Christopher Columbus Langdell

Life and work

He soon became Dean and extended the academic programme from one to three years.^[2] He replaced the old-style lecture system with a new system requiring greater student engagement.^[2] He insisted law teaching required an extensive law library, stating "law is a science"^[3] He resigned the deanship in 1895 and died in Cambridge on July 6, 1906.^[2]

Langdell's birthplace was New Boston, New Hampshire, and his family background included English and Scots-Irish roots.^[2] During his time as a student, Langdell was among the initial librarians at Harvard Law School.^[2] Charles Eliot extended an offer to Langdell in January 1870, which he accepted, to become the Dane Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.^[2]

What the cited sources add

A 1915 private correspondence by Charles W. Eliot stated that putting Langdell in charge of the Law School was Eliot's best work for Harvard, except for reconstructing the Medical school.^[4] In 1903 a chair in the law school was named in his honor, and after his death the building Langdell Hall was named for him.^[2] According to a letter referenced by Kimball, Langdell's restructuring of Harvard Law School's administration was key to its success.^[4] The case method, now standard, was not employed by any other U.S. law school until 1890.^[2]