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1920-1935: A New Beginning 1956-1984: Development of the Modern Law School |
1920 to 1935: A New Beginning Baylor University moved to Waco in 1886 and combined with Waco University. At this time, there was no formal law department. The school offered a number of law classes, including those related to constitutional law and jurisprudence, but no law degree was offered. In 1918, under the direction of President Samuel Palmer Brooks, the university reorganized into colleges. Brooks encouraged the board of trustees to create three new departments on campus, including a new department of law. The board of trustees formally approved the law department on December 22, 1919. Through a number of contacts, Brooks narrowed his list of leaders of the new law school to one--Allen G. Flowers. Flowers had served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for six years in Arkansas and had taught law for one year at the University of Arkansas. Flowers accepted the position on April 3, 1920. Brooks and Flowers sought to develop a practice-oriented institution and soon hired a local judge, James P. Alexander, as a part-time instructor. Law classes began in October 1920 in the basement of the Carroll Science Hall. Twenty-five students enrolled in courses, ten of whom were pursuing a law degree. Enrollment increased to fifty-four students during the 1921-22 school year, and the law school added another faculty member, Judge Nathaniel Harris. To accommodate larger class sizes, the law school moved to a small residential structure--dubbed "Jurisprudence Hall"--for the 1921-22 school year. This building was used to conduct classes and also provided office space for faculty. A fire to the Carroll Chapel and Library Building in 1922 required the transfer of about 2000 law books to Jurisprudence Hall. By the fall of 1922, the size of the book collection had increased to about 2500 volumes. Baylor, led by the highly-motivated Dean Flowers, sought in 1922 to receive "first-class" recognition of the law department by the Supreme Court of Texas. Such recognition would permit Baylor law graduates to become licensed in Texas without having to pass the state bar exam. On February 1, 1923, the Supreme Court granted such recognition, less than three years after the reestablishment of the law school. The Spring of 1923 also brought the graduation of the first law class at Baylor, which included Drummond W. Bartlett, Jennings C. Brown, Mills Cox, William Lacy Sleeper, and Joseph Franklin Wilson. As the size of classes and the volumes of resources increased at the law school, the need arose for yet another move to a new facility. In the fall of 1923, the law school moved to the restored Carroll Chapel and Library Building, which would continue as the home of the law school until 1947. Baylor began to receive national recognition in the 1920s for its focus on practical training of law schools. In particular, Baylor offered a course titled "Practice Court," which is believed to be the first of its kind among American law schools. Judge Alexander developed the course when he arrived as a part-time instructor and continued to teach it for twenty years. Twenty-two individuals graduated from Baylor School of Law in 1925. Among these was Leon Jaworski, who at 19 was the youngest law graduate in the history of Texas. Increased enrollment during 1925 and 1926 required the addition of another full-time faculty member, Thomas E. McDonald. In 1926, Judge Harvey Richey joined Baylor as a part-time faculty member, and in 1930, Abner E. Lipscomb joined Baylor as a full-time faculty member. By 1930, Baylor exceeded the required number of faculty and volumes of resources to be considered for accreditation by the American Bar Association. Baylor employed three resident faculty members and offered a library containing more than 9000 volumes. The American Bar Association visited the school in 1930, and Baylor received full accreditation in December 1931. Flowers, who had guided the law school from its infancy to its national recognition as a quality institution for legal education, died in 1935. More than 200 students had received a law degree from Baylor under Flowers' leadership. |