “John Marshall Harlan and the Constitutional Rights of Negroes: The Transformation of a Southerner.” Yale Law Journal, vol. 66, no. 5 (Apr. 1957): 637-711.

White, G. Edward. “John Marshal Harlan I: The Precursor.” American Journal of Legal History, vol. 19, no. 1 (Jan. 1975): 1-21.

Manuscript Collections

The Filson Club Historical Society
Louisville, Ky.
John Marshall Harlan miscellaneous papers, 1869-1906.
6 items; correspondence concerning politics and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harvard Law School
Cambridge, Mass.
John Marshall Harlan letters and autograph, 1888-1910.
4 items; 3 miscellaneous letters and an autograph.

Kentucky Historical Society
Frankfort, Ky.
John M. Harlan papers, 1863-1886.
3 items; miscellaneous correspondence.

Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
John Marshall Harlan papers, 1810-1971.
21.2 linear ft. (20,400 items); finding aid; correspondence, legal and financial papers, and other material (1861-1911) relating to Harlan's legal practice in Kentucky during the 1870s and tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.

University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
Louisville, Ky.
John Marshall Harlan papers, 1835-1930.
ca. 16 ft. (ca. 3,500 items); finding aid; collection contains correspondence, daybooks, account books, briefs, dockets, legal records, newspaper clippings, and other papers relating chiefly to Harlan's activities as U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Federal Judicial Center

You are here

Harlan, John Marshall