Dean Grace Hays Riley
1926-1943
The following information addresses the institutional details during her two terms as Dean.
Location of the Law School
June 10, 1925: WCL moves to 2000 G Street, NW; 5 classrooms (3 with capacity for 100 students).
Library, offices, faculty room, tea room, and student lounge.
Number of students
1927: 278 students part-time, 91 women, 187 men
1936: 533 students from 46 states, 69 Day Division, 464 part-time
Faculty & staff
1929: 26 professors/lecturers
1939: 4 full-time professors added to meet ABA requirements; 41 part-time professors
Admissions
1926: High School diploma
1939: ABA requirement adopted: 2 years of college credit (60 credit hours)
Degrees granted
1927: 43 LL.B., 4 LL.M., 18 M.P.L.
1939: 137 degrees total, 31 women, 106 men
1941: LL.M., M.P.L. programs discontinued
Charter, incorporation, merger
1938: WCL Charter amended, giving WCL general degree-granting powers
Library
1929: Helen E. Jamison, LL.M., becomes law librarian
1932: Library Endowment Fund established
New library at 2000 G Street, N.W., completed to ABA requirements-11,000+ volumes
1939: Rebecca Love Notz, A.B., LL.B., becomes law librarian
Student Publications
The College Grit, student newspaper
The Brief, WCL yearbook
1941: Last issue of The College Grit published
1941-42: Law School Newsletter published
Curriculum
September 1929: Day Division added (9:10am-12noon, M-F)
1940: First-year students take: Contracts, 5 hrs.; Torts, 4 hrs.; Personal Property, 3 hrs.; Domestic Relations, 2 hrs.; Criminal Law and Procedures, 3 hrs.; Procedure, 2 hrs.; Agency and Partnership, 3 hrs.
ABA/AALS
1939: ABA standards adopted
May 14, 1940: ABA approval granted
Tuition & Miscellaneous
1927: Emma Gillet Dies
Tuition $180/year, Day Division; $140/year, Evening Division