History of the Wheat Law Library
A timeline notes highlights of the library's history
Much of the inspiration for the History of the Wheat Law Library display was founded and guided by the article A Brief History of The University of Kansas School of Law Library, written by Director Joyce A. McCray Pearson, 51 U. KAN. L. REV. 873 (2003).
In 1878 the University of Kansas opened the Law department in Fraser Hall. By 1891 the School of Law was founded and first Dean of the Law School, James Woods Green, donated his private law collection to the fledgling law library. By 1903 the law library held around 3,000 volumes.
1905 marked a move to the newly constructed Green Hall, a building erected specifically to house the School of Law and an actual library with a 20,000-volume capacity. In 1906 a student of the law school complained of short library hours. Today the Wheat Law Library is ranked as one of the top libraries in hours of operation and reference!
From 1905 to 1914 the volume count of the law library more than doubled and through 1936 the collection continually grew. In 1936 Hazel "Andy" Anderson was named the first full-time librarian for the Law Library and volume count began to increase quickly. Hazel was a beloved librarian who never charged attorneys from around the state for legal research and taught Legal Bibliography. In 1958 she became a founding member of SWALL (Southwestern Association of Law Libraries) and gained her first assistant in the Law Library in 1959. Hazel also wrote the manual for student assistants and the "Where to find it?" binder; both are still used today as expanded and valuable resources. Hazel retired at age 70 in 1967 and passed away on November 12, 1974.
In 1948 a report stated that the Law Library needed an increase in their yearly budget for space and collection development. These are still important issues for the Wheat Law Library today.
A library addition was added on to old Green Hall in 1953 relieving shelf space and giving Hazel her own office. Thanks to the outstanding collection development efforts of Hazel the collection grew enormously and the budget increased significantly through 1956.
During the 1970's the Law Library began using the Library of Congress classification system, which is still used today. Additionally, 1971 marked the year that the Law Library was added as a government document depository. In 1975 Lexis was added as the first computer assisted legal research tool making Kansas the 6th state in the nation to obtain the service.
A groundbreaking was held in 1975 for the new Green Hall on the campus of the University of Kansas with a plan to have books in the center and accessible. The first classes were held in the new Green Hall on October 17, 1977. In 1978 a decision kept the Jimmy Green statue at the old Green Hall and Gerald Ford appeared on campus for the dedication of the new building.
In 1996 Joe Custer received an Indian Law grant allowing for the purchase of titles and microforms. Joyce A. McCray Pearson was named Director in 1997 and holds the position today. 1998 marked the addition of the online catalogue and the Law Library received a $30,000 grant for equipment necessary for the conversion.
In 1999 the Law Library needed more computer access so Ethernet was added to carrels because over half of the student body owned a laptop. Today even more students carry laptops and wireless internet access is available throughout the building.
The library was named the ‘Douglas D. and Laura L. Wheat Law Library' at a ceremony in Green Hall on April 23, 2003, in honor of the University of Kansas School of Law's esteemed alumni, Douglas D. Wheat, graduate of the class of 1974. Mr. Wheat and his wife, Laura Wheat, pledged 1 million dollars to the University of Kansas Endowment Association to create an endowed fund to support the law school and in particular, the law library.
