The papers of John Lord O'Brian, a distinguished lawyer and prominent public servant for whom the law school building is named, are housed in the Law Library Archives. Chronicling O'Brian's long and productive life from 1874 to 1973, the papers span the years of his legal career and public service activities. The papers include legal memoranda, opinion letters, personal notes, personal correspondence, published articles, photographs, honorary medals and other memorabilia. They are organized according to some of the major activities in which O'Brian was involved.
Examples are…
Also included are correspondence between O'Brian and other notable historical figures from the first seventy-five years of the twentieth century. Dean Acheson, Louis W,. Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, Abraham Fortas, Herbert Hoover, Robert Jackson, Robert Oppenheimer, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman are a few examples of the vast correspondence found in the collection.
The collection includes the two volumes, Reminiscences of John Lord O'Brian, an oral history conducted in 1952 as part of the Columbia University Oral History Project. In addition, there are three reels of microfilm that reproduce the collection of O'Brian papers in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
For more information about the collection, consult the finding aid.
The O'Brian Book Collection contains a portion of John Lord O'Brian's private book collection. The collection includes volumes on US history, English literature, and more.
To identify books in the O'Brian Collection, search the University Libraries catalog for "O'Brian" and filter to Law Library Special Collections.
Appointments are required to view this collection:
asklaw@buffalo.edu
716-645-2047
This is a closed collection for in-house use only.