Commission of Benjamin Robbins Curtis as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, December 20, 1851
John Peter Van Ness Throop, Washington D.C., engraver
Diplomas, honorary degrees, citations and awards of persons affiliated with Harvard Law School: Box 1
HOLLIS 3917349
Until as late as the 1940s, the path to the Supreme Court did not require attendance at a law school; even those early justices who did attend were not required to graduate or sit for a bar exam. Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis (LL.B. 1832) is notable for being the first Supreme Court justice to have graduated from a law school.