The Archives of Biddle Law Library preserves, promotes, and provides access to the the papers and records of three major legal organizations: The American Law Institute (ALI), the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), and the National Bankruptcy Archives. The archives also houses a number of smaller collections, including the personal papers of early Penn Law Dean and ALI co-founder William Draper Lewis, Penn Law graduate and Philadelphia lawyer Bernard G. Segal, and United States Court of Appeals Judge David L. Bazelon. A collection of records from the law school includes the notes of various 19th century professors and students, minutes of the Alumni Society, and photographs. Paper and electronic finding aids are available online and by request.

About the Profile Icon

Taken from a portrait of Algernon Sydney Biddle, Professor at Penn Law. Although his career was cut short by an untimely death, Biddle was known for introducing the case method of instruction to Penn Law School in 1888. Biddle was also a member of the Biddle family, a prominent family of Philadelphia lawyers, some of whom donated the first collection of books that founded the Biddle Law Library. While very little remains of Professor Biddle's personal effects, the Archives does have one of his notebooks from the 1888-1889 term.